Crime, Morality And The Criminal Justice System

It is common knowledge that crime exists all over the world and that justice and punishment may vary in different countries and societies. However, how justice and punishment is enforced in a society and globally is not common knowledge. Global justice refers to the belief that the world is unjust; while social justice, in a manner of speaking, refers to the fair treatment of everyone in a society.(“Social Justice”). Both social and global justice value human rights, remove inequality, and holds people accountable for fair practices.(“Social Justice”). If someone commits the same crime as another person, for example, they should receive the same punishment. That is what most people would be inclined to believe, but in the reading “The Moral Ambivalence of Crime in an Unjust Society” by Jeffrey Reiman, crime and justice is reviewed and defined in an uncommon way. Reiman discusses justice in a society where a crime was committed against him and his wife.

As we learned in class last week, victimless crime can be one of many things. Victimless crime is defined as a crime taking place where there are no harmful injuries done from one person to another. Instead, the damage being done is committed by the individual who is committing the crime. Some examples of a victimless crime are, Drug use, prostitution, gambling, suicide, traffic citations and trespassing.

No matter what job you have in the criminal justice system there will always be ethical dilemmas that arise. As a person who’s job is to enforce the law there is always a way to step over the boundaries whether it be unfair treatment to citizens, inmates or agencies. There is always areas of the career to consider and in order to make everyone happy there are steps that need to be taken. From the police officer on the street to the parole board there is always something that could come up which could have consequences for either decision so which is the right one?

Every professional in the criminal justice system is held to a much higher standard compared to employees in other businesses in the United States. It is important that anyone within the criminal justice system has a strong moral code, has ethical conduct, and always makes ethical decisions. Police officers, lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and correctional officers are faced with making extremely tough decisions with very little time to think about the situation at hand. Having sound judgment and the ability to make ethical decisions is a key factor for that professional to be successful in their career. Ethics are the backbone of the criminal justice system, which can make or break the system.

It is no secret that the criminal justice system, as a whole, has some major problems that could be fixed. Some of us may not agree with some laws, but one thing is for sure, no one is above law, or are they? Three areas of the system that could use some revision include police discretion, plea bargain and jury nullification.

The official statistics are particularly useful in that they have been collected since 1857 and so provide us with an excellent historical overview of changing trends over time. They also give us a completely accurate view of the way that the criminal justice system processes offenders through arrests, trials and punishments. However, official statistics cannot be taken simply at their face value. They only show crimes which are reported to and recorded by official agencies such as the police. They account for only those crimes which are recognised as such by victims and those detected by the police. Sociologists have argued that there exists a ‘dark figure’ of unrecorded crime. This may be due to social agencies ignoring crimes committed by the ruling class such as white-collar and corporate crime and their views and stereotypes that they have against certain individuals, such as the working-class and ethnic minorities. Arguably, another reason why police recorded may be seem as inaccurate is due to the increased problem of reporting issues. There is evidence that a number of individuals choose not to report a crime on the basis that they have little faith in social agencies or that they feel that the crime may not be serious enough. Positivists favour the official statistics as they believe that they are functional for society, whereas interactionists and Marxists go against the police the statistics as they argue that they are bias. In this essay, I will discuss the

To what extent has the media shaped your understanding of crime and the criminal justice system?

Humanity has no ultimate standards. There is no absolute wrong or right for the entirety, only differing perspectives adjusted by opinions and experiences. What inclines a person to enforce a law could be the same motive that encourages another to break it. This motivation born of commitment, passion, disregard, or indifference, is what blurs the line between criminality and lawful action. Although our notions of morality can be a societal norm or an individual bias, ultimately the perceived justness of ones cause motivates and governs ones actions. Fighting for a just cause is all in the eyes of the beholder. As is often said: One man 's freedom fighter is another 's terrorist.

One common example of a victimless crime is prostitution. Offering sexual favors in exchange for money is considered a crime in many places. Both the solicitor and the prostitute can be arrested for violating public decency laws. If, however, both parties are deemed to have committed the illegal act consensually, then neither party may be considered victims in the eyes of the law. While prostitution may contribute to other domestic problems or personal vices, the act itself, if entered into consensually, is usually considered a victimless crime.

Referred to as a victimless crime, the intent of a public order crime is not to harm anyone. However, the criminal act is frowned upon by society. The idea of classifying certain activities as a criminal act “is based upon the desire to communicate to the whole of society that someone cares” (Adler et at., 2013). Criminal acts such as prostitution is viewed as inappropriate by the public (Lutz, 2012). Prostitution is a criminal activity and all activities related to prostitution, such as illegal drug use and sales. “Despite increases in government funding for an expanded war on drugs, the goal of a drug-free society in the 1990s was not achieved and is hardly likely to be achieved within the next decade” (Adler et at., 2013, pg. 366).

I believe that there is no such thing as a victimless crime. The reason would be that a crime is a crime whether there is a person to identify or victim. In many victimless crimes, people do not complain about them. Also, victimless crime is a type of act that is illegal but has no direct victim. There are some people that disagree with the concept because they feel that as long as no one was seriously hurt then, they do not consider it a crime. Some examples that people believe that are not victimless crimes would be gambling, prostitution, pornography, and substance abuse. The victimless crime that I have decided to focus would be substance abuse. The reason that substance abuse is not a victimless crime would be because the “abuser” chooses

A victimless crime is defined as an incident or crime where there is no distinct victim <legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Victimless Crimes>. There are many different crimes that can be categorized as a Victimless Crime. Some of these crimes include Postitution, Drug use and Public Drunkines (Public Intoxication) <education-portal.com/.../victimless-crimes-definition-types-examples.html>. A lot of the crimes involve one complaining party, most likely the police officers or a unhappy customer out for some payback <www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Victimless_Crimes.aspx>.

In an age where violent crime is more dominant than ever and morality is not heard of, there arise many problems that result from each other. The past thirty years, our society has been determined to secularize itself and to separate from many moral standards that root from the Bible. Since moral values were removed from schools in the 1960's, crime and immorality has steadily risen. It is evident that declining morals has a direct effect on the crime rate.

The decision to report crimes to the police can have extensive consequences for victims and the criminal justice system. However, the task of portraying accurate crime statistics is made difficult by the differences between numbers of incidents reported to police, and numbers of people who respond positively to victim surveys. Many people respond to surveys stating that they have been victims of crime, but did not report the crimes to the police. Almost one quarter of burglaries are not reported to police. About one half of robberies, and about two-thirds of assaults are not reported. The reasons for victims not reporting crimes include, but are not limited to the following - the victim felt that the crime was trivial or unimportant, was afraid of reprisal, the victim felt that the police would not, or could not do anything or that it incident

In studying crimes and deviance, sociologists look to explain what types of behavior are defined as deviant as opposed to criminal, who defines deviant behaviors, why people become deviant, and how society deals with deviant behavior. Deviance is defined by sociologists are behavior that significantly goes against expected rules and norms. Criminal behavior is behavior that violates the law. Sociology studies groups as opposed to individuals, so when studying crime and deviance, sociologists are looking at the factors that influence groups as a whole to engage in crime and deviant behavior. In defining deviant behavior, the definition may vary throughout different groups. Not all groups of people will consider the same behaviors