The Irregular Crime: Craig Jones

Criminal anthropology refers to the study of physiological differences between criminals and non-violent people. Every day we hear of crime that occurred somewhere in the world. For example, a big topic now is ISIS and the attacks they have recently made on Paris, France. In class we talked about a man by the name of Cesare Lombroso. Lombroso is credited with coining the term “born criminal.” By this, he meant that criminality is strictly inherited; it is a personality trait one possesses and not a learned behavior. Lombroso also included that criminals can be identified by anatomical characteristics such as unusually wide or narrow skull, long arms, hairy body, large incisors and many more.

On June 20th 2001, Andrea Yates drowned her five children in the bathtub of her small suburban home in Clear Lake Texas. The subsequent trial and conviction caused a gargantuan amount of controversy. Jurors found Andrea guilty and sentenced her to life in prison despite the fact that there was an abundance of evidence to suggest that Andrea was legally insane at the time of the killings. In fact, 63% of the American public wanted her to receive the death penalty (). Although she was eventually acquitted by reason of insanity, both the judicial system and the American public should take a more mental-health-aware approach to the individuals they commit to prison.

The criminal justice system is continually looking for ways to take preventative measures to halt crime before it happens however when faced with defining attempted crimes the courts have found it difficult to determine when an action should be punished the same or lesser than a completed crime. However, there are three types of inchoate crimes that can be punishable by law as these crimes are the beginning steps of the crime. The three types of offenses include solicitation defined as persuading or encouraging one to commit a crime, conspiracy which is the agreement to commit crime and possibly act on agreement and attempt is the unsuccessful

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.

In the criminal justice system, there are many different aspects and actors, such as the police, courts, and corrections, each with very different but equally important roles in handling crime and dealing with law-breakers. Each of these aspects play an equally important role in making sure the criminal justice system runs smoothly and effectively. There are many different things that can influence a person’s beliefs about the criminal justice system such as television, school, family, friends, and the media. Personally, television shows and media have been the largest contributor to my beliefs about the criminal justice system. From the moment of initial contact with the police, an offender might then have to go through the court system. Depending on the outcome in the court system, a person may be sentenced to prison, therefore leading them into the corrections aspect of the criminal justice system. Within in the criminal justice system, the police have many different and important functions such as service, law enforcement, order maintenance, and implementing the mandate, which help to determine their effectiveness (Cole, Smith, & DeJong, 2011). Many people think of the court functions as just what happens in the courtroom during trial, however there are many types of pretrial procedures, such as plea-bargaining, that happen before a case may even make it to trial. Like the other parts of the system, there are many different types of corrections. For example, a person

The unreported crimes are referred to as the dark figure of crime. I found this interesting because I have never heard unreported crimes referred to as the “dark figure of crimes” until now.

In our text, Robert Agnew reformulated the grain theory into the “general strain theory” that perspective suggests that law-breaking behavior as a coping mechanism enables those who engages in it to deal with socio emotional problems generated by negative social relations (pg. 160). Agnew believed that strain creates a predisposition for delinquency in cases that are chronic or repetitive that causes a negative affective state meaning emotional often result from negative relationships (pg. 161).   In Robert Agnew’s article “Why Do Criminals Offend? A General Theory of Crime and Delinquency” he explains, examining the impact of some specific variable on crime can produce misleading results.

This book shows viewpoints that contradict one another about crime related issues. In showing that there is two side to looking at crime, such as saying poverty causes crime verses poverty does not cause crime. There can be different ways and theories and trends relating to poverty causing crime but there also is evidence that not all poverty causes crime. This book shows both viewpoints of how one angle of an issue could cause crime but does not always. Looking at crime this way shows that people think it is a stereotype of who commits crimes.

The criminal justice system and the process have molded the laws of the United States to its current existence. The judicial system is designed to punish those who commit crimes against one another and for those who break the laws in other ways. According to Pearson (2012), crime can be defined as conduct in violation of the state, the federal government, or a local jurisdiction for which there is no legally acceptable justification or excuse. Pearson (2012) also states, that “crime” depends on where you are, which means it is a daily routine for society and directly affects a person, place, and any witnesses associated with it. The American criminal justice system has many elements with crime as the

I’m one of those people who think most people are good people. I give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and try not to judge anyone too harshly or prematurely. Do I think everyone is a good person? No, but I think some may have had a much more challenging life than others. Do I think everyone knows right from wrong? No, but I think many people can be rehabilitated, and can have a successful second chance. I like to keep a positive outlook on society as a whole, and I think this positive attitude has contributed to my wish to work with youth in the criminal justice field.

Crime is a social construction, and behaviour defined as criminal varies across time and place. Crime is an act that violate moral behaviour, but why is that not all behaviours that violate moral behaviour are labelled as crime? This is because crime is defined differently across different societies and different times. Neutralisation and drift theory helps us to explain why people abuse children by showing us how perpetrators rationalise their guilt for these actions before they physically, sexually, emotionally abuse or neglect children. They do this by blaming their actions on other people, higher forces or believing their acts are harmless. In this essay I will begin by talking about crime as a social construction then touch on child abuse in New Zealand followed by a discussion of how my social contract theory helps us to explain this crime.

Community Courts could very well be one of the best things to happen to not only the criminal justice system in the past 10 years or so but for the community also. Rather than sending people for mild offenses to prison for their crimes, such as minor drug crimes, they get the opportunity to rehabilitate back into society and contribute to society as a citizen. Personally, community courts are a fantastic attribute of the criminal justice system. They keep people that shouldn’t be in prison (people addicted to drugs, people who made mistakes in life such as vandalizing or burglarizing a home) out of prison and give them a second chance. Regional treatment courts (drug courts) often play a large role in getting people off of drugs and out of prison. People shouldn’t be in prison for petty things such as having a small amount of marijuana, or any drug at that. Drug addiction is a psychological issue, not physical issues, and drug courts help bring a realization to this to the criminal justice system.

Crime may simply be referred to as an offense against the state or against morality and is punishable by law, while justice is the fairness practiced during judgment of cases usually in instances where crime has taken place. Crime and justice go hand in hand as commonly evident in a case whereby a criminal is apprehended and taken to a court of law, then a ruling of justice practiced on the case and fairness used in passing of judgments. In most governments globally, crime and justice is managed by a criminal and justice department and typically, various departments are involved. These departments may primarily include; the police, the prosecution department, the law department, the correctional