A crime resulting in the death or severe injury to the victim can have a profound impact on a spouse, children, co-workers, Christian brothers and sisters, and the community. Some contend that the focus is too often on the troubled past of the defendant and not the devastating impact on the victim in such cases.
Thread:
Assume you are on a committee that will limit the information that may be presented at trial regarding the defendant’s past and the impact of the victim’s injuries/death.
Propose 2 rules to guide the courts in this matter: 1 dealing with the defendant and 1 dealing with the victim. Provide the scriptural and scholarly basis for each.
Replies:
Evaluate 1 rule dealing with defendants and 1 rule dealing with victims. You may choose to comment on the defendant/victim rules of a single classmate or choose a defendant rule from 1 classmate and the victim rule from another classmate.
Submit your answers in a thread by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Friday. Submit replies by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday.
Discussion Board Assistance:
What factors should define the limits of why a defendant acted in such a way as to cause the death or injury of another person? Sexual abuse? Physical abuse of a parent? Poverty? Bullying? Traumatic Brain Injury? Drug/alcohol addiction? Can the defendant raise the issue of the victim’s criminal history, immoral lifestyle, or fringe religious beliefs? Can the defendant produce a video with music and poetry describing his/her childhood and efforts to overcome a troubled life? What factors should define the limits on whose views about the impact of the victim’s injury or death may be heard and what types of testimony can be given? Immediate family? Friends of friends? Employers? Neighbors? Patients? Must those speaking on behalf of the victim appear and testify? Can they just send in a letter? Can they produce a video with music and poetry? Can they speak only about the victim or can they also share their views about the defendant?
SAMPLE ANSWER
Introduction
The crime that will lead to death or injury is severe to the victim and able to cause a greater impact on the spouse. In addition, it also cause the impact on the co-workers, Christian sisters and brother and even to the community at large. Some suggest that the focus is always on the defendant’s past troubles rather than the overwhelming impact on the victim. The vital objective of this study is the assumption of the writer to be on the committee that will be able to limit information. It will be presented on the trial on regards to the past of the defendant as well as the injuries or death caused to the victim. Two rules are being proposed, one that is dealing with the defendant and the other dealing with the victim. For this, scriptural and the scholarly are going to be provided.
The proposed rules to guide the court in the matter are rule 404 that deals with the character evidence of the defendant and rule 412 that deals with the victim.
The rule 404 deals with the character evidence that includes the crime. The character evidence reveals that the evidence of the character of a person or the traits of the character is not allowed. It is being proved that the person acted in conformity with the trait or character (Maryland court digests, 2007, Jun 04). The exception to the rule in the crime case that includes the victim and the defendant is that the defendant can offer evidence of the pertinent trait of the defendant. If the evidence is being allowed the prosecutor offers evidences to rebut it (Buser, 2010, Aug 20). The rule 412 some evidence is not admissible in presiding than involves crime. These includes the evidence that victim engaged in crime and was clearly assaulted.
Work Cited
Buser, L. (2010, Aug 20). Defendant gave accurate crime details; jury told: Man faces a murder charge in ’07 killing.McClatchy – Tribune Business News
Maryland court digests June 4, 2007.
We can write this or a similar paper for you! Simply fill the order form!
Each essay response is to be a minimum of 2 to 3 fully developed paragraphs. Rewriting the essay question is not considered a part of your response. Direct
quotes are not to be used in test answers.
Answers are to be consistent with the college level. The essays shall be written in APA format and include in text citations to credit your sources.
Discuss whether the science of fingerprints has survived the scrutiny of the “Daubert Standards.”
Use scholarly sources to come up with your conclusions.
We can write this or a similar paper for you! Simply fill the order form!
Wrongful convictions has become a pressing issue in Criminal Justice in the United States. The Innocence Project is one of the many sources instrumental in
bringing to light the faces and stories of many of the exonerees. However, the objective of this paper is to explore wrongful convictions in the United
States specifically female exonerees. Of the 1,284 exonerees, approximately 7% are women.
Task:
Case Studies;
Each student will be assigned 4 women.
From the National Registry of Exonerations you will extract all the information you can about the exoneree – full name, race, age, crime, state, sentence, convicted, exonerated, overview of case.
You must provide a reference sheet on articles written on wrongful convictions and women.
Details:
Provide a coversheet
Provide a strong introduction on wrongful conviction and the ethical issues attached. (3-4 strong paragraphs)
Provide a clear objective of your paper including the name of the exonerees you will examine.
Keep the same format for every case you examine.
Women:
1. Fredda Susie Mowbray
2. Lacresha Murray
3. Cathy Watkins
4. Mary Weaver
We can write this or a similar paper for you! Simply fill the order form!
Discussion Board Question for Criminal Justice 1. Now that you read the case of the jogger where hair evidence was the only piece of physical evidence tying the suspects to the crime.
Discussion Board Question for Criminal Justice
What differences are there between someone saying that the hair matches vs. that the hair is consistent with the offenders?
2. After viewing the drug photos, from the activities section in week 3, what drugs in your opinion are the most dangerous and widely used in the United
States.
Please separate the answers.
Use these sites to finish the assignment:
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/nyregion/hair-evidence-in-jogger-case-is-discredited.html
http://www.justice.gov/dea/druginfo/factsheets.shtml
My ebook for this class is:
Criminalistics: An Introduction to Forensic Science
Challenges facing juveniles in the American criminal justice system
Analysis of challenges facing juveniles in the American criminal justice system
Order Instructions:
Instruction are on the file named “final project”
The other files are class material that includes discussion posts and papers just to situate you and give you an idea of what to focus on. You can incorporate these to the final paper but not with the exact words, of course. This paper also needs an abstract that does NOT count as page 1 out of the 12.
Please work carefully on the introduction and conclusion to this paper, as the professor gives great importance to them and takes out points if they are not satisfactory. The professor wants the introduction to give the reader a clear idea of what the paper will focus on and the conclusion to show what the writer has tried to do with the paper, as in what you tried to transmit to your readers, as well as your final thoughts on the subject.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Analysis of challenges facing juveniles in the American criminal justice system
Abstract
Juveniles in society face a myriad of challenges ranging from family abuse, neglect, social media influences, and the unjust criminal system. Juvenile victimization is one of the precipitators of juvenile violence, yet it common practice for risk factors of juvenile victimization to go unnoticed or unattended. Many juvenile offenders are subjected to harsh conditions in detention facilities which only worsen their situation and increase their chances of re-offending. This paper discusses in detail the challenges facing juveniles and the ways in which they can be mitigated. It proposes alternative approaches to incarceration such as community-based programs and intensive collaboration among different stakeholders. It also recommends the establishment of juvenile mental health courts which have specialized personnel that can use a therapeutic approach to point out the emotional disturbances experiencing by adolescents and eliminate them to avoid future offending or re-offending.
Analysis of challenges facing juveniles in the American criminal justice system
Introduction
Adolescence is a stage of transition from childhood to adulthood. Juveniles are minors in their pre-adolescence and adolescence stage of life, where their brains have not properly developed to the extent that they can be considered as rational and autonomous individuals to make choices like adults as to anticipate their consequences. Juvenile victims such as those experiencing parental neglect and abuse or harassment from the social media are likely to commit crime due to lack of an emotionally supportive environment. Juvenile offenders, on the other hand, when subjected to harsh punishments that they do not comprehend, can easily develop serious mental health disorders that may be too expensive and involving to repair. The punishment becomes worse when the juvenile offenders are placed in detention facilities which are improperly staffed and equipped. The juvenile justice system has put in place specialty courts, early intervention programs and various rehabilitative services to deal with juvenile delinquency. The juvenile justice system aims at helping juveniles realize that they have a second chance. This paper explores the various challenges facing juveniles within the criminal justice system and proposes various solutions.
Challenges facing the juvenile justice system with regard to juvenile offenders, victims, and professionals
Juvenile offenders
Due to the United States putting too much prominence on rehabilitation and the empowerment of the state to carry out its functions in line with the best interests of children, juvenile delinquency has overwhelmingly grown into a complex topic (Lipsey, 2009). Juvenile delinquency is caused by very many factors including: truancy, abuse and neglect, gangs, drugs, and poverty. Adolescents are in a period of discovery and definition of personality and character. Most of adolescents engage in these risky behaviors as a way of winning the attention of family, friends, authorities, and people around them. Several studies indicate that adolescence is a transitional stage into adulthood involving a constant change in emotions, judgment and self-control. During adolescence, the cerebellum which plays the role of controlling impulses is still underdeveloped. Additionally, the prefrontal cortex, whose function is to influence judgment and reasoning, is still not existent during the adolescence stage. These features clearly distinguish adolescents from adults. This is partially attributable to the poor-decision making and certain behaviors exhibited by adolescents. Evidence has proven that this is the stage where intervention can play a very positive role in the lives of juveniles. Thus, it is not necessary that criminal behavior exhibited during adolescence can be carried on to adulthood if intervention and prevention are effectively implemented (Richards, 2011).
The alarming increase in acts of violence perpetrated by juveniles within the past few years has raised varied public opinion with regard to the efficacy of the current juvenile justice system. From the time when the first juvenile court was set up in Chicago in 1899, numerous reforms have been adopted with the aim of addressing the issues facing juvenile offenders. Clearly, the issues facing the youth are growing larger in line with the complexities and mobility our society. It has become a common norm in the juvenile justice system to solve issues of drug abuse, running away, smoking, suicide, and teen pregnancy. In addition, juveniles resolve to more advanced ways of solving their disputes by using dangerous weapons such as knives and guns. It is unfortunate that the juvenile justice system is the venue for dumping these overwhelming adolescence challenges (Richards, 2011).
According to a report by the United States Surgeon General, 10% of children in the US suffer from mental health disorders. Out of these, seven out of ten are children of color whose access to mental health services can only be obtained through the criminal justice system. At least $13 billion is spent annually in treatment of these mental health problems. In most cases, most of these issues are not usually addressed or even noticed until incarceration or detention of the child takes place. Therefore, the juvenile justice system plays the major function of detaining children, even though it has been discovered that detention alone cannot help.
Harsh conditions in the overcrowded detention facilities are attributed to the alarming reports of psychiatric problems, stress-related illnesses, and suicide attempts. Many juvenile offenders tend to fall into depression after facing long periods of stress and anxiety following violent crimes. This is capable of affecting the offenders for the rest of their lives (Piquero, 2010). Research shows that the youths who have previously been detained have higher chances of using cigarettes, alcohol, or illicit drugs than those who have never been jailed. The children who were sentenced to juvenile were 37 times more likely to be sentenced again as adults, compared to similarly misbehaved children who were not subjected to imprisonment.
In addition to detention facilities being overcrowded, they are also understaffed. The beds and supportive and therapeutic resources are limited to the extent that they cannot properly address the needs of juvenile offenders. While the cost of operating detention facilities is overwhelmingly burdensome to taxpayers, it is even more frustrating to imagine that most of these facilities only play the role of warehousing children without providing the various services required to address the specific needs of these children. Various states such as Nevada, South Carolina, Florida, and West Virginia have taken steps to address the issue of incarceration of youth. These states are attempting to come up with ways of ameliorating the many problems faced by youth in detention facilities, with the aim of providing community-based alternatives so that the troubled youths do not end up in detention from the outset (Moll, 2011).
The alarming increase in the rate of children coming to contact with the juvenile justice system every day and the limited resources have resulted into challenges related to effectual placement of juvenile offenders. Laws that govern juvenile justice systems in the US oblige the court to place the delinquent juvenile into the least restrictive environment possible, even though the actual offense committed by the minor is the guiding issue. In reasonable circumstances, the laws require the juvenile to be placed to their residential surroundings and given services based on communal programs.
Juvenile mental health problems pose a great challenge to the criminal justice system due to the fact that there are no proper and suitable mental health services, including inadequate community-based services for those juveniles who have not been detained. In addition, most detention facilities do not have proper mental health services for juvenile offenders (Lipsey, 2009).
Another issue with juvenile criminal justice is that a higher percentage of juvenile delinquents comprise of school drop-outs or minors whose attendance records are very poor. The criminal justice system experiences a deficiency in the provision of educational experiences and programming (Moll, 2011).
Mandatory minimum sentences and lack of judicial discretion have also been a great challenge in the juvenile criminal justice system. 15 states allow prosecutors the discretion to prosecute juvenile cases in adult criminal courts, while 15 states provide for juvenile court judges to cause automatic transfers children cases to an adult criminal court with regard to certain offenses or the age or previous history of the juvenile. Furthermore, 29 states provide for automatic transfer of juvenile cases to adult cases basing on the juvenile’s alleged crime or age or both. These states do not consider the fact that adolescents have special problems and need to be addressed in a special way. Thus, the criminal justice system subjects the minors to harsh penalties that are intended for adults (Richards, 2011).
Juvenile victimization
Today, there are high rates of juvenile victimization due to several patterns among this population. Juvenile victims may be categorized into:
Juvenile victims drawn into prosecutions and prosecutions: This category comprises of children who are victims of sexual assault and abduction, as well as those children subjected to victimization by other children. This category may also involve child witnesses to crimes, that is, vicarious victims. These children usually get involved in investigations and sometimes they are called upon to testify, which exposes them to publicity and stigma.
Juveniles victimized by domestic violence and custodial abductions: Many juveniles tend to have experienced a series of abuse at home that ultimately led to resentment and early independence so that when they become adolescents, they run away as a way to escape the abuse suffered at home. Several studies have been carried out that show the damaging effects of abuse on homeless or runaway youth, including mental and physical health problems. These youth record higher rates of attempted suicide compared to juveniles who do not have an abuse history (Ferguson, 2009). Abducted children become victimized by being deprived of contact with their family, friends, and neighbors.
Juvenile victims within child protection suits: This category comprises of juveniles who have been abused or neglected, although there is also an overlap with criminal justice system victims. The criminal justice system significantly influenced the family and living situation of such children. There is little data showing the impact of the investigatory process on children, the services they are given, the actions pursued in court, and the filing of criminal cases, in addition to the outcomes of such cases. The data on abused children reported is not still sufficient for policy analysis purposes.
Juvenile victims implicated in status offenses: This category involves juveniles handpicked by law enforcement officers and adjudicated by the court for curfew violations, disobedience, malingering, and running away. Most of these juveniles have a past history of being victimized within their family and community.
Juvenile victims implicated in criminal offenses: Most of the juveniles subjected to arrest and adjudication for criminal offenses also record previous victimization histories which play a very important role in offending. The criminal justice system does not indicate to what extent it puts these victimization histories into account while deliberating and adjudicating on juvenile offenses.
Social media sites on computers, the internet and other technology have brought up new venues for victimization. Digital crimes affecting juveniles include cyber-hate, cyber-stalking and cyber-bullying. These crimes can be perpetrated to anyone including a child’s home, thus leaving no safe place for children. Many juveniles are victims of digital crimes. Today, the society is majorly confronted with the challenge of mitigating digital juvenile victimization. For instance, there is a case of a thirteen-year old juvenile who ended up committing suicide after experiencing a cyber-bullying incident from his classmates. There are many challenges faced by the criminal justice system with regard to mitigating the effects of social media on juvenile victimization. A recent research found that there is a close connection between children suffering from alienation from parents and their potential to involve themselves in strange relationships on the internet (Wells & Mitchell, 2008).
The influences of neglect, abuse, and social media are capable of easily leading to criminal behavior and the use of dangerous drugs in the bid to survive and ease pain. Accordingly, victimized juveniles tend to disobey rules and challenge authorities, and they ultimately become offenders as part of this vicious victimization cycle. The lack of reporting makes it difficult to gauge the real extent of juvenile victimization. This is attributed to the fact that school administers and parents are not able to control all that happens in the lives of their children and the intimidation that victims feel keep them from reporting. In addition, the fact that digital crimes and domestic abuses are widely varied and that they can go from inappropriate to morally reprehensible makes it very difficult to create specific laws to mitigate this issue (Meredith, 2010). It is very disturbing that the reporting rate for offences against children is lower than the reporting rate for offenses against adults (Richards, 2011). In fact, police rarely receive reports involving victims under the 12. The crimes that have high chances of being reported include those involving families with previous contact with the police, adult or multiple offenders, and serious injuries. Incidences of reporting juvenile victimization are also low due to the fact that most schools prefer handling episodes of involving juvenile victims on their own rather than reporting to the police.
Juvenile justice professionals
Traditionally, the role of the juvenile court was to intervene with wayward and criminal minors under the theory of parens patriae which empowers the state to stand in place of parents and substitute its authority for that of the family. Basically, court decisions were left to judicial discretion rather than the need to observe due process rights. Recent developments now recognize the right of juveniles to be represented by a counsel as was held by the Supreme Court in Re Gault. Nevertheless, research still indicates a failure in the juvenile justice system to fulfill guarantees of fairness envisioned by the Supreme Court. Inadequate legal representation of juveniles often results in the juveniles being transferred to the adult system and possibilities of life without parole (Lipsey, 2009).
The staffs in the detention facilities tend to lack adequate training and experience to deal with juvenile delinquents suffering from mental problems. This, in addition to the ill-equipped county facilities, often exacerbates mental illness, leading to escalation in symptoms and problem behavior.
Possible changes to address challenges faced by juveniles
In most instances, police, teachers, caretakers and parents often view the juvenile justice system as a means for juveniles to access treatments and services that are not available in the community. This is disheartening because most of the juveniles detained with mental health problems are rarely treated. The problem is that the juvenile justice system lacks adequate expertise and/or resources to effectively act as a mental health service provider for all juveniles. In addition, developing these resources within the juvenile justice system will not appropriately resolve this crisis. Nevertheless, there are changes that need to be adopted in order to mitigate these challenges.
The reduction of reliance on incarceration and other programs which lead to the concentration of juveniles together is necessary. The juvenile justice system should focus on providing proper juvenile options within the community as an option to detention. Preference should be placed on community-based referral sources over residential placement. This is because community-based services provide a better venue for family members to be involved with juvenile justice and treatment providers. In addition, these services furnish the family with educational services to put them in an appropriate position to understand and manage the behavior of their child. Community-based interventions are also less costly and they are more effective than incarceration. These collaborative interventions help families to be independent and self-sufficient as they acquire skills required for successful access and navigation of services independently (Lipsey, 2009).
Similarly, instead of majorly focusing on the crime committed, it is important to shift focus on the individual risk factors for criminal behaviors and their need. Due to the fact that juvenile offenders exhibiting risk factors have higher chances of becoming recidivists, early intervention can be very beneficial to them as it will have a positive impact on their lives and decrease the rates of crime within the communities. Rehabilitative programs comprise of various ways of addressing the problem of juvenile offenders.
With regard to specialty courts, Jordan and Myers (2011) observe that subjecting juveniles in adult jails or detention facilities merely increases their chances of recidivism. Thus, the move to have juvenile prisons, jails, and courts, is very effective in terms of rehabilitative services. Early intervention programs play a very vital role in providing a venue for juveniles transform their lives and become productive in the society.
The local and federal government, as well as various rights-based organizations have been advocating for community-based programs to address juvenile victimization (Shufelt, Skowyra & Cocozza, 2010). There is great emphasis on family support and preservation, as well as independent living where appropriate. These programs aim at providing early intervention and assistance to the victims. These programs have proven to be a success in places where they have been implemented as they instill youth with resilience and coping skills, thus helping them to overcome victimization. Resilience is very important in ensuring that intervention programs are effective. Resilience is the capacity of a person to adjust to hardship and distressing situations. People react to these situations differently in line with their respective physical and emotional restraints. However, still there are loopholes in different state laws which lead unnecessary injustices being occasioned on the children. These laws need to be reformed in order to help in bringing about children in the best way so as to reduce their chances of offending in future (Moll, 2011).
To enhance the determination of juvenile issues, it is important for juvenile justice professionals to make well-reasoned judgments with regard to the risk of adolescents causing future harm and the likelihood of adolescents to benefit from the interventions. Since the courts have a very great potential to separate children from their family, friends, and neighbors, judges need to receive proper and adequate training, information, and workable facilities. There is need for adequate representation of juvenile offenders and juvenile victims in court proceedings. In addition, it is important for communities to have adequate, safe and effective programs and placements for juvenile offenders and victims.
Criminal justice professionals also need to educate and act as spokespersons on behalf of neglected and abused children in their communities. They need to spearhead advocacy for adequate resources and community systems in response to child neglect and abuse.
Possible resources, organizations, policies, procedures, or processes that can be used to promote fairer treatment of juveniles
Rather than punitive policies, policy makers should completely shift to rehabilitation programs which are evidence-based juveniles can be referred to specific programs which meet their needs. According to Piquero and his colleagues (2010), punishment has the potential to do more harm than good. Victimizing juveniles through punishment potentially results to future offending and a continuing victimization cycle all through adulthood. Effective rehabilitation programs can help in breaking this vicious victimization cycle. Rehabilitation and alternative programs also help in preparing juveniles to reintegrate society through the development of individual responsibility and accountability necessary for the achievement of better outcomes. Rehabilitative programs are also relatively cheaper compared to incarceration.
Proper implementation of the above changes requires adequate collaboration between the juvenile justice system, parents, and the community as a whole. Children need a sufficiently supportive environment in order to grow up in the right manner. The environments with which children interact on a daily basis include the school, friends, the family, the neighbors and the internet (Ferguson, 2009). Thus, the juvenile justice system should collaborate with all community stakeholders to help in ameliorating the neglect and abuse of children. The criminal justice alone cannot cater for all the needs of juveniles. Collaborating with different organizations such as ACLU and community based organizations as well as mental health providers will go a long way in grappling with the risk factors for juvenile delinquency and preventing juvenile victimization.
Local governments should collaborate with state governments to establish juvenile mental health courts such as the Harris County Juvenile Mental Health Court. Juvenile mental health courts have judges who have adequate training and resources for addressing the causal mental element of delinquent behavior in mentally ill juvenile offenders, while putting emphasis on personal accountability and public safety (Children’s Mental Health in Harris County, 2006). In addition, through the creation of community-based alternatives to institutional placements, juvenile mental health courts will greatly help in developing mental health services. The accessibility of services has the potential of allowing families an alternative to reliance on the juvenile justice system for treatment, a practice that leads to the criminalization of mentally ill juveniles. The mental health court adopts a therapeutic approach that empathizes with the emotional disturbances experienced by youth which mostly cause them to offend. The mental health court places preference on rehabilitation rather than punishment.
The federal and state governments need to implement policies that put emphasis on collaboration. For instance, the Juvenile Accountability Block has made attempts to encourage the setting up of information sharing systems for purposes of facilitating effectiveness and efficiency in decision making in the juvenile justice system with regard to the procedures of identifying, supervising and treating the youth (Shufelt, Skowyra & Cocozza, 2010).
Conclusion
The best way to mitigate the challenges facing juveniles is by adopting a rehabilitative approach and other alternatives to incarceration. These will involve collaboration among different stakeholders in the society, including all community members and community-based institutions such as schools and the juvenile justice system. Community-based programs will have a positive impact on the society as a whole due to the fact that they are less expensive and more effective to manage. In addition, the minors will be molded and taught proper values such as resilience and independence, which will eventually make them responsible members of society. These reforms might bring social change because they will reduce re-offending by juvenile offenders. In addition, cases of juvenile victimization will be reduced, thus making the youth to grow up in the right way with minimal possibilities of committing crime.
References
“Children’s Mental Health in Harris County”. (2006). A Report of the Mental Health Needs Council, Inc.
Ferguson, K. M. (2009). Exploring family environment characteristics and multiple abuse experiences among homeless youth. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24, 1875–1891.
Jordan, K. L., & Myers, D. L. (2011). Juvenile transfer and deterrence: Reexamining the effectiveness of a get-tough policy. Crime & Delinquency, 57(2), 247-270.
Lipsey, M. W. (2009). The primary factors that characterize effective interventions with juvenile offenders: A meta-analytic overview. Victims & Offenders, 4(2), 124-147.
Meredith, J. P. (2010). Combating cyberbullying: Emphasizing education over criminalization. Federal Communications Law Journal, 63(1), 311–340.
Moll, J. (2011). Ten truths about juvenile justice reform. Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Piquero, A. R., Cullen, F. T., Unnever, J. D., Piquero, N. L., & Gordon, J. A. (2010). Never too late: Public optimism about juvenile rehabilitation. Punishment & Society, 12(2), 187– 207.
Richards, K. (2011). What makes juvenile offenders different from adult offenders? Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice.
Shufelt, J. L., Cocozza, J. J., & Skowyra, K. R. (2010). Successfully collaborating with the juvenile justice system: benefits, challenges and key strategies. Juvenile Justice Resource Series.
You must write 4–5 pages of content in current APA format on a criminal justice topic . Additionally, you must include a title page, abstract, and reference page and use at least 5 scholarly sources.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Abstract
Criminal justice is an offence committed against the state and its institutions. Both men and women are involved in criminal related activities in a variety of way. This paper attempts to look at how women are affected by the criminal justice system. The paper confirms that women are faced with different circumstances from men and this may affect their justice.
Introduction
According to Barberet (2014), criminal justice is the system that involves the government institutions, whose main aim is to deter and mitigate crime or even impose sanctions to those who break laws of the country and to correct them. It also entails upholding social control at all levels, and also imposes rehabilitation efforts when deemed necessary to do so. Despite criminals being both men and women, the number of men involved in criminal activities outnumbers the number of women involved in the same. Moreover, the conditions that surround the criminal activities in women to some extent vary between men and the women. The circumstances that surround women criminal activities are different from those of men despite both of them facing the same legal test.
Women and Criminal Justice
There has been a high increase in women crime in the world, leading to most of them being sentenced in court despite them committing crimes less serious as compared to those crimes done by men. There have been great sentences of women and this has been attributed by the perception of their needs rather than their deeds, with most of them having to be imprisoned with an aim of separating troubled and troublesome behavior. The many women who end up being imprisoned are free from substance abuse since they are restricted to access drugs for those who are used to their usage; hence, they are free from the risk of mental problems (Player, 2014). Women who present lower risks as offenders tend not to get support from the probation service and do not receive adequate attention from the law enforcement agencies.
Women have accomplished amazing feats globally and there is a need to ensure that they do not suffer disproportionately with regard to their gender for them to continue with their important role in the society. The numbers of women are very high as compared to the number of men in the world and yet they receive less recognition in criminal justice reform measures where they are highly mistreated. However, despite them being the primary caregiver of their children, they end up being victimized by physical, emotional and sexual abuse in their past lives which live to haunt them. The criminal justice continues to detain women even after undergoing such trauma in their lives instead of offering counseling to give them the rehabilitative treatment that can help them forget the pain they have been undergoing through (Malloch, Mclvor &Burgess, 2014). Some women even detained at extraordinary rates for the sake of primary nonviolent drug-related offenses which they never took part in the, hence when found guilty, they are punished. Criminal justice regarding women can be described in a variety of ways considering several facts. These facts include incarceration of women at very huge numbers whereby, the number of women behind bars and probation is very high. Bright, Kohi & Jonson-Reid (2014) argues that, there are women who are incarcerated in non-violent offenses and they end up being charged with drug-related crimes, which they have not even committed and this is regard to their color which makes them to undergo severe sufferings.
The other fact that is used to describe women criminal justice in the court is where many girls enter the juvenile justice system with a history that is full of physical, emotional and sexual abuse that always disturbs their mental functioning due to their horrible experiences. Many girls who are arrested end up being charged with the mistake of running away from the violent home situation where their parents rape and even mistreat them. This becomes a great challenge to them because, instead of being counseled on what happened, they are mostly subjected to dehumanization in prisons and a lot of humiliation; hence, they end up not getting the right mental health services (Malloch, Mclvor & Burgess, 2014). While serving time in the facility, girls are more likely to be sexually victimized as compared to boys whose sexual victimization is very low. They end viewing live to be meaningless to them due to what they have undergone in life and most of them after sexual victimization they don’t value men at all in life, hence they find it hard or even impossible to start up a family.
Another fact is that, once these women are released from prison, they face discrimination from the members of the society who tend to view them as unproductive or even poor to associate with. To some extend they are excluded from enjoying government services or even receiving any assistance from the government, such as subsistence benefits to them and their children. They are also refusing employment opportunities that can help them earn a living and they have pathetic housing and can’t get access to basic needs like education. According to Sangoi & Goshnin (2014), statutory bans are even imposed on some industries such as child care, nursing and home health care where women of color and poor status are in large numbers so that they can be made to suffer by not getting these basic needs. In most countries crime rate has really declined and the rate of incarcerating drug offenses has been out of control with the women being the weaker sex and the most affected by the drug saga. As we think about the women’s role in today’s society, it is also good to focus on the large number of children who have been abandoned by their mothers in prison, where they suffer and lack the basic needs in life.
The other fact concerns shackling of pregnant prisoners during labor and delivery whereby the health of the newly born, and that of the mother is at very high risk since the environment is not friendly to them all (Player, 2014). The shackling of women prisoners in bed during their delivery times is unethical and unconstitutional, hence those found doing so should be judged in court and if found guilty they then face the consequences. These women are denied reproductive health services which entail testing them to know their HIV status with an aim of reducing risks to the unborn child and even to get access to quality prenatal care. These women also do not get access to blood screening to identify the presence of any sexually transmitted disease that can be treated with an immediate effect to prevent causing bad effects to the unborn such as blindness which is as a result of gonorrhea. They don’t get access to abortion services which may be necessary in case of an ectopic pregnancy with an aim of saving the mother’s life, which is always at danger in such a case like this.
Conclusion
Both men and women are involved in criminal related activities that subject them to the criminal justice system. However, the number of women involved in criminal activities is relatively lower than the number of men involved in criminal activities. Due to different circumstances, the legal criminal legal implications of women are somehow different as compared to those of men. Women are faced with very different circumstances that complicate their life and subjecting them to equal legal standards with men may deny them justice.
References
Barberet, R. (2014). Women, Crime and Criminal Justice: A Global Enquiry (Global Issues in Crime and Justice). Routledge; 1 edition
Bright, C., Kohi, P., & Jonson-Reid, M. (2014). Female in the Juvenile Justice System: Who Are They and How Do They Fare? Crime & Delinquency. Vol. 60 Issue 1, p106-125
Malloch, M., Mclvor, G. &Burgess, C. (2014). Holistic Community Punishment and Criminal Justice Interventions for Women. Howard Journal of CriminalJustice. Vol. 53 Issue 4, p395-410
Player, E. (2014). Women in the criminal justice system: The triumph of inertia. Criminology &CriminalJustice: An International Journal. Vol. 14 Issue 3, p276-297
Sangoi, L. & Goshnin, L. (2014).Women and Girls Experiences Before, Drugs, and After Incarceration: A Narrative of Gender-based Violence, and an Analysis of the Criminal Justice Laws and Policies that Perpetuate This Narrative. UCLA Women’sLaw Journal. Vol. 20 Issue 2, p137-168
We can write this or a similar paper for you! Simply fill the order form!
Criminologists and Criminal Representation in Media
In responding to this question I want to address the nature and effects of crime news coverage with respect to crime, criminal justice.
Criminologists and Criminal Representation in Media Sample Answer
Why should criminologists be concerned with how crime, criminals and the criminal justice system are ‘represented’ in the media?
Television and print media usually provide massive information to the public on social issues including crime and justice. Nevertheless, most of the information provided is not always accurate. As a matter of fact, researchers in the criminal justice system posit that the information relayed through the media concerning crime in the United States is mostly inaccurate and it has the potential of fueling misconceptions about crime and criminal justice. Accordingly, the public uses information provided by the media to make judgments and decisions with regard to crime and crime policy (Roberts, 2004).
Media coverage of crime is explained in terms of three models which are the market model, the manipulative model, and the production model. Under the market model, media covers what the public say are interested in and what is in the public interest. These two issues are often not in harmony. The public is usually interested in crime news because of a complex psychological process that triggers downward comparison in an individual and makes him or she feel better at self by seeing others worse off. Secondly, the public is interested in crime news because it seeks to speak to profound moral questions as with regard to the limits of human nature and the moral integrity of the community. On the other hand, crime is a matter of public interest because all societies have collective consciousnesses and the daily reading and watching of crime news serve a similar purpose (Greer & Reiner, 2012; Marion & Oliver, 2011).
From the manipulative perspective, media acts in furtherance of the interests of owners. A capitalist society is maintained through coercion and consent. The dominant class usually exercises control over intellectual means of production, including the media. Accordingly, media is used to manipulate the perceptions of the public on crimes in order to deflect attention from the activities of the dominant class (Marion & Oliver, 2011).
The production model explores the nature and extent of crime news and how news is collected. Since there are large numbers of crime stories, media have to make the production of crime news manageable by taking positions to give easy access to crime news. The media retain autonomy on the information retained and therefore they decide the kind of stories that are newsworthy. The media generally select the novel, unexpected or dramatic stories as their preference.
Criminologists, sociologists, and media scholars are increasingly concerning themselves with the influence of media representations on crime and criminal justice. According to Ray Surette (2014), it is important to study media, crime and criminal justice together because they are ‘wedded together in a forced marriage’. There are concerns among many scholars that crime is a massively covered subject and its coverage significantly influences public views about illegal acts and criminal justice.
According to Greer, the media portrays a society whereby crime occurs frequently and it is constantly and overwhelmingly increasing, irrespective of what the statistics show (2003). Scholars also argue that the media misrepresent the nature of the crime. In addition, tabloid papers and commercial television programs present violent crimes as the norm, thus serving many people with a daily diet of information on drug abuse, rape, and murder (Greer & Reiner, 2012).
Research also shows that commercial pressures are shaping media’s contemporary treatment of crime and violence. The resulting coverage has significantly reshaped public opinion and eventually the criminal justice policy. The content of media is influenced by economic and marketing aspects that often override traditional journalistic criteria for newsworthiness. The exaggeration of the nature and extent of crime by media expands the size of the problem and leaves the public alarmed about public order and safety. Owing to the fact that the popular media is the most consumed source of information, it also plays an important role in inflaming public opinion at certain points when such opinion can sway political decisions. Accordingly, sensational crime reporting for newspapers guarantees increased ratings, which ultimately increases profits. The purpose of mass media productions is to increase sales or ratings (Fleming, 2007).
Some researchers claim that mass media inform the public on very serious and violent crimes for purposes of producing fear and causing a moral panic. These are easily caused by constantly feeding the audience with crime stories that result in fear of community and development of the idea that every single person is capable of becoming a victim of such crime (Marion & Oliver, 2011). Fear of crime and moral panic waves have received enormous research in media criminology. These studies indicate that most individuals who rely on information from the media develop poor judgments and decisions with regard to crime and criminal justice.
The criminal justice system should be concerned with media coverage of crime because there are many ways in which media distorts crime. The media often gives the impression that crime is increasing and that violent crime is more common than it actually is in the real sense.
The media also indicates that crime is committed by sociopathic predators that are significantly different from the rest of the people. Media portrays these criminals as having individual problems and that they commit the crimes freely from a wide range of alternate choices. This portrayal links the causes of crime majorly in the individual criminal and promotes existing social arrangements and advances toward crime control. The media also suggest that whites, elderly, and women are the most frequent victims of crime. In addition, the media suggest that crime becomes more random and more likely to be committed by strangers. Media insinuates that the public should fear others due to the fact that the criminal individual is not easily recognizable. These images significantly destroy the public perceptions of law enforcement and crime control policies (Greer & Reiner, 2012).
The reality of crime constructed by the media provides an opportunity for crime to be easily divorced from other social problems and perceived as the greatest threat to society. The media fail to provide the public with sufficient knowledge for direct evaluation of the performance of the criminal justice system. Media content triggers the public toward certain policies and evaluations.
The manner in which the media portrays the criminal justice system is very far from reality (Surette, 2014). The information that the media provides to the public is highly selected, distorted and generally uncritical. Despite the dramatic information presented by the media, a larger percentage of the public still only have a substantially limited experience of the criminal justice system and its workings (Roberts, 2004). As with the public knowledge and understanding of criminal behavior, the public understanding of the criminal justice system is majorly obtained from the mass media. Due to the fact that the media mostly concern itself with the most spectacular crimes which result to the most severe punishments, the image portrayed by the media about law enforcement and punishment is likely to be distorted as well.
Most of the media coverage of punishment centers on prisons, the most severe form of penalty available under the criminal justice system, despite the fact that most sentenced offenders rarely receive prison sentences. Media perceive fined offenders as not able to make interesting reading or viewing as the films and stories about imprisonment (Roberts, 2004; Surette, 2014).
There are concerns that media greatly distorts the image of the criminal justice system to the public. Though the public is entertained and impressed, the information received from the media does not accurately reflect the real world. The constructed reality of predatory crimes, high-stakes trials and violent riots by the media contradicts sharply with the criminal justice system’s daily realities of property crime, plea bargains and order maintenance. In an ironical sense, the media suggests that the traditional criminal justice system is not effective and it is constantly reminded that the best solution to crime is for it to improve (Robinson, 2011; Surette, 2014).
The lack of accuracy in media information mystifies and obscures criminality and the criminal justice system. Media often stresses individual personality traits as the causes of crime and violent exclusion as the best solution. Media tends to favor crimes that involve weapons and solutions that involve violence and sophisticated technology. As a result, though the criminal justice system is not shown favorably, the solutions proposed by the media for crime control include the expansion of the existing criminal justice system through harsher penalties and increased law enforcement. Accordingly, the media-constructed criminal justice system is used by the public to assess the performance of the real criminal justice system.
In conclusion, since media plays an important role in the outcome of public policy, it’s prudent that all the information it relays to the public be accurate and in accordance with the criminal justice system’s efforts to curb crime. A well-coordinated collaboration between the media and the criminal justice system can help tremendously controlling crime, as long as the public is fed correct information (Surette, 2014).
Criminologists and Criminal Representation in Media References
Fleming, T. (2007) The History of Violence: Mega cases of Serial Murder, Self-Propelling
Greer, C. (2003) Sex Crime and the Media: Sex Offending and the Press in a Divided Society, Cullompron: Willan.
Greer, C. and Reiner, R. (2012). Mediated mayhem: media, crime, criminal justice (pp. 245-278). Oxford University Press.
Marion, N. E., and Oliver, W. M. (2011) Public Policy of Crime and Criminal Justice. Pearson Higher Ed.
Narratives and Reader Engagement. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 14(3), p.227-291.
Roberts, J. V. (2004) Public Opinion and Youth Justice. Crime and Justice, 31, pp. 495-542.
Robinson, M. B. (2011). Media coverage of crime and criminal justice. Carolina Academic Press.
Surette, R. (2014). Media, crime, and criminal justice. Cengage Learning.
What were the methods of capitol punishment discussed in the article? How would these methods be compared to todays methods in the United States?
– they will be an attachment with the article
– 125 words for each question
– include citations from the article
When this method is used, the condemned person is usually bound to a gurney and a member of the execution team positions several heart monitors on this skin. Two needles (one is a back-up) are then inserted into usable veins, usually in the inmates arms. Long tubes connect the needle through a hole in a cement block wall to several intravenous drips. The first is a harmless saline solution that is started immediately. Then, at the warden’s signal, a curtain is raised exposing the inmate to the witnesses in an adjoining room. Then, the inmate is injected with sodium thiopental – an anesthetic, which puts the inmate to sleep. Next flows pavulon or pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes the entire muscle system and stops the inmate’s breathing. Finally, the flow of potassium chloride stops the heart. Death results from anesthetic overdose and respiratory and cardiac arrest while the condemned person is unconscious.
