Law and social order constitute important elements of social change and theories of criminology (Schmalleger, 2012). Understanding the interplay between them, law and social order, gives us important insights into how and why governments either work or fail. Three different perspectives outline the interplay between the two and help us understand what is happening behind the scenes in various forms of government. These three perspectives are the consensus, pluralist, and the conflict perspectives. The consensus perspective has a very naïve view of social organization. Within this view members of society generally share the same core values (Schmalleger, 2012). Laws, according to the consensus perspective, result from a “consensus” of the people and it serves each individual equally (Schmalleger, 2012). Those who violate the law are seen as being mentally unstable, or socialized ineffectively (Schmalleger, 2012). The champion of the consensus perspective is Roscoe Pound who was the dean of Harvard Law School. He is seen by some as one of the greatest scholar of law (Schmalleger, 2012). Interesting to note about Pound is that some of his ideas roughly reflect those of Thomas Hobbes. For example; Pound believed that for a civilized society to exist, men and women must believe that others would not commit violent acts on them, and would deal with them honestly. Furthermore, Pound wrote that members of a civilized society must be able to trust that those who maintain things will do their job and, well, maintain things (Schmalleger, 2012). This is similar to Hobbes’ idea that men form social contracts with each other and with a central authority figure in order to escape fears of death and wrongdoing and allow them to pursue culture a... ... middle of paper ... ...gainst this over the short term, one would suspect that in the long term of constant pressure from wealthy groups, the law would develop biases since poor groups are less likely to afford lobbyist acting in their own interest. Through this process, one can imagine how the law would end up a tool for the powerful incrementally over time. The symptoms of which seem to mirror a commonly known fact about the USA; the rich get richer and the gap between rich and poor continually increase. Works Cited Baird, F. E. (Ed.). (2011). From Plato toDerrida. Upper Sadle River: Prentice Hall. Dwyer, J. (2010, July 20). A Smell of Pot and Privilege in the City. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/nyregion/21about.html?_r=3&ref=todayspaper& Schmalleger, F. (2012). Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
Criminal law attempts to balance the rights of individuals to freedom from interference with person or property, and society’s need for order. Procedural matters, the rights of citizens and powers of the state, specific offences and defences, and punishment and compensation are some of the ways society and the criminal justice system interact.
The criminal justice system is a group of institutions that work together to protect a society, prevent and control crime, and maintain justice; enforcing the laws regulated by society. As the years have gone by and society has evolved; so have the criminal justice system and its methods to accomplish its role in society. This short analysis will evaluate the main facts that have been affecting the criminal justice system for decades and have influenced the evolution the justice system is enduring in a changing society (Muraski, 2009). Amongst the changes in the system, we will discuss the effect the changes have had on the citizens and how their perceptions have evolved as well.
These ideas Hobbes presents explain why his account of human nature is deeply pessimistic of man. His successful argument of the need of a social contract is shown by defining his pessimistic theory of why man exists. He defines men as savages. Men who are willing to kill at their own free pleasures. These are the reasons Hobbes calls for an absolute sovereign authority. He first defines the definition of man, and then states that man is embolden to seek peace. To do so man must come into agreements with other man. And to make a league of contract holders, there must be an absolute sovereign authority. Then all man must relinquish his rights to the sovereign, and adhere to his laws. These are the necessary ways to keep peace and preserve life.
Social conflict theory is the only one out of the vast number of criminology theories that deals directly with this problem. From out of it’s Marxist roots arose a theory which challenges the way in which today’s society views it’s legal system and the implications it has on it’s working class citizens. The nature and purpose of social conflict theories is to examine the social controls made by the ruling class and imposed on the rest of society.
The Criminal Justice System, a framework the British government set up to manage the treatment of culprits, has three principle objectives to accomplish social request, these are, (1) implementing criminal law, (2) keeping up peace in the general public, and (3) helping casualties. This may appear to be a well-considered framework, yet like some other association, there are blemishes, and one of the real imperfections is separation, and the predisposition that originates from segregation.
The criminal justice system is made up of three main parts: law enforcement, the court system, and corrections. These three components are interconnected. You can’t have one without the other. The term “consensus model” describes this relationship. The consensus model supports the idea that all three groups should work together to achieve justice.
There are different principles that makeup the crime control model. For example, guilt implied, legal controls minimal, system designed to aid police, and Crime fighting is key. However one fundamental principle that has been noted is that ‘the repression of criminal conduct is by far the most important function to be performed by the criminal processes’. (Packer, 1998, p. 4). This is very important, because it gives individuals a sense of safety. Without this claim the public trust within the criminal justice process would be very little. The general belief of the public is that those that are seen as a threat to society, as well as those that fails to conform to society norms and values should be separated from the rest of society, from individuals who choose to participate fully in society. Consequently, the crime control model pro...
(Tyler & Fagan, 2008). Legitimacy, therefore, reflects an important social value, distinct from self-interest, to which social authorities can appeal to gain public deference and cooperation. Previous research has implied that when authorities are viewed as legitimate, they [authorities] are better able to motivate people to comply with the law. In addition to motiving people to comply with the law, it also promotes the public’s cooperation with the police, willingness to collaborate with the police, help seeking behavior and crime reporting practices in the USA (Fagan & Tyler, 2004, 2005; Lind & Tyler, 1988; Murphy, Hinds, & Flemming, 2008; Reisig, Bratton, & Gertz, 2008). Enhancing legitimacy also advances the goals of policing, which includes crime control effectiveness (Skogan & Frydl, 2004). As Kochel and colleagues (2013) point out understanding how voluntary cooperation and compliance can be promoted is essential to effective policing in a democratic environment (pp. 896). Previous research has also suggested that in societies such as the United States of America, where laws and cultural norms protect liberty and privacy, legal authorities rely on the public’s cooperation and acquiescence (Tyler et al,
The criminal justice system plays a crucial role in encouraging compliance and resolving non-compliance. The majority of individuals within society will obey the law, however, the law will enforce compliance and sanction violations on behalf of society where individuals do not comply. This is evident in the areas of police powers, the purposes of punishment, alternative methods to sentencing and the International Criminal Court. The police play a major role in ensuring people comply with the law and the powers afforded to them enable them to do so. Police are responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and for the maintenance of public order and they play a crucial role in the investigation of crime.
In many western democratic countries, maintaining public confidence in judicial administration is regarded as a critical issue across the whole of government, especially in the criminal justice system. The judiciary consists of many organizations, such as police, the courts, prison service and correlations, that is centrally concerned with controlling crime and protecting community by the exercise of power (Snowball & Jones, 2012). However, a system fails to command public trust may also fail to establish its legitimacy and function effectively (Hough & Roberts, 2004 cited in Jones et al., 2008). For witnesses or victims, they might not report crimes to polices if they feel that their report will not be acted upon or solved quickly. Accordingly,
Donald Black proposes a framework for the behavior of law from the social perspective, considering law per se, not involving the psychology of human behavior. As any generalizations, Black?s propositions are abstract, but if one inserts realism into them, their ability to predict will diminish. Explaining all of the aspects of social behavior, Black arrives at the predispositions to deviant behavior, providing a reduced and generalized model on functioning of law, specifically outlined and organized.
The three perspectives can be compare and contrasted by using the organization structure which is the social and physical structure. Social structure is defined as connection and interaction between employees each department in an organization whereas physical structure is the actual layout of organization (Lecture slides, week 4, 2014, structure, culture and design). The social structure concept is developed by Max Webber for the purpose of looking through the division of labor, hierarchy of authority and corporate rules and procedures (Hatch and Cunliffe, 2009, p.103). Therefore, from a modernist perspective, it is clear that, structure differentiates through characteristic such as a flat or tall organization structure. Tall organization structures are those with divisions of labor through having many vertical hierarchy levels from top to bottom with only a few departments. Tall organizations on the other hand are those structures with a big number of divisions while having less hierarchical levels (Lecture slides, week 4, 2014, structure, culture and design). Modernists believe ...
The Consensus View of Crime describes that crimes are basically behaviors that are believed to be extremely distasteful or unacceptable, in many, if not all elements related to society. Substantive criminal law, which is the written code that defines crimes and their punishments, reflect mainstream society’s values, opinions beliefs (Siegel, p.12). As it relates to consensus view of crime, the term “consensus” is used because it suggests because there is a general understand amount society as a whole of what behaviors are deemed intolerable and therefore should be considered criminal acts. Criminal behaviors are the behaviors that violate the criminal law. Acts are not considered to be crimes unless those particular acts are considered to be illegal based on the criminal law. As mentioned in “Criminology” by Larry J. Siegel, criminal law can be defined by as a body of detailed and specific guidelines about...
There simply is no alternate system of laws that can maintain the calm and peaceful environment for people of the world besides “law”. One can easily see the need for each and every nation to enforce its own set of rules. While all of the countries of the world have their own individuality – they all have one considerable feature which is a system of law. It has no significance what type of government is the command, the rules are all appropriate to the people in their community.
“Hobbes is famous for his early and elaborate development of what has come to be known as “social contract theory”, the method of justifying political principles