The criminal justice system covers several parts of the operational aspects of the system including law enforcement, courts, and corrections. Each and every aspect is of utmost importance in the successful function of the criminal justice system with the most questionable approach going to the decision to focus on the punishment or rehabilitation of offenders. The correctional process is entrusted with ensuring the safety of the public, the best alternative for handling each offender, while guaranteeing fairness is served to all. Finding the balance between all of these is not the easiest thing to do and reducing crime is not simply a matter of punishment or rehabilitation.
There are many ways in which a convicted criminal can be punished and many of the punishments are based on the seriousness of the committed offense as well as the offender’s criminal history. Punishment for offenders includes restitution, probation, parole, intermediate sanctions, jails, prisons, and sometimes capital punishment. Restitution is a requirement of the courts to either pay money or provide services to victims of the crime or the community itself (Schmalleger, 2011). While paying restitution helps restore the victim’s standard of living and confidence, it is also a way for the offender to learn responsibility and consequences for their actions.
Community corrections, or program-based sanctions permitting offenders to carry out conditional supervision within the community (Schmalleger, 2011), are alternative options to punishment that do not rely on institutional sentencing. Probation, for instance, is a sentence given that allows an offenders sentence to be served under the supervision of the community. Another community-ba...
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...s may simply be a Band-Aid to a more serious issue, punishment may only serve as a Band-Aid to recidivism.
Works Cited
Jones, C. A. (2011). Willingness to pay for rehabilitation versus punishment to reduce adult and juvenile crime. Australian Journal Of Social Issues (Australian Council Of Social Service), 46(1), 9-27. Retrieved from: http://ehis.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=8ffa386e-c635-4377-85e0-52613bc6d71d%40sessionmgr4002&vid=2&hid=4110
Pearlstein, M. (2011). Crime, punishment, and rehabilitation. National Review, 63(18), 24. Retrieved from: http://ehis.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=02be8587-7d84-44fb-b16f-8182382f469e%40sessionmgr4005&vid=2&hid=4110
Schmalleger, F. (2011). Criminal justice today: An introductory text for the 21st century (11th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NY: Prentice Hall.
The United States criminal justice system is an ever-changing system that is based on the opinions and ideas of the public. Many of the policies today were established in direct response to polarizing events and generational shifts in ideology. In order to maintain public safety and punish those who break these laws, law enforcement officers arrest offenders and a judge or a group of the law offender’s peers judge their innocence. If found guilty, these individuals are sentenced for a predetermined amount of time in prison and are eventually, evaluated for early release through probation. While on probation, the individual is reintegrated into their community, with restrict limitations that are established for safety. In theory, this system
Society has long since operated on a system of reward and punishment. That is, when good deeds are done or a person behaves in a desired way they SP are rewarded, or conversely punished when behaviour does not meet the societal norms. Those who defy these norms and commit crime are often punished by organized governmental justice systems through the use of penitentiaries, where prisoners carry out their sentences. The main goals of sentencing include deterrence, safety of the public, retribution, rehabilitation, punishment and respect for the law (Government of Canada, 2013). However, the type of justice system in place within a state or country greatly influences the aims and mandates of prisons and in turn targets different aspects of sentencing goals. Justice systems commonly focus on either rehabilitative or retributive measures.
The Youth Criminal Justice Act has many concerns creating inequalities in the restorative justice approach. For instance, juvenile delinquents who develop from a background that is impoverished may lack the ability to satisfy the reparative objectives of punishment and may not be ready to be reintegrated back into socie...
De Luca, H., & Miller, T. J. (1991). Punishment vs. rehabilitation: A proposal for revising sentencing practices. Federal Probation, 55(3), 37.
Corrections are a necessary tool to protect society from those who do harm to others or to others property. Depending on the type of crime that was committed, and if the crime is considered a state or federal charge, also depends on where the person sentenced will do his time. There are four main sentencing options available; prison, probation, probation and confinement, and prison and community split. When a person is sentenced to do their time in prison most likely they will go to a state or federal prison. If a person is ordered probation, it prevents them from going to jail but they have stipulations on their probation. This is called intermediate sanctions, which are the various new correctional options used as adjuncts to and part of probation. Some intermediate sanctions include restitution, fines, day fines, community service, intensive supervised probation, house arrest, electronic monitoring, and shock incarceration.
There is no simple right or wrong solution, there is simply choosing the best and most appropriate choice for the specific case. Choosing to use the combination of rehabilitation and deterrence is quite conflicting of one another. But some cases call for help and treatment, and so call for punishment. There are so many factors that contribute to a case, that the decision can be altered so fast by the smallest detail. The criminal justice system is complex, brutal, and sometimes unfair, but deciding on the right goal for the criminal can make all the
Unfortunately, the criminal justice system is a vital piece of today’s society. Without it, the public would be free to do whatever they choose with no real consequence to negative actions. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly 3 million workers were employed in the criminal justice field in 2015 (Occupational Employment, 2016). This is made up of countless different agencies, including law enforcement, corrections, homeland security, and many more. Corrections is a key element in the criminal justice system, which has its own unique functional philosophy, administrative structure and functions, theoretical assumptions that govern its existence, organizational mission, goals and objectives, and division of responsibilities.
This suggest that punishing offenders through incarnation is not only allowing payback for crime committed, it stops offenders from reoffend while incarcerated and discouraging enough individuals to maintain the crime rate.
The proliferation of harsh mandatory sentencing policies has inhibited the ability of courts to sentence offenders in a way that permits a more "problem solving" approach to crime, as we can see in the most recent community policing and drug court movements today. By eliminating any consideration of the factors contributing to crime and a range of responses, such sentencing policies fail to provide justice for all. Given the cutbacks in prison programming and rates of recidivism, in some cases over 60% or more, the increased use of incarceration in many respects represents a commitment to policies that are both ineffective and unfair. I believe in equal, fair and measured punishment for all. I don't advocate a soft, or a hard approach to punishment. But we must take a more pragmatic look at what the consequences of our actions are when we close our e...
It was this effort that identified the problem as failures of the judicial process. These failures included sluggish courts, increased levels of recidivism, and a significant loss of public trust (Ballenstedt, 2008). To solve the problem, the program takes a multifaceted approach to punishment in non-violent cases. Through the program, justices have more options available to them when sentencing such offenses as drug possession, prostitution, or even shoplifting. The concept combines social services with punishment in order to reduce reliance on expensive and ineffective short-term jail sentences for non-violent offenders and boost the community’s confidence in the system (Ballenstedt, 2008).
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.
Walgrave, Lode. Restorative justice for juveniles: potentialities, risks and problms for research : a selection of papers presented at the international conference Leuven, May 12-14, 1997. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1998.
The criminal justice system is composed of three parts – Police, Courts and Corrections – and all three work together to protect an individual’s rights and the rights of society to live without fear of being a victim of crime. According to merriam-webster.com, crime is defined as “an act that is forbidden or omission of a duty that is commanded by public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law.” When all the three parts work together, it makes the criminal justice system function like a well tuned machine.
Feinburg (1994, cited in: Easton, 2012: 4) says that punishment is “a symbolic way of getting back at the criminal, of expressing a kind of vindictive resentment”. When punishing an offender there are two key principles that determine the kind of punishment. These are the Retributivism response and the Reductivist response. The first principle, Retributivism, focuses on punishing the offence using 'denunciation' where they denounce the crime that has been committed so society knows they have done wrong, and it also uses 'just deserts' where the equity 'eye for an eye' is the main idea. The second principle, Reductivism, believes that deterrence, incapacitation and rehabilitation is the best strategy to use to punish, its aim is to reduce crime and use punishment to serve a purpose. This essay will look closer and outline the purpose of just deserts and deterrence as punishment in society, although these punishments are used widely across most crimes, this essay will look specifically at prolific offenders.
Schmalleger, Frank. Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the 21st Century. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2013. Print.