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Peurpose and history of criminal justice
Peurpose and history of criminal justice
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Introduction
Due to the nature of the criminal justice system, the history of the treatment of those with mentally disorders and the history of the criminal justice system have been intimately intertwined. Both the criminal justice system and treating mentally ill individuals can be traced back to the beginning of human existence. Over the ages both systems have evolved and expanded with the changes within society. In some ways the criminal justice system has become more tolerant of those with mental illness, while in other aspect the criminal justice system has become less tolerant of those with mental disorders. Now more than ever the criminal justice system interacts with mentally ill individuals.
Before Written History
It is believed that
In order to expel the evil spirits from the mind of the sufferer holes would be cut in to their skulls. Evidence suggests that while many time this primitive form of neurosurgery resulted in death, it was also performed successfully. Fossils have even been found with multiple holes in their skulls in various stages of healing (Pressman, 2001). In other areas, such as Mesopotamia evidence of ancient rituals believed to expel the evil spirits from the body of the sufferer has been found (Abdul-Hamid and Stein,
Although church Dogma still dictated over society, scientist began to turn for supernatural causes such as possession and evil spirits to more scientific causes. Hippocrates, who as known as the father of modern medicine, recognize that the brain was the organ that interpreted sensory information from the world and that disease was not only in the body but also in the mind. He also believed that illnesses including mental illnesses were caused by imbalance within the body. In order to treat these illnesses balanced must be restored. One form of treatment thought to restore balance was bloodletting. Bloodletting was assumed to help, in patients that did not die because of the procedure and these practices continued for many years (Breitendfeld, Jurasic, Breitenfeld, 2014).
While scientific curiosity was high during this time period crime and punishment remained similar to the system that was set in to place during biblical time. The "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" mentality continued. Despite this both Plato and Aristotle recognized that some individuals should not be held responsible for the crimes that they had committed. Aristotle believed that a crime committed with hatred was worse and therefore should be punished more severely than a crime that was committed unintentionally. These ideas still
In the book Crazy in America by Mary Beth Pfeiffer, she illustrated examples of what people with mental illness endure every day in their encounters with the criminal justice system. Shayne Eggen, Peter Nadir, Alan Houseman and Joseph Maldonado are amongst those thousands or more people who are view as suspected when in reality they are psychotic who should be receiving medical assistance instead, of been thrown into prison. Their stories also show how our society has failed to provide some of its most vulnerable citizens and has allowed them to be treated as a criminals. All of these people shared a common similarity which is their experience they went through due to their illness.
A twenty-first century reading of the Iliad and the Odyssey will highlight a seeming lack of justice: hundreds of men die because of an adulteress, the most honorable characters are killed, the cowards survive, and everyone eventually goes to hell. Due to the difference in the time period, culture, prominent religions and values, the modern idea of justice is much different than that of Greece around 750 B.C. The idea of justice in Virgil’s the Aeneid is easier for us to recognize. As in our own culture, “justice” in the epic is based on a system of punishment for wrongs and rewards for honorable acts. Time and time again, Virgil provides his readers with examples of justice in the lives of his characters. Interestingly, the meaning of justice in the Aeneid transforms when applied to Fate and the actions of the gods. Unlike our modern (American) idea of blind, immutable Justice, the meanings and effects of justice shift, depending on whether its subject is mortal or immortal.
In Aeschylus' trilogy, the Greeks' justice system went through a transformation from old to new ways. In the beginning of the trilogy, the characters settle their matters, both personal and professional, with vengeance. Vengeance is when someone is harmed or killed, and either the victim, or someone close to them takes revenge on the criminal. This matter is proven in the trilogy numerous times. For example, Clytemnestra murders Agamemnon as revenge for his sacrifice of their daughter Iphigeneia. Along those same lines, in the second part of the trilogy, Choephoroe, Orestes, who is Agamemnon son, murders Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. He does this in order to gain revenge on them for killing his father. It was by this way that people would deal with conflict, and it was thought to be not only a justice system, but also a honorable and fair. In fact, one of the principal purposes of the first play of the trilogy is to force us to recognize that justice based on revenge creates special difficulties, which in turn cannot be solved. It does not solve the problems that it is meant to, but only causes more problems that are even larger. As the third and last part of the trilogy begins, the system begins to evolve and change from vengeance to genuine justice. Instead of getting revenge on Orestes and killing him, they decide to put him on trial and have a jury decide whether or not he sho...
Constantine, R., Andel, R., Petrila, J., Becker, M., Robst, J., Teague, G., Boaz, T. and Howe, A., 2010, ‘Characteristics and experiences of adults with a serious mental Illness who were involved in the criminal justice system’, Psychiatric Services, vol. 61, no. 5, pp. 451-457.
Justice is generally thought to be part of one system; equally affecting all involved. We define justice as being fair or reasonable. The complications fall into the mix when an act of heroism occurs or morals are written or when fear becomes to great a force. These complications lead to the division of justice onto levels. In Aeschylus’ Oresteia and Plato’s Republic and Apology, both Plato and Aeschylus examine the views of justice and the morality of the justice system on two levels: in the city-state and the individual. However, Plato examines the justice system from the perfect society and Aeschylus starts at the curse on the House of Atreus and the blood spilled within the family of Agamemnon.
"Today's system, where imprisonment is a common penalty for most crimes, is a historical newcomer." Many crimes during 1718 and 1776 were punishable by death. This was usually done by hanging, sometimes by stoning, breaking on the rack and burning at the stake. Towards the end of the 1700's people realized that cruel punishment did little to reduce crime and their society was changing the population grew and people started to move around more frequently. There had to be a search for new punishments. "New punishments were to rely heavily on new ideas imported from Europe in the writing of such social thinkers of the Enlightenment as the baron de Montesquieu, Voltaire, Thomas Pain and Cesare Beccaria". These thinkers came to believe that criminals could be rehabilitated."
Lamb, H. R. (2004). Mentally ill persons in the criminal justice system: Some perspectives. Psychiatric Quarterly, 108-126.
The criminal justice system has come under fire over the last couple years over the handling of many incidents involving police officers use of force and the lack of punishments being handed down to them. Police officers play a vital role in ensuring law and order is maintained in the communities they are protecting and serving against any crimes and to help during natural disasters. This paper will explore how the criminal justice system is viewed in the eyes of a police officers and the thoughts on everything that has been ongoing.
The criminal justice system in America is comprised of not just one but of a set of organizations and procedures that have been created by governments in order to mitigate crime and impose penalties for those people who choose to break the law. The United States has many individual criminal justice systems and each jurisdiction i.e. city, county, state, federal or tribal government or military has the ability to dictate how the system works as well as have different laws. With that being said, people in the United States rarely have contact with the criminal justice system and subsequently get much of their ideals and knowledge of what the criminal justice system is and how it works from the media, especially through entertainment television viewing. (Albany) Even though I have been to countless court hearings as a police officer, attending a jury trial as a student was different as I was able to step back and look at it through the eyes of a learner and not an agent of the government.
The criminal justice system has a lot people and organizations incorporated within it. Within this system there are police, correctional officers, offenders, lawyers, etc. The criminal justice system is set up for people to keep the society in order. For my semester project I interviewed a friend of mine who I gave a pseudonym of Bart Malone. Mr. Malone was unnecessarily arrested a few months ago while in the passenger seat. He was accused of committing illegal acts which caused him to become a victim. I conducted an interview over the phone with Mr. Malone so he could share his story and give detailed information through the questions I asked him. After the interview I replayed the tape and really focused on the answers he gave to the questions. I was able to gain knowledgeable insight about the criminal justice system.
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.
Within two classical works of philosophical literature, notions of justice are presented plainly. Plato’s The Republic and Sophocles’ Antigone both address elements of death, tyranny and immorality, morality, and societal roles. These topics are important elements when addressing justice, whether in the societal representation or personal representation.
Every country has a form of criminal justice system. This system consists in a different series of organizations that work together to defend, sentence and punish those that did not follow the law or have been involved in any type of crime. In most of the countries, the system is similar be-cause is based on law enforcement agencies, attorney generals, judges, courts of law and prisons. All of these organizations work together to contribute towards the better enhancement of the working cooperation within the criminal justice system. However, these procedures won’t al-ways be fully applicable in certain countries.
The United States of America’s criminal justice system is defined as the system of law enforcement that is directly involved in apprehending, prosecuting, defending, sentencing, and punishing those who are suspected or convicted of a criminal offense. And while nothing is perfect, the goal of this system is to make sure every citizen is treated fairly and that justice is served. Over the years the United States has made a lot of changes to the way their law enforcement handles certain situations and offenses. These changes have come from learning experiences. For example the Miranda vs. Arizona case taught us that every person, guilty or not, needs to be read their rights before taken into custody because it is fair. A more modern topic that has constantly been changing the way our government and criminal justice system operates, is terrorism. Terrorism over the past two decades or so, has had a huge influence on the way our law enforcement goes about protecting us from threats. There have been new laws and acts created, new task forces
person knew that a particularly painful punishment was in-store for them, they would not commit the crime. This led to the creation of such punishments as beatings, torture, banishment, death, fines, and public humiliation.