Running head: CRIMINAL JUSTICE ESSAY

Criminal Justice Essay

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ESSAY

2
Criminal Justice Essay

Looking at society, the idea of crime has various but substantial roots. Called taboos
or socially unacceptable behavior, certain conduct is not allowed in formal and informal social
structures. A true investigation of crime starts with defining it. Appropriately, segmenting this
definition into how it applies to governmental structure, theories related to crime, and how the
theories and structures build into a system. This investigation culminates with the understanding
of how and why this system is functional if not truly efficient or completely effective.
Crime can be defined as Conduct in violation of the criminal laws of a state, the federal
government, or a local jurisdiction for which there is no legally acceptable justification or
excuse (Schmallager, 2011, p. 7). Said another way, crime has three parts. A government or
collective social determinate group selects the conduct which is socially unacceptable. That
group acts to enumerate, codify, or list the unacceptable behaviors. Finally they find and set aside
specific examples where that behavior, while still unacceptable, is justifiable in certain cases.
This definition can be shown historically and even biblically.
Moses returned from the mountain with two tablets listing the Ten Commandments. This
displays crime in a traditional sense. Moses was the leader of the Israelite nation. Whatever the
source of his role, whether proclaimed by God or elected by popular vote, Moses was the leader
of a fluid but homogenous ethnic group, as the government he found certain behaviors
unacceptable. This was published by the listing of the commandments on tablet slabs. While a
basic system, it still had exceptions. Thou shall not kill was excluded from prosecution in time
of war. Therefore the system of criminal creation and application had deep roots in human
behavior.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ESSAY

In the United States, crimes are viewed in two ways under the social justice theory.
Crimes are listed as conduct lists that protect the rights of individuals. The opposing view point
is that crimes are lists of conduct that create order to society within the governmental area.
Generally all crime fits into these two categories.
Individual rights advocates see the system as functional, but seek to curb abuses into
person freedoms. This is most notably acknowledged by the Bill of Rights. An enumeration of
rights that are more solemn to the authors of the governmental system show value to how
important personal freedom was in the creation of this country. But even that list has dissenters.
Public Order theorists seek order to the system. An enumerated list can be wieldy and
leave necessary rights out, and can become dated. The current struggle of the Supreme Court is
in applying 200 year old listed rights in a modern world. Personal freedom to have firearms can
conflict with security of social operations. Just ask someone what it would be like to go shopping
next to a person carrying an AK-47 assault rifle if the conflict exists?
All operating, administrating or technical agencies that perform criminal justices
functions make up the criminal justice system. Legislative bodies, whether the federal Congress,
state legislatures or city councils, create and codify laws for the system to utilize. Enforcement
agencies act to cite or arrest persons who do not follow these laws. Judicial officers, generally
lawyers and judges, adjudicate the facts of a matter and if the law was actually broken. Finally,
correction personal make sure the proper rehabilitation or punishment is carried through to
conclusion.
With a history as long as humanity, various and numerous theories have surrounded
criminal conduct. Following the development of science, the theories behind criminality flow
with the expansion of behavioral sciences.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ESSAY

Generally theories are broken into the groups of Classical and Neoclassical, Biological,
Psychobiological, Psychological, Sociological, Social Process, Conflict and Emergent. Each
theory applies scientific method to behavioral conditions. Genetics, parenting, social
development as well as many other sources are tested and documented as possible sources of
criminal conduct.
People are complex. Therefore each of these theories has some truth, but often the
complexity of human behavior shows that no one theory is absolute. Classical theories apply free
will as a source of all behavior, and all criminal behavior is rational or routine conduct.
Biological, Psychological, and Psychobiological theories look at the genetic, hormonal, chemical
brain structures and how the body, mind, or both contribute to criminal behavior.
Sociological, Social Process, and Conflict theories view the behavior within the social
framework, the effect of social roles and how conflict is socially inevitable as the creation of
crime. Emergent theories lump newer or narrow-view opinions that have more recent sourcing.
These disciplines include feminism criminology, constitutive criminology, and postmortem
criminology. Essentially, each theory looks into the why crime occurs, but dealing with the
when it occurs is the criminal justice system and its processes.
The criminal justice system is a multi-tiered organism involving three components:
police, courts, and corrections. The criminal justice process involves these separate components
working towards a common goal. Equality and fairness should be common ground in the
criminal justice system but often the components are conflicted. Each component should
augment one another, if not then the pieces will not fit together to create a unified system. The
police departments and federal law enforcement agencies throughout the nation enforce laws set
up by local, state, and federal legislature. These agencies are responsible for apprehending

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ESSAY

criminals. The court system imposes the actual sentencing of the convicted criminal. While
corrections is responsible for the physical incarceration of the criminals convicted in a court of
law.
The criminal justice is by definition a functioning system that governs both the innocent
and guilty in society. The system has shown itself to be flawed throughout history. There are
many examples of the wrong person being arrested and sentenced for a crime they did not
commit. Sometimes the supposedly guilty person is exonerated. It has been documented that
through the use of DNA, many incarcerated inmates are found innocent years after they have
been sentenced. Using that same chain of logic, then it must also hold true that certain innocent
inmates may have been given the death penalty as well. I believe that the criminal justice system
in the United States has a lot of room to improve upon itself; however, it is an amazing system
that is constantly being improved upon as our country grows. Fiscal limitations serve to further
hurt the criminal justice system and those who adhere to it. A citizen should never be told that
their security is in jeopardy because of a lack of law enforcement personnel. Or that a criminal
will not serve their entire sentence in prison because of overcrowding. If the criminal justice
system is to thrive, then many aspects of it may have to be reevaluated.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ESSAY