CJ 203 JUVENILE JUSTICE

Causes of crime from criminal justice theories, practices

            Different theories have been used to explore issues relating with the criminal justice system in order to explain criminality. From the different criminal justice theories, it is evident that there is no one common cause of crime and it changes across cultures and time. Criminal theories can be used to explain the causes of crime as follows:

            Biological theory. The theory assumes that some people are born criminals and they are physiologically different from those born non criminals (University of Glasgow, 2016).  Research done in certain prisons show that some criminals share some common physical attributes and thus suggests that involvement in crime was as a result of biology and biological characteristics and criminals were born criminals.

            Social disorganization theory. The theory suggests that crime was as a result of neighborhood dynamics and not from individual persons and their actions (University of Glasgow, 2016). It is suggested that patterns of delinquency are higher in areas with poor housing, poor health, low education and transient populations.

            Strain theory. The theory argues that crime occurs when there is a gap between the cultural goals of a society such as wealth and status and the structural means to achieve them such as education and employment. The strain between goal and means result in frustrations which encourage people to use illegal means to achieve the goals (University of Glasgow, 2016). The theory blames cultural values and social structures of a society for putting pressure on people and thus making them commit crime.

            Rational choice theory. According to the theory, people are capable of making decisions which involves getting involved in crime or not as it sees individuals as rational actors (University of Glasgow, 2016). People can weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each of their intended action. From the theory, crime is caused by decisions of individual actors.

Historical and contemporary police functions

            Before the development of the modern police, the village authorities selected men to serve as guardians of peace. While the military watches was composed of paid volunteers and bellmen who provided nighttime security, the modern police was made up of trained police officers. The night watch was not an effective crime control strategy as some of the watchmen slept or got drunk on duty and thus could not perform their duties effectively. These watchmen were led by a constable who had other non-law enforcement duties to perform such as verifying the accuracy of weights and measures and collecting taxes which is opposed to the current police who are not involved in such. Collection of taxes is a duty given to other government authorities. The modern police functions differ with the historic functions in that in the history police officer departments had no fixed procedures and rules. The modern police departments are accountable to a central government authority which was not there before. While the police officers are full time officers, the watchmen were volunteers. In both cases, the police are supported by the public (potter, 2013)

Nature and function of corrections, its services and practices

            Correction is a collection of agencies who perform the sentence handed down by the judge after a ruling has been made. It is usually the last component in the process of criminal justice system and its functions include the following, the correction has the duty of putting the defendant on probation where they are allowed to be at home and continue working but are expected to report to the probation office on certain days. The agencies are also responsible for jailing where they can carry out short sentences which are also referred to as jail terms. The agencies also perform community service correction functions where the offenders are expected to do some community work as a punishment for a crime. They are also responsible for taking care of prisons and the prisoners to ensure everything is in order and as expected. The corrections are also responsible for the paroling functions. (Jones, & Bartlett) The clerks of court who are responsible for collecting fines and restitution money and those who help in supervision of offenders in a community such as the police.

Fundamental concepts of the administration of justice processes to a multicultural populations responses to crime institutions.

            In multicultural societies, there are laws which are only applicable to a certain group or a class of people. The laws do not offend the principle of equality as it defines who it applies to. The law is important as it makes allowance for individuals, religious and cultural freedoms only when the importance to the individual of upholding that freedom is greater than the harm it seeks to prevent and where the recognition of that freedom by the law poses no direct threat to other people or their property (Bovenkerk, & Yesilgoz, 2004).  Despite there being different laws for different people, there should be general laws that should be followed by all persons in a country to ensure that there is no specific group that will feel discriminated or lesser than the other. Laws should be set so as to ensure people live together and in harmony in a society with people of different cultures (Chan, 1997) Crime should also be treated as a crime independent of the culture and social background of the person who commits the crime. This will ensure people feel equally important in the country and will also avoid discrimination of the minority in a society.

Administration of justice

            Administration of justice means maintaining peace and order in a political community by means of physical force of the state. Justice is very important in a community as it helps keep individual right on track in a society as it provides common ways of solving issues between individuals so as to maintain law and order. A court is created which deals with crimes against life, health, liberty and dignity of persons as well as cases of malicious non-payment of alimony, insults, hooliganism and libel and property crimes. In administration of justice, every member of a community should be treated equally by the rules and regulations which should not be biased. Those who break the law should all be punished depending with the crime they commit (Bovenkerk, & Yesilgoz, 2004). 

Crimes, possible causes from criminal justice theories and past and present causes of the crimes

There are different crimes committed by person who are referred to as criminals to other people. Some of the crimes include robbery, rape, burglary, murder and theft. Robbery is the act of taking anything of value from the care, custody or control of a person, organization or a community. This can result to psychological and physical trauma to the victim and non-victims can suffer from anxiety from fear of being robbed (Eden, 2001) It is both a violent and property crime that in most cases leads to death or injury of the victim.  Robbery as a crime is punishable by law

Rape is defined as the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will. Rape is a crime of violence in which the victim can experience serious physical injury and long term psychological pain (Eden, 2001). Rape occurs when a female victim is forced to have sex against her will. In most of the times the crime go unreported as only about a third of the cases are reported to the police. Although it is said that there are also male victims of rape, there is no or there is less evidence of the same.

Theories on causes of the crimes.

According to control theories of crime, crime is increased by the presence of a temptation in the absence of restraint or incase the individual tempted lacks self-control. According to control theories, individuals are not pressured by strain, culture or class to commit crime but they get involved so as to experience pressure or to benefit from the act. According to this theory crime can be prevented through informal socialization by family and friends (Britt, & Gottfredson, 2003).  Crime can also be prevented by punishing those involved in crime which might put fear to those who want to get involved in criminal activities.

The courts have not been adequate in the prosecution and punishment of persons accused as in some cases some people are kept in prison due to lack of enough evidence and are later released. The court should have personnel with ability to dig into finer details of such crime to ensure justice is done. The legislation should be changed to ensure that those person serving a jail term do not enjoy being there so that they can learn a lesson from the pain they get from the punishment (Kucerov, 1970). The criminals should be treated as criminal in jail where they should not be well fed and should not be given the opportunity to sleep comfortably so that they can learn the hard way. The change might be acceptable to the families of the victims of crime as they would be happy to know the criminal has been punished well for the pain caused to the family members.

References

Bovenkerk, F., & Yesilgoz, Y. (2004). Crime, Ethnicity and the Multicultural Administration of Justice. Retrieved from http://Bovenkerk_04_crime,+Ethnicity+and+the+multicultural+Administration+of+justice

Britt, C., & Gottfredson, M. (2003). Control theories of crime and delinquency (1st ed.). London: Transaction publishers.

Eden, J. (2001). Violence; its causes and cure (1st ed.). New YORK: Writers Club Press.

Chan, J. B. (1997). Changing police culture: Policing in a multicultural society. Cambridge University Press.

Jones, & Bartlett. corrections and criminal justice system. Retrieved from http://samples.jbpub.com/9781449639402/39402_Cripe3e_CH02.pdf  

Kucerov, S. (1970). The Organs of Soviet Administration of Justice: Their History and Operation. Brill Archive, 1970.

Potter, D. (2013). The History of Policing in the United States, Part 1. Eastern Kentucky University- police studies online. Retrieved 30 June 2017, from http://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/history-policing-united-states-part-1

University of Glasgow. (2016) theories and causes of crime. University of Glasgow. Retrieved from http://www.sccjr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/SCCJR-Causes-of-Crime.pdf