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Stephen Poindexter
Brandman University
CJCU 300-OL1
Professor Browne
January 22, 2022
The criminal justice system in the United States is composed of three equally
important parts. The first of which is the police force. State police, deputies, or county
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sheriff's officers may be the most known of these officers but there are more. The FBI,
game wardens, border patrol agents as well as many others fit into this category. No
matter the title bestowed upon them the job title is the same. This proponent is
responsible for enforcing the laws created, keep the public safe, and all the while be
sure that an offender’s rights are not violated needlessly. This component is the boots
on the ground in the criminal justice system. The protectors of a polite society, meant to
spend their workday protecting the community from criminals, and aiding citizens
whenever called upon to do so.
The next branch of the criminal justice system is that of our corrections system.
These facilities created to house those convicted by the court system according to the
proposed sentence. This component can be split into subcomponents similar to the
police. Jails to house criminals for a fairly short time such as awaiting trial. Primarily
being less hardened criminals or those waiting to be transferred to a larger facility. The
larger facility being prisons designed to hold more dangerous criminals convicted of
serious crimes and meant to be held for longer periods of time. No matter the facility in
question the goals are the same. To hold those convicted until the end of the sentence
created by the courts, through rehabilitation prepare a prisoner to return to society, and
do so with respect and care not to violate the prisoner's basic human rights. The penile
system is designed to keep prisoners separate from the general population for a
prescribed time so that they can rejoin the public, hopefully then with a changed
perspective of right and wrong.
The last part of criminal justice is the courts. One may argue this component to
be the more boring, but it is also the most powerful. The outcomes of court cases often
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having far reaching effects on the future of criminal justice. There are at least two court
cases that have changed for better or worse the criminal justice system. Penn VS
Mimms being the first and the second being Tennessee VS Garner. Both cases showing
the power of the court system by being brought up as references even today. The jobs
of criminal courts are to uphold the law. They see to it that the case is fair and impartial,
and that due process is guaranteed across the entire process. They also create the
sentences for those proven guilty which in turn is given to the prison system to fulfill.
Perhaps the most important job of the courts is to supervise the other two branches.
The courts keep check on the police and the prisons to be sure that there is no abuse of
power. Ensuring that the other components do not overreach and violate human rights
is an important job of the courts.
Three criminological behavioral theories are psychological, conflict, and biosocial
theories. It is the observation of this scholar that these theories are similar in the way of
involving a chemical reaction in the human mind, however there are many differences.
Psychological theory is described by the text as being the most common way of
explaining crime today (Schmallenger, 2021). This theory involves a mental health
problem leading to increased criminal tendency. Conflict theory suggests that in a
capitalist environment crime is natural due to a group always being marginalized. This
causes the marginalized group to conduct crime either for the reason of hate toward the
elite group or simply in an effort to survive. Biosocial theory suggests that not just
environmental factors effect criminal tendencies but also factors such as early health
risks as well (What is, 2020). Factors such as nicotine or alcohol exposure to an unborn
child coupled with a high stress environment during childhood could cause the child to
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have criminal tendencies. This theory is especially effective categorizing crimes
involving anger such as violent crimes.
One emergent perspective is postmodern criminology which is described in the
text as deconstructionist theories (Shmallenger, 2021). This description is accurate due
to its revolving around the failure of previous theories to hold up under scrutiny in
today's age and having no real effect on the cessation of crime in the modern day.
Another emergent perspective is the biosocial theories. I will omit the description of
biosocial theories due to their involvement in the previous paragraph.
The purpose of law is clearly to create an environment that the average, good
willed, human can follow their dreams unmolested by criminal activity. Law is essential
to a polite society to create order needed to prevent anarchy. A perfect example of the
public's reliance on law is the shopping cart theory from Reddit. The theory suggests
that people need to be governed because in an environment of a supermarket people
do not return shopping carts. This is due to there being no negative outcome to simply
leave the cart on the curb next to the car (Hauser, 2021). This is a clear representation
of when there is no consequence, morale sometimes will not suffice. Rule of law is
essential for a society to prosper. Lack of any governing body preventing crime would
create anarchy.
References
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Schmallenger, F. 2021. Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the Twenty-First
Century. 16th ed. Pearson.
What is Biosocial Criminology? (2020, November 17). Retrieved from
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-biosocial-criminology.html.
Hauser, C. (2021, June 8). Everyone has a theory about shopping carts. The New York
Times. Retrieved January 23, 2022, from
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/style/shopping-cart-parking-lot.html
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