Problem Evaluation Paper

Problem Evaluation Paper 1

Problem Evaluation Paper

Alexis Lucca

CJA/355

04/11/2016

Gerald Norris

Problem Evaluation Paper 2

Problem Evaluation Paper

Criminal justice can be said to be the system of governmental institutions and practices

aimed at holding up social control, crime mitigation and deterring, for example giving penalties

to criminals and also rehabilitating them. The career mostly falls in between legal and law

enforcement. Law enforcement is the ones dealing with the criminal behavior causes and societal

response to crime, for example, criminology, and forensic psychology. Policing also falls in this

category. The current issue in the criminal justice field is The Punishment and Criminalization of

young people and children (Martin & Philbin, 1980).

Many children aged 13 and 14 years in the United States who have undergone the

prosecution for adults had continued being sentenced to life imprisonment with no signs of

parole. However, the juveniles continue to being imprisoned despite the fact that their sentence is

unconstitutional hence leading to their death with no review and scrutiny or follow up.

According to (EJI) Equal Justice Initiative undertook in the year 2008, about seventy-three cases

showing that juveniles have died in prison through condemnation followed by minimal review

have been documented. The courts did not consider that the children were young making the

sentences imposed on them mandatory. Most of the children were combined with the crimes

which had been committed by adults and old teenagers leading to the involvement of two-thirds

of children of a younger age (Goodman & Grimming, 2007).

The difference between older teens and young children should then be observed. Below

are then some problems which make this situation to keep on growing. Influence from

dysfunctional backgrounds. This is because of exposure to violence, like mostly most of them

have been subjected to sexual abuse; they have been abandoned or have even been neglected.

Secondly, their parents are drug and dealers, addicts, sex workers and alcoholics. This then

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makes it clear that these children have been brought up in poor places with lethal violence, where

their parents were not able to afford safety, health and luxuries that every child would require.

It was therefore brought into conclusion by Oklahoma that when a person is a youth,

they are vulnerable to psychological damage and influence, and this has been taken to be more

than a chronological fact. Moreover, the children who have gone through this have some things

in common which disturb them. Protection and treatment from health care providers, police

failure, foster systems, family courts and security agencies of young children. Most of the crimes

committed by these children are mostly because of their trial to self-protection (Cassese,

Acquaviva & Akande, 2009).

A good number of adolescents have a condition of alcohol dependence which started

before they were born from their parent's womb. Some of them go further to suffer from

emotional and physical abuse which can lead them to commit suicide at their young age. Young

children who are exposed to neglect trauma and abuse suffer from minimal maturity, cognitive

undergrowth, a reduced ability of impulse restrain and a great vulnerability of influence from

outside compared to the one for normal youth. It is not expected of teenagers to apply their

personal biological or psychological will in order to operate with the capacity of impulse control,

judgment, maturity, risk-taking of an adult. Children of such exposure are assumed not to

function at their standard adolescent levels. They are not given the resources they need like

treatment or safety. The court, therefore, assumes these circumstances when imposing the harsh

sentences in them.

In turn, the general act of imposing young children life sentences breaks the international

law of the United States. The EJI terms the action as unusual and cruel, and they should all be re-

Problem Evaluation Paper 4

sentenced with immediate effect to parole sentences. A life imprisonment is cruel and harsh when

exercised on a young child. Also, many nations apart from the United States of America have

come together in unison to ensure that they eliminate life imprisonment of children without

parole-eligibility for all individuals under the age of eighteen years. The system of the criminal

justice then has five major challenges facing it as they try to develop solutions to terrorism and

crime. They are then as follows:

The crime cycle and drug use

The youth who is in the criminal justice system

Violence against women

The high incarceration rate

The ‘three strikes' legislation

The crime cycle and drug use

According to statistics, a good percentage of men when arrested and tested for drugs,

their results are positive, hence a vicious cycle of drug usage and criminal activity. The hard task

that remains currently is evaluation the effects that this would have.

The youth who is in the criminal justice system

This actually refers to the way in which the criminal justice views the juveniles. The fundamental

thing that should be done is to ensure that justice is employed in the community and that there is

safety.

Violence against women

Millions of women have been realized to go through the physical assault by their intimate

partners annually. Stalking has also become rampant than it was thought.

The high incarceration rate

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A couple of millions of people have been incarcerated for criminology and about seventy million

put under supervision in the United States. It is then an issue that affects the community

individuals where the crimes were undertaken. The cost of about fifty billion dollars annually in

efforts to correct clearly shows the role played by economics.

The' three strikes' legislation

This policy means that when a person is arrested and convicted for three times, they are

said to be ‘out.' Recidivism is known to decrease as the age of the person increases. When

sentencing they don't consider the fact that the individual may fall into offense again. However,

paradigms and prevention need to be taken into consideration. The main problems that the

criminal justice faces are trends like human trafficking, streets violence, cybercrime, guns, gangs,

terrorist, and activities. Thinking strategically and communicating with locals is what the leaders

in charge should employ to come up with solutions.

In conclusion, the criminal justice field has been important in every nationality who have

dully taken the initiative of it.it has created job opportunities for the people like health workers,

foster homes, and many others. It has helped to observe the rights of citizens from different

countries making it an approved law. It should then be observed for the proper running of a

nation and progress in the daily life.

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References

Cassese, A., Acquaviva, G., & Akande, D. (2009). The Oxford Companion to International

Criminal Justice. Oxford: OUP Oxford.

Goodman, D. J., & Grimming, R. (2007). Work in criminal justice: An A-Z guide to careers.

Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Martin, C. A., & Philbin, A. (1980). Women as probation, parole, and correctional officers in

the criminal justice field: A selected bibliography. Monticello, IL: Vance Bibliographies.