Society and the individuals that make them up can be complex and difficult to understand. Based on the first question, ethics is defined as the principles that govern the way people and the groups that make them up behave. So what would society be like if a single form of ethical behavior is assigned to the criminal justice system? My response would be that it is nearly impossible to judge every single human being by a single form of ethics. In truth, what would our criminal justice system look like if it became so one dimensional, it would change the way we view justice and the way, which it is practiced. The truth of the matter is that individuals are too different to judge based on a standard. You might have a person that is clearly innocent, …show more content…
Based on what I have read many of the worlds nations dictate there government using the formal justice system, though some exceptions exist, and some places do base there laws on the informal justice system. Though the formal justice system can be very different based on the location that it is being practiced, it can be described as being the standard for laws, and the way they are enforced, also who is tasked with administering these punishments. Some examples are known to be courts, police officers, prisons, and judges as well. While the informal justice system, the most society inspired of the two, informal justice can be run by the church, members of a community, or even elders within a tribe. They base their idea of government on mostly social groups, in many of these informal ways, the government is not involved. The best example that I can thing of when imaging the formal justice system is that there is a book of laws within any given country that states what is a crime, what are the penalties for this crime, and how these penalties will be …show more content…
Each one of those previous examples holds there own consequence, and the forms, which they are to be dealt with. Where as informal systems, are mostly based on public opinion, let us say that in your tribe the act of stealing is considered almost the same as murder, but some can be treated more severely than others, based on influence or connections. These actions make up the perfect corrupt justice system. Based on those facts alone, gives a perfectly clear reason as to why the informal system is not a popular method of government in today’s society. I personally do not believe it is fair to treat offenders informally, why should someone’s life be determined by how a person of power feels towards them, what this system leads to is a corrupt government where people are triad unjustly and crude actions are constaly taking
Society has long since operated on a system of reward and punishment. That is, when good deeds are done or a person behaves in a desired way they SP are rewarded, or conversely punished when behaviour does not meet the societal norms. Those who defy these norms and commit crime are often punished by organized governmental justice systems through the use of penitentiaries, where prisoners carry out their sentences. The main goals of sentencing include deterrence, safety of the public, retribution, rehabilitation, punishment and respect for the law (Government of Canada, 2013). However, the type of justice system in place within a state or country greatly influences the aims and mandates of prisons and in turn targets different aspects of sentencing goals. Justice systems commonly focus on either rehabilitative or retributive measures.
The Moral Philosophy of Ethics as defined by Cyndi Banks is defined as “a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of questions of right and wrong and how we ought to live, Ethics involves making moral judgements about what is right and wrong, good or bad.(2).” Ethics in the criminal justice department is important because it justifies ones actions. In The Lucifer Effect by Phillip Zimbardo and Hard Measures by Jose A. Rodriguez, Jr. there are many scenarios of ethical dilemmas that need to be questioned.
The governance of our present day public and social order co-exist within the present day individual. Attempts to recognize the essentiality of equality in hopes of achieving an imaginable notion of structure and order, has led evidence based practitioners such as Herbert Packer to approach crime and the criminal justice system through due process and crime control. A system where packer believed in which ones rights are not to be infringed defrauded or abused was to be considered to be the ideal for procedural fairness. “I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.” Thomas Jefferson pg 9 cjt To convict an individual because proper consideration was not taken will stir up social unrest rather then it’s initial intent, when he or she who has committed the crime is not punished for their doings can cause for a repetition and even collaboration with other’s for a similar or greater crime.
To begin with, criminal justice is a system that is designed to maintain social control, which means it is a necessary aspect of every society since “Laws are the conditions under which independent and isolated men united to form a society” (Beccaria, 1764: 16). In order words, crime control deals with the methods that are taken by a society to reduce its crime. As a matter of fact, there are various crime control strategies from community policing to risk assessments. In addition to the different tactics for controlling crime, there are several theories that not only attempt to explain the causes of crime, but also outline different ways to handle offenders; for example, deterrence, rehabilitation, and even retribution. Now, it is important to realize that there is no perfect model for crime control since there are advantages and disadvantages to every system. With this in mind, it is clear that the crime control has changed throughout recent decades, and one can easily identify these changes by drawing from situations that involve race, gender, and two theoretical perspectives.
Ethics are the principles that shape individual lives in modern society. It is a subjective idea that seems to have a standard in society. Ethics and morals are the major factors that guide individuals to make right and wrong choices. Something that is morally right to one person might be the very opposite of what another person would view as right. There are many factors that can trigger a change in an individual’s view of morality.
...lacks, and men. Furthermore, the competing paradigms influence public policy. Those that maintain acts as voluntary are more inclined to punish the individual or group, however those that are seen to act under determined forces, judge treatment to be more suitable. Even though these theories contrast, they still contain similarities which are shared in the new penology. Aspects are taken from all to create a new perspective on crime that centres on the management of offenders.
There are several types of punishment that can be inflicted upon an offender including, fines, community sanctions and imprisonment (The Judicial Conference of Australia, 2007). Punishment is described as a sanction which inflicts a certain amount of pain and loss on the offender, used for payback and deter (The Judicial Conference of Australia, 2007; Carlsmith, Darley, & Robinson, 2002). There are three ways society justifies punishing offenders, through the
Society today sets the standards for both life and social behavior. If you notice justice is not served by what is truly right and wrong, but instead by what society believes is right and wrong. A magistrate sits behind his bench and conforms to the beliefs of the majority. A jury is drawn from the same pool that follows the not only the majority, but the other members of the jury. Doing so has made society itself Judge, Jury, and executioner. This defeats the whole purpose of Justice. How can we gain the truth of a subject when every investigator is mirroring his colleague? It is the same as if you were digging a hole with two persons, only that one is digging deeper while the other is filling it up. Neither knows what the consequences of their actions, they only know that that both of them are digging, and in their minds that is the "right" thing to do. Whether they accomplish anything at all does not matter, so long as that they feel in their hearts that they are pursuing what is right.
Ethics is moral principles that govern a person 's or group 's behavior. Law enforcement should have good ethics that is what the community expects. There are many opinions about what are good ethics. Some ethics may or can even cause problems. For example protecting is a good ethic that law enforcement should obtain. If their is a man who is not on their five senses either on drugs or drunk carrying a lethal weapon, any firearm, device, instrument, material, or any other substance that is capable of producing great bodily harm or death from the manner it is used or intended to be used. The police morality is to protect in order to do that they may have to agriate the man to a certain extent. For me That is a good ethic or moral since i see protection for the people who were around this unstable man. On the other hand others see it as police brutality since the man was not conscious of what he was doing, so is this protecting behavior good or bad for our law enforcement. For me ethics is just a way for people to judge you on what kind of person you are. There is a problem with that because people judge on what they think is going on not on what the situation is encountering. For law enforcement ethics are codes that the choose to follow on their own not because they are being criticized, but because they want to. Law
The criminal justice system views any crime as a crime committed against the state and places much emphasis on retribution and paying back to the community, through time, fines or community work. Historically punishment has been a very public affair, which was once a key aspect of the punishment process, through the use of the stocks, dunking chair, pillory, and hangman’s noose, although in today’s society punishment has become a lot more private (Newburn, 2007). However, it has been argued that although the debt against the state has been paid, the victim of the crime has been left with no legal input to seek adequate retribution from the offender, leaving the victim perhaps feeling unsatisfied with the criminal justice process. Furthermore, can formal social control institutions such as the criminal justice system and the government provide the best aspect of producing conformity and law abiding behaviour? Hirschi’s (1969) social control theory is concerned with what effect formal institutions have on conformity in individuals and in particular, how law abiding behaviour is produced due to these institutions (Walklate, 2005).
How does humanity govern its self? The world, as seen today, is an extremely diverse nation with various, backgrounds, traditions, and customs. The aforementioned are informal social controls used to help govern citizens in an unceremonious way. These informal controls developed over time into formal controls, laws, to try and restore harmony within a society and punish those who are in violation of laws. Laws are defined as a set of rules developed by a body of legislation to maintain order and peace of an organized people. Laws can be used as an umbrella to blanket a multitude of subsets, such as, political, administrative, financial, and civil infractions. Public Order crimes can also be placed in to a subcategory of criminal legislation. When defining a criminal infraction there are two sides of the spectrum, the victim and the offender. Drug usage and drug-related crimes have the most relevant association when it comes to violation of federal and state statutes. So what happens when there is not apparent “victim?” Is there a thing as a “victimless” crime? Public order and drug crimes may not seem to have an effect in an instant, but over time it damages our nation as a whole.
It is also important for criminal justice professionals to study ethics, as ethics is important in criminal justice policy making. These professionals are in a position to make choices and analyze options in order to make decisions that affects the lives of many people. Professionals who formulate policies should act ethically and they have to realize the ethical responsibility in making policies especially when it comes to punishment.
Punishing the unlawful, undesirable and deviant members of society is an aspect of criminal justice that has experienced a variety of transformations throughout history. Although the concept of retribution has remained a constant (the idea that the law breaker must somehow pay his/her debt to society), the methods used to enforce and achieve that retribution has changed a great deal. The growth and development of society, along with an underlying, perpetual fear of crime, are heavily linked to the use of vastly different forms of punishment that have ranged from public executions, forced labor, penal welfare and popular punitivism over the course of only a few hundred years. Crime constructs us as a society whilst society, simultaneously determines what is criminal. Since society is always changing, how we see crime and criminal behavior is changing, thus the way in which we punish those criminal behaviors changes.
Offenders are protected today by both the rule of law, ensuring that all offenders are treated equally, regardless of their age, sex or position in the community, and due process, which ensures that all offenders are given a fair trial with the opportunity to defend themselves and be heard (Williams, 2012). Beccaria’s emphasis on punishment being humane and non-violent has also carried through to modern day corrections. It is still the case today that offenders must only receive punishment that is proportionate to the crime they have committed and the punishment is determined by the law. The power of the judges and the magistrates to make decisions on punishment is guided by the legislation and they do not have the power to change the law (Ferrajoli,
Every nation has their own set of legal strategies they use to guide them in making important decisions. Each nation has its traditions and policies they follow. Through the world, there are two main types of legal systems that are used; most nations follow either common or civil law. Both the common law system and the civil law system share similarities in having courts, judges, and comparing cases to laws. While both systems share similarities, they also contain many differences, making them two very divergent legal systems.