Justice is the very essence of the traditional criminal justice system. This formal system involves the intervention of the state in remedying socially disapproved behaviors by particular individuals in the society. As such, the process strives to punish the offender accordingly and in so doing ensure that justice is served for both the victim and the offender. However, there has been a growing debate on the use of other alternatives to the criminal justice system. This has arisen due to various factors such as a growing dissatisfaction on the traditional criminal justice system in its failure to serve the victim’s search for justice. In addition, there are crimes where justice can only emerge using other informal means. It is also crucial to point out that informal forms of justice have been continuously encouraged in today’s society so as to maintain peace and build a forgiving society where virtues and morals can be equally cultivated. Victims of crimes are at the focal point of the very crime itself and the criminal justice system. Even though the offender is significantly involved in the process, victims are what propel it. They have suffered the most from the offences and at times, going through …show more content…
It communicates to the offender and the community of the unsocial behavior and its disapproval. Harris (2006, p.328) postulates that re-integrative shaming can significantly affect the justice process in a positive way. In most cases where offenders are arraigned in court, it is difficult to determine whether they are remorseful or even ashamed of their crimes. This factor leaves the victims even more perturbed when offenders seek to defend their crimes. Re-integrative shaming which involves the show of disapproval of offenders’ crimes in an environment where there is no labeling or condemnation allows victims to get the empathy and understanding of their hurt from
In the case of Tara Brown’s murder, various groups of individuals are affected. As well as maintaining principles of fair punishment and deterrence, the criminal justice system has to consider perceptions of the victim’s family (secondary victim), the community’s demand for crime prevention, and the offender’s rights to a fair court hearing. The most likely outcome is imprisonment for Lionel John Patea due to committing an indictable offence. It is important to note that if this was only a case of domestic abuse without murder, it would utilise more time, effort and expenses to come to a resolution. This is due to the different circumstances and degree of abuse that the judge has to assess.
This can be shown through the victims’ enhanced influence in court through the presence of Victim Impact Statements. These essentially are pleas written by victims that have an influence over the sentencing of the perpetrator of the crime through its role in helping the judge decide on the perpetrator’s sentencing for the crimes they have committed. This is an important aspect in showing that victims actually have a sufficient amount of participation thus making it that the criminal justice system isn’t broken at all because of the victim's freedom to explain the impact the crime had on them which is then taken into consideration when deciding the outcome of the offender’s sentence, thereby giving the victim a sense of closure as a result of the feeling that their voice has been heard (Jeffrey , Levett,
The victim right’s movement of the 1980’s demonstrated a shift in the Judicial and Law Enforcement practices from Rights of the accused to rights of the victim. The fundamental right of the victim was to be represented equitably throughout the criminal justice process. There are four basic rights of the victims that are the right or information and notification, participation, the right to feel and be reasonably protected and
Corruption of the criminal justice system can be reversed when the parties involve take part in legislation of fixing centuries of systematic oppression. In the year of 2017, the government created the Reverse Mass Incarceration Act. The purpose was to decrease the number of prisoners by allocating money to states who continually diminish their crime rate and prison population (Morial). The government has an overwhelming amount of control of prisons, and with this power that is invested should take a course of action by inflicting new ways of justice. The reversing of incarcerating a mass of prisoners would provide opportunities for prisoners to gain direction with their life and make a future for
This process will ensure that each offender receives the proper punishment and that the community is satisfied with the decision. The offender-based models, retributive and utilitarian, does not help the victim recover. Restorative justice is designed
Victim witness programs are used by the government in order to provide support and assistance to those who fall victim to a crime. According to Victim Witness Program, the primary goals of such programs, include but are not limited to, encouraging victims to participate in any parole and supervised release processes of their offender, notify and facilitate victims in participation of any hearing or release dates in regards to their offender, provide options for supportive services, and advocate for crime victims (2015, para.1). The organization under which the victim-witness program is located is under a system, which has many internal constituencies, thus creating competing and conflicting purposes. The goals of the victim-witness program are quite simple and seek out to give the victim the right to be represented during the processing of the offender, however, given the multiple roles the court, for example, must serve, the goals of the victim-witness program can be both complex and conflicting.
Shattered is a book written by Debra Puglisi Sharp that tells her scaring story. She was kidnaped, raped and her husband was murdered during the crime. The book focuses on how these events affect her life and that of those close to her, including dragging her family through the trial process. In April 1998, Debra is raped and kidnapped from her home by a stranger. She was then taken to the kidnapper’s home where she was assaulted multiple times and dehumanized, but fortunately, she escaped after five continuous days.
Today our justice system has a multitude of options when dealing with those who are convicted of offenses. However, many argue that retributive justice is the only real justice there is. This is mainly because its advantage is that it gives criminals the appropriate punishment that they deserve. The goals of this approach are clear and direct. In his book The Little Book of Restorative Justice, Zehr Howard (2002), illustrates that the central focus of retributive justice is offenders getting what they deserve (p. 30).
A comparison between the Due process model and crime control model Within the criminal justice system, there are two competing models: the crime control model and the due process model. These two models were constructed by Robert Packer and each represents a particular school of thought. In managing crime, there is the individual i.e. the suspect and there is the society. The due process model is seen to focus on the suspect whereas the crime control model focuses on the society. This paper analyzes these two models and based on the rate of crime in the society, makes recommendations as to which is the best model in criminal justice.
The criminal justice system is responsible for delivering punishment to breakers of the law, and according to Professor Colin S Diver, the criminal justice system derives its authority with a reliable “moral credibility” (Diver 5). However, the Norsefire methodology of delivering justice is not one that exhibits a
Do you ever get upset when someone is being shamed online or even in public? Well I do, one women who put up with this her whole life was Monica Lewinsky. She was a patient zero of losing a personal reputation on a global scale almost instanteously, as what she talked about in her Price of Shame Ted Talk. Ms. Lewinsky believed that shaming over the web or in person is bad. I personal agree with her on this because no one likes being made fun of.
In the criminal justice system, the corrections component is also responsible for the rehabilitation of the convicted individual. It is their duty to attempt to make the defendant a productive member of society once again. Based on the individual’s behavior while incarcerated, the court and corrections officials may decide to place them on parole, which ensures that the individual will comply with the rules of society once they are fully released from the system. The criminal justice system is an essential role in the organizational structure of not only the United States but also in countries around the world. If there were no criminal justice system to administer punishment, the world would be unstructured, disorganized, unjustified, cruel, and not to mention a chaotic place for it citizens.
The disadvantage of this approach is the fact that it does not focus on the victim instead it justifies the offender’s actions by regarding them as patients and victims of dysfunctional societies Restitution
Crime is defined as an action which evokes dissent and constitutes an offence in society. Crime can take a number of forms which have been conceptualized by a number of sociologists. The purpose of this essay is to analyze the function of crime regarding its contribution towards social stability. The French Sociologist, Emile Durkheim, was the first to comprehensively establish a relation between social functionalism, crime and deviance.
This essay will discuss crime as both a social problem and a sociological problem. Crime is seen as a typical function of society. Crime doesn’t happen without society. It is created and determined by the surrounding society. According to the CSO, the number of dangerous and negligent acts committed between the years of 2008 and 2012 rose from 238’000 in 2008 to 257’000 in 2012.