Criminal Justice

Question 1

Interactionist view

  Interactionist view state that individuals who hold social and political power play a significant role in the legal system.  For example, they can make moral judgments; that is, identify the honorable behaviors, and the wrong behaviors. Thus, since they have a law that identifies the right and wrong behavior, it means that the society does not have control of behaviors but rather the people in social and political power controls the behaviors by adhering to the criminal law (Siegel et al, 2011). In general, people in social and political power believe that crime is dishonoring the rules that are created by the state authority.

Consensus view

            According to the consensus view, criminal law identifies the norms and rules that society is expected to follow. When one commits a crime, it means that he or she violate the criminal law and the effects of crime are felt by the whole society (Siegel et al, 2011).In this case, people in social and political power do not control behavior but rather, criminal law has the power to ensure a peaceful society and protect the majority of citizens from destructive and dangerous behaviors.

Conflict view

 The conflict view states that criminal law has the power to control behaviors but it is influenced by the ruling class. This means that the ruling class or in other words the wealthy people enforce the criminal law on self-interest (Siegel et al, 2011). In other words, laws that define crime are made to protect wealth. To put it clearly, laws are created to prevent the lower classes from committing crimes such as burglary, robbery, and others that might threaten the life of wealthy people.

The best definition

 The definition that I think is the best is the consensus view of crime.  This is because the view is not self-interest but it is interested in the survival of society. Siegel (2011) states that citizens must come together and discuss on which behaviors should be considered legal and illegal. All people regardless of race, gender, and other characteristics are treated as equal members (Siegel et al, 2011).This means that the majority of citizens must come up with an agreement and express their values and beliefs. Another point about the consensus view is that the criminal law creates uniformity or it considers all people whether rich or poor. The law does not benefit the wealthiest but it focuses on protecting the members of the society (Siegel et al, 2011).  Siegel (2011) affirms that the consensus view uses the social harm approach in that it tries to prevent harmful behaviors that may harm society.

 

 

Question 2

Official data

  There are three methods of measuring crime and each method has strengths and weaknesses. The first method is official data. A point to note is that the researchers gather data on offenses and offenders and they derive the data from the Uniform Crime Report and the Juvenile Court Statistics.

The Uniform Crime Report has strengths in that researchers can derive nationwide data (Burfeind & Bartusch, 2010). This means that the official data is wide coverage and reliable. Another strength is that the researchers can derive information related to jurisdiction of the offense, violent crime, less serious crime, as well as age, gender, and other demographics (Burfeind & Bartusch, 2010).

 However, the Uniform Crime Report has weaknesses in that the data are police records. Note that police fail to record all crimes or what is known as inadequate recording (Burfeind & Bartusch, 2010).The unrecorded crime is known as 'dark figure’. This means that the unrecorded crime will not be included in the UCR data. Another weakness is that police use different policing strategies and methods (Burfeind & Bartusch, 2010).This means that some will report serious crime whereas others will less serious offenses. There will be controversy since police report inaccurate figures.

 Juvenile court statistics have strength in that researchers derive data that the State and county agencies have recorded. The data contain demographic such as age and gender, and other elements such as detention practices (Burfeind & Bartusch, 2010).The researchers also derive data on cases disposed. However, the juvenile court data has a primary weakness in that there is a discrepancy in the number of cases referred to court juvenile, and arrests. Thus, only a small number of juvenile offenses and arrests are recorded (Burfeind & Bartusch, 2010). Secondly, the juvenile court statistics have limited information and this indicates that the magnitude of crimes is omitted.

 

Self-Report Data

 This method of data collection has strength in that the researchers collect data from offenders who report both minor and serious offenses they have committed (Miller & Miller, 2012). Note that the offender will report all crimes hence the agency will gather a large amount of data. Secondly, government agencies use a questionnaire method to gather information about the cause of crime, and they also interact with the offenders and their families hence strengthening the parent-child attachment.

 However, the offender or the person reporting the crimes may forget critical information such as the date of crime, places, and other critical elements (Miller & Miller, 2012). On the same note, the respondents may over-report or underreport, hence omit serious crime or less serious crimes.  Secondly, researchers use a sample design that has flaws. For example, participants are students. This means that the sample does not contain youths and adults who might be delinquent and as a result, there is an underestimation of crime and delinquency (Miller & Miller, 2012). In general, this method of data collection has validity and reliability issues.

Victim data

  Victim data has strengths in that the researchers derive data from the victims and this means that the victim will reveal all information that they did not report to the police. In other words, the crimes that would go unreported are reported through interviewer-victim interaction (Burfeind & Bartusch, 2010). Secondly, researchers will also gather information related to the risks of victimization. Note that they will gather data related to social characteristics such as social class.

 However, the victim data has weaknesses in that the victim resists in reporting crime as they believe that reporting is not helpful or rather it will not change their lives. As a result, they only report simple assaults such as pocket-picking and omit serious assaults such as rape, drug use, and other Part 2 offenses (Burfeind & Bartusch, 2010). Secondly, the victim data is flawed in that victims less than 12 years do not report the assaults merely because the interviewer believes that the children will not report due to the relationship that exists between them and the offender (Burfeind & Bartusch, 2010).Therefore,  researchers only collect information provided by teenagers and adults.

The best method

 The method that I think is the best is the victim data. This is because the data is derived from the victims of offense and this means that the source provides the researchers with detailed information. For example, the National Crime Victimization Survey collects data from 135,000 individuals every 6 months (Cox, 2008). The data is based on the amount of crime, the characteristics of the victim, type of crime, among other elements. The information gathered does not only help evaluate the crime but it also helps in identifying the community needs and programs to address the needs (Cox, 2008). More importantly, the researcher identifies the risk that puts individuals into victimizations or the factors that contribute to being a victim.

 

Question 3

Two ways that I think can lessen the dark figure of crime is victim survey and better partnership with society. First, the criminal justice system should involve the victims in estimating and reporting the amount of crime and hence reduce the dark figure (Doorewaard, (2014). Note that many crimes go unreported or they remain invisible. When the researches face the victims directly, the victims will report the crime that the police did not notice. Thus, much attention should be a paid to the victims merely because victims are behind the dark figures, or in other words, they do not report to the police due to disbelief and other issues (Doorewaard, (2014). Secondly, the criminal justice system should co-operate with society or in other word there should be a better partnership. Note that the public or rather the society is better informed about the crimes happening within the society and therefore, they can be of great help in informing the criminal justice system about the crimes.

 

Question 4

 A methodology that I would propose for crime data collection in-person interviews. This method has a high level of reliability and validity (Piper, 1997). Note that the researchers will receive the best response. Cues such as body language will motivate the person to participate in the interview and the interviewer can take a longer time to gather information in a detailed manner.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

 Piper Lanny., Lucas Robert., Rohe Willima., & Shirey Jack. (1997). How to conduct

victimization surveys. Place of publication not identified: Diane Pub Co.

 

Doorewaard, C. (2014). The dark figure of crime and its impact on the criminal justice

system. Acta Criminologica: Southern African Journal of Criminology, 27(2), 1-13.

 

Cox, S. M. (2008). Juvenile justice: A guide to theory, policy, and practice. Los Angeles: Sage

Publications.

 

Miller, W., & In Miller, W. R. (2012). The social history of crime and punishment in America:

An encyclopedia.

 

Burfeind James., & Bartusch J Dawn. (2010). Juvenile Delinquency: an Integrated Approach. 

Jones & Barlett Publishers.

 

Siegel, L. J. (2007). Criminology: Theories, patterns, and typologies. Belmont, CA:

Thomson/Wadsworth.

 

Siegel, L. J., Brown, G. P., & Hoffman, R. (2011). Criminology: The core. Brantford, Ont: W.

Ross MacDonald School