Essay Sample on Emerging Problems in Criminal Justice System: High Rates of Drug Use, Juvenile Offenders, & Violence

Introduction

Currently, there are various emerging problems related to the criminal justice system, such as an increase in drug consumption with a rate of 50 to 80 per cent of the people who indulge once they are arrested (Gaber & Wright, 2016). The number of youth crimes is increasing, especially in juvenile offenders, as well as a high rate of incarceration and violence against females (Reiman & Leighton, 2015). Various scholars support the issues regarding the criminal justice system. Such as William Chambliss, who was a United States sociologist and criminologist, who argued that the criminal justice system uses plea bargaining from power analysis. Wright explained that the most famous activists and lawmakers needed to work closely to propose the desires of transformative changes. Finally, Clemmer indicated the literature development of the prison culture and socialization as well as norms, beliefs, practices, and norms of inmates. Hence, this paper explores the emerging problems in the criminal justice system in connection to Clemmer, Wright, and Chambliss.

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Plea Bargaining in the Criminal Justice System

Plea bargaining entails the act of a criminal justice system where a defendant accepts to plead guilty to a particular criminal charge through the exchange for concession related to prosecution. William Chambliss was a United States sociologist and criminologist who argued that the criminal justice system uses plea bargaining from power analysis. He introduced conflict theory, which explained that the battle within social classes is a vital force towards capitalist societies. Chambliss discussed plea bargaining as the misuse of justice by political officials, business elites, and criminals to prevent a conviction. The offenders received various considerations regarding the quality pleas like bargaining about the charge, sentence, concurrent, and dropped charges. In enhancing the appropriateness of the research, Chambliss incorporated different findings from the injustice study of 1956 associated with problems of legalizing the plea bargaining and whether there was the conviction of due to bargaining according to the law (Reiman & Leighton, 2015).

William Chambliss engaged in class research using labelling theory, where he involved the two groups of male, high school learners who were white, and they participate in delinquent acts like drinking, truancy, vandalism, and theft. The law enforcement people could not arrest them, which Chambliss termed as "saints" (Williams & Tiedens, 2016). The boys came from an honoured family and had better grades and reputation in school since they were eager not to be caught with indiscipline cases. The one's police could arrest termed as "Roughnecks," as indicated by Chambliss. Roughnecks were insolent and hostile following the police confrontation and eventually labelled by colleagues as deviants since they engaged in delinquency behaviours.

However, Chambliss's research did not provide an in-depth analysis of plea bargaining because it is permitted in all nations and the federal system despite the differences concerning the regulation of plea in the jurisdiction. For instance, the labelling theory did not indicate how the reactions and attitudes of others relate to deviance development. So, this approach was confusing and unclear to prove because it applied to minimal numbers of deviant since the individuals were only caught and termed as deviant. Prosecutors can entice concessions related to incentivize the defendant to plead guilty. The action of plea bargaining has been a debated subject area in different legal practitioners and academics as well as enhances the effectiveness and efficiency of the criminal justice system. William incorporated the approaches of deviance, which indicated that the behaviour that may violate the standard of social or cultural norms which are considered even today. For example, activities like excessive gambling, alcoholism, stealing prostitution, and playing with fire. The deviant concept is complicated since norms vary across the times, places, and groups. Thus, Chambliss did not indicate how theories like differential-association would contribute to criminals in society since the majority of individuals understand the deviance from other people they associate. Also, the vagueness of the approach does not help to social science or empirical validation research methods.

Mass Incarceration is as a Result of Punitive Political Discourse

According to Wright, mass incarnation implies the civil rights issues due to the racial disparities in the justice system. For instance, the Blacks have the likelihood of being arrested, stopped, and detained by law enforcement groups before the trial, as well as provided with harsh sentences unlike writes (Gaber & Wright, 2016). Racial discrimination, mostly in the justice system, brings the aspects of inequality in the community. Wright argued that the most famous activists and lawmakers needed to work closely to propose the desires of transformative changes. Wright introduced various theoretical perspectives, such as the state autonomy approach that argued that the government is an independent force and power centre. Elite theory indicated that leaders of the prominent companies dominate the communities or societies. In attaining change, there is a need to eliminate prison to the people associated with non-serious crimes to help the state to incarcerate, from eliminating money bail and private prisons as well as reforming employment and housing laws. The action changes the perception of citizens about the justice system to emulate humanity, equality, and fairness.

Besides, Wrights indicated that mass incarnation has severe impacts to social, economic, and racial. For example, the state incurs around $ 270 billion on the criminal justice system, particularly in California (Gaber & Wright, 2016). Mass incarceration results to inequality ad poverty since it serves as an economic chain that holds many individuals, making them unable to access employment, benefits, and reunite the society. The system brings disparities against others because of their physical appearance, where Africans- Americans are imprisoned many times, unlike whites. Accordingly, variations in the criminal justice system are significant to balance they trade-off to protect constitutional rights as well as guard against the issues of crimes. In obtaining civil liberties, the community needs to tolerate all stages of crimes irrespective of class and race to sustain constitutional rights. Therefore, mass incarceration does not keep society safe because murder and crime rates are still rampant in every nation.

Prisonization According to Clemmer

Donald Clemmer used the approach prisonization in his text of 1940 to indicate "the prison community," meaning mores, folkways, customs as well as penitentiary culture (LopezAguado, 2016). Prisonization entails the act of assimilation into the community that adopts specific constellation of values, beliefs, and norms that shapes the ways of prisoners and affects the reformation goals. Prisonization is vital since it determines the success of the adjustment of prisoners outside life. Clemmer means that the set of norms and values learned may replace the conventional belief inmate associated with practices and beliefs of the mainstream society. The book of Clemmer offers details on how the current entrance in the penitentiary life could be prisoned, although his work fails to explain the preexistence of the culture. Clemmer concentrates on assumptions that prisonization may lead to universal features on the lives of prisoners without explaining how they happened. The book fails to indicate structural elements that shape the prison community like antagonistic relationship about the inmates' stratification. Clemmer's opinions stimulate the literature development of the prison culture and socialization as well as norms, beliefs, practices, and norms of inmates.

Prisonization does not affect all prisoners in the same way since it creates issues in rehabilitation goals as well as makes the reforms depending on assimilation degrees and confinement length to prison culture. Clemmer argued that, as the more time the inmate lives in prison, the higher the prisonized they become, thus becoming less successful in society's adjustment (Hohl & Stanko, 2015). For instance, the crimes associated with sex are taken with more significant consideration. However, the Clemmer book lacks adequate information about whether the environment may change the personalities of the prisoners.

Conclusion

In conclusion, prisonization entails the act of assimilation into the community that adopts specific constellation of values, beliefs, and norms that shapes the ways of prisoners and affects the reformation goals. Besides, the number of youth crimes has increased, especially in juvenile offenders, as well as a high rate of incarceration and violence. The offenders receive various considerations regarding the quality pleas like bargaining about the charge, sentence, concurrent, and dropped charges. Therefore, various problems emerge within the criminal justice system, which needs appropriate redress by offering rehabilitation programs to the victims of crime.

References

Gaber, N., & Wright, A. (2016). Protecting urban health and safety: balancing care and harm in the era of mass incarceration. Journal of Urban Health, 93(1), 68-77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-015-0009-6

Hohl, K., & Stanko, E. A. (2015). Complaints of rape and the criminal justice system: Fresh evidence on the attrition problem in England and Wales. European journal of criminology, 12(3), 324-341. https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370815571949

LopezAguado, P. (2016). The collateral consequences of prisonization: Racial sorting, carceral identity, and community criminalization. Sociology Compass, 10(1), 12-23. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12342

Reiman, J., & Leighton, P. (2015). Rich get richer, and the poor get prison, the (Subscription): ideology, class, and criminal justice. Taylor and Francis Group, Routledge

Williams, M. J., & Tiedens, L. Z. (2016). The subtle suspension of backlash: A meta-analysis of penalties for women's implicit and explicit dominance behaviour. Psychological Bulletin, 142(2), 165. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000039