Reforming Criminal Activity: Examining Correctional Systems & Victims - Essay Sample

Introduction

The world is becoming a place where every person is at free will to do what he/she feels fine doing. We are very keen on our rights. But how do the reasons revolve around the criminal offenders, the system, and the victimized individuals? What are the possible steps that the system should put in place while eradicating the illegal activities within their locales? Correctional systems are there to derive out any criminal activity within the nation and to formulate the best way to uproot the problem in question. The correctional systems delegate their roles based on the behavioral consideration, theoretical framework, and the policies in place. Generally, for the correction systems to be fair and trustworthy, accountability, and transparency in how they delegate their functions are critical. But to eradicate any criminal trait, background evaluation, and systematic approach is very significant to consider.

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Understanding the concept of any criminal characteristics is more complex, considering all the variables relating to the meaning. Criminal traits happen through such factors as means, motives, and opportunities (Hegger, 2015). Crime occurs between the criminal and the victim. The process requires the correctional system to provide real justice to the victims and the best correctional measures to the offenders. Cullen, Fisher, & Applegate (2000) explain that correctional units are governed and protected by ideal policies and regulations within the setup of the political boundaries. The courts and the prisons are regarded as the pivot of the country's reciprocation of transgression. As compared to the near past where justice was offered unsystematically, today, we have a more protocoled and humanitarian system.

We have to agree that policy alone does not guarantee total eradication of the criminal activities in the society. Take the case of direct punishment to the offender after committing the crime. The sentence may fit the rule of law but defies the justification to the victim. The law allows the offenders to accounts for their actions as a representation of the rest of the criminals. Upon serving their terms of corrections, there is a higher chance that they will involve in criminal activities.

Another correctional approach is the systematic evaluation approach. The offender is diagnosed and put through various assessments, counseling, and therapy to understand their background and criminal behaviors. The intention of this approach provides the best way to solve the problem based on its root cause. According to Hegger (2015), to asses and understand the opportunistic evidence that leads to criminal behaviors. Gaining knowledge and comprehension of criminogenic needs is among the attempts to understand unlawful practices. Such requirements are linked to wicked thoughts and actions (Hegger, 2015). From the behavioral system theory, an individual inherits traits from their parents.

The third approach considers collaborative and universal justice. The criteria consider criminal behavior as a violation of the laws of society, not just the victim. The victims are either allowed to access the relevant information from the corrections system (Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of crime, 2017). The moment the criminals harm an individual, the correction units take the responsibility of finding justice to the victim as well as proving ease in their hard time (National criminal reference service, 2000). Considering the communal response to the criminal traits helps the correctional systems to validate their rehabilitation processes. The approach is crucial for the fight against criminology within society, but it lacks the critical evaluation of the primary influences of the behaviors.

Getting to the root of a criminal offense provides the best form of correctional measure. The moment a person involves in the system of justice, rehabilitation as a measure of correction is critical. I believe that exercising this systematic policy enables the corrections system to understand and evaluate some of the reasons for criminal behavior. Hegger thinks that the immediate cause of criminal traits is from the genetic and biological perspective. The genetic factors are accessed by the child from the date of birth.

If we consider scaling down the criminal behavioral patterns, many people will realize the conception of a crime is not just at the scene of the crime but from other perspectives. If we agree that the children can inherit their parental characteristics, it may be easy to evaluate which parent provided the genetic behavior. As discussed above, criminogenic may have resulted from the parent and not the child. The genetic orientation can shape the environment and the general upbringing of the children (Hegger, 2015). Genes form an individual's temperamental nature and control, low self-esteem, inadequate empathy, and even impulsivity.

The assessment of the historical and environmental locales also presents the essential background of criminal behaviors. Where we leave and where we come from suggestively, defines our practices. When an individual lives a neighborhood characterized by illegal activities, there is a possibility of him getting involved in such acts. The poverty-stricken areas present the likelihood of a person becomes a criminal. Living bellows the capability of accessing basic needs like food and clothing my forces an individual to look for alternatives, including crime.

The way we have no choice in our genetic background shows that we cannot choose our raising criteria. While some children are enjoying all the pleasantries from their parents, the less fortunate are struggling to make both ends meet. It is not their choice, but they are born in that background. The less fortunate children are at the highest risk of involving in criminal activities from childhood to adulthood. All this is showing that human behavior is impacted by childhood and environmental factors.

We can also consider factors such as substance abuse as a factor and how it relates to criminology. According to the research report by Walden University, 85% of the incarcerated people in the US are linked to drug abuse. Moreover, a maximum of 83% of the convicted criminals test positive for unlawful drugs when arrested (https://www.waldenu.edu/online-bachelors-programs/bs-in-criminal-justice/resource/what-influences-criminal-behavior). Drugs result into intoxication and alteration of the nervous system hence the negative impact in our decision making. Such mind alteration may lead to criminal behavior. Alternatively, drug use involves the cost of purchase or buying of the substances, thus prompting to illegal activities.

Theoretically, the behavioral system presents the psychological framework and its relation to the criminal characters of an individual. The concept of the behavioral system was coined by Bowlby (1982/1969). Its concern is to explore the behavioral patterns and their functions in the human race (Mikulincer & Shaver, 2003). There are various conceptual components of the behavioral system theory. The biological function; where a person has the highest chance of inheriting specific characters from their genetic origins. Two are the contextual factors that trigger certain behaviors of an individual. The third is the interrelating factors and functions constituting the basics for aiming for specific goals. Environmental factors and influences are also discussed in this framework.

Generally, providing historical and empirical evidence or the root cause of the criminal characters of an individual is significant in evaluating the reasons for the crim. The behavioral patterns of the individual is not a one-time occurrence, it recurs as evident by the supporting factors. There are factors such as the psychological orientation, historical evidence, genetic or biologic formulation, among others that may prompt a person to become a criminal. When offering a verdict by the corrections system, such factors are to be considered to enable them to take corrective measures to others from the same background. Besides, this is the only approach that can help eradicate criminal behaviors in society from the root cause. It gives an avenue for the correctional system to deduce the best way to help others from the same backgrounds that are still underground.

As guided by the behavioral system theory, evaluating and accessing all the possible reasons why one might have involved in the criminal offense is significant in solving the problem more broadly. As compared to other measures, like direct punishment, this framework provides a permanent solution to the problem. The convicted individual can continue with criminal activities after the sentence. The society and the victims are still at risk of being attacked again, posting a less effective method in contrast to the analysis of the root cause of the problem. Therefore, to solve a problem in a more permanent way, one requires understanding an in-depth cause of the issue.

References

Cullen, F.T., Fisher, B.S., and Applegate, B.K. (2000). Public Opinion about Punishment and Corrections. Crime and Justice, 27, 1-79.

Hegger, J. (2015) 6 Traits that Lead to Criminal Behavior https://www.policeone.com/corrections/articles/6-traits-that-lead-to-criminal-behavior QKg2lpUaZbdKL1ot/t

Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2003). The behavioral attachment system in adulthood: Activation, psychodynamics, and interpersonal processes.

National criminal reference service (2000). What do Victims Want? Practical Strategies to Achieve Justice for Victim crimes.

Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of crime, (2017). restorative justice. Accessed from https://www.victimsfirst.gc.ca/res/pub/gfo-ore/RJ.html

What Influences Criminal Behavior? https://www.waldenu.edu/online-bachelors-programs/bs-in criminal-justice/resource/what-influences-criminal-behavior