Essay on U.S. Criminal Justice System - 1850 Words

Before proposing a reform to the American criminal justice system, we must first examine the problems that plague the process of justice on all levels. American society plays an important role in shaping the criminal justice system. Their beliefs and values determine the type of deviants and the consequences of the crimes. Often their beliefs contradict each other. Americans believe that the more serious a crime is, the longer a person should spend in a prison. In reality it means that a law at discretion can sometimes just set a number of years that a person should spend in the jail, regardless of the situation. The time in the prison is often very long (Randall, Brown, Miller Fritzler, p.216) because some states have definite†¦show more content†¦Despite offering possible treatment or programs, Americans place the responsibility of the crime on the person and they believe it is up to the person to pull by their bootstraps back into the society with no or little help. The society shuns the ex-convicts because people after being exposed to media which put the convicts in a bad light, believe that all convicts are dangerous, crazy, and liable to bite back. In the sharp contrast, the European system of treating the deviants is vastly different in the beliefs and methods. In Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, (Doleschal, 1977) they believe that the treatment is better than the prison or death. For example, the Netherlands has â€Å" 18 persons per 100,000 population, 1/12 of the U.S. rate of 215 per 100,000†(Doleschal, p.52) which is amazing if it did happen in America. The reason for abolishing prisons’ conditions is that the environment of the isolation and deprivation did harm than good to the prisoners and created the cycles of violence. In Denmark and Sweden, Doleschal illustrated the humane conditions that Europe preferred in the prisons, ..no fences, no bars on the windows, no detention sash. Guards do not wear uniforms..the buildings look like a motel. Inmates may use telephones to call anyone anytime, they have keys to their own individual rooms, they have their own money, and they wear their own clothes. There are no restrictions on hours of watching television or visiting in the day rooms orShow MoreRelated U.S. Criminal Justice System Essay1006 Words   |  5 Pages U.S. Criminal Justice System In order to keep a safe society, it is important to establish a nation with good education to teach people judging from right or wrong , excellent police force to keep our street safe, and most of all, a good criminal justice system to carry out the justice. United States is a place with little crimes, a nation with nice houses, beautiful beaches, and expensive shops without property just like what I seen in the American movies in my opinion before I arrivedRead MoreThree Components Of The U.s. 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