People's Needs
The Criminal Justice System is there to help you.
Penal Justice Practitioners Address a Variety of Needs
The CJ career caters to a wide range of people's needs. Human trafficking, terrorism, and drug and substance abuse victims are among them. The immediate needs of sex trafficking victims must be met first. The first and most pressing need is for protection, which can be fulfilled by providing emergency (safe) accommodation (Pollock, 2014). Clothing and food are two other emergency needs. International victims often need translation services to avoid isolation and expedite contact about other necessities. After they've met their immediate needs, they'll have to deal with other issues that occur in the short and long term (Hough & Roberts, 2005). These include housing (transitional and permanent housing for adults or foster centers for minors), legal assistance (legal representation and assistance with the visa application, and immigration petitions), and advocacy (for instance attending appointments and the criminal justice system, completing applications, human, transportation, and immigration services).
Another need identified by law enforcement and service providers is health-screening services for sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, or pregnancy, vaccination, immunizations, and treatment for any physical injuries.
Other services include childcare services, education, life skills training family reunification and repatriation.Terrorism
Terrorism often leads to the murder and injury to thousands of innocent civilians of all cultures, races, and religious orientation. Victims of acts of terror are often in need of services of the criminal justice system, which has a role in countering terrorism by bringing culprits of terrorist activities to justice and holding them responsible for their acts in line with human rights and existing laws (Pollock, 2014). The victims of terror are often in need of the criminal justice services, which establishes and implements operational legislations grounded on national approaches for the inquiries and prosecution of crime. Thus, the criminal justice system caters to the need of justice to the victims by protecting them and supporting them during the crimes using the instruments of the penal justice.
The penal justice system also caters to the needs of drug addicts and underage drinkers (Chandler et al., 2009).
A majority of the victims often experience emotional disturbances, academic failure, and family issues among other challenges (Pollock, 2014). The system of criminal justice can address the needs of these groups by referring drug lawbreakers into treatment via several means comprising diverting nonviolent criminals to treatment, specifying treatment as an incarceration condition, probation, and summoning drug or specialized courts, which deal with drug offense issues (Hough & Roberts, 2005). The courts direct and plan for treatment as a substitute to imprisonment, actively supervising progress in care and arranging for other services for the victims.Multiculturalism and Diversity Concerns
Multiculturalism and diversity pose a serious concern for criminal justice staff. For diverse cultures to get equal treatment, it is significant that the practitioners in the criminal justice field understand the way various cultures live and perceive the world. The major concerns faced in the profession include racial profiling, judiciary bias and cultural norms associated with different groups of people (Hough & Roberts, 2005). Racial profiling as a multicultural or diversity issue encompasses the extensive view that law enforcers allow racial prejudices to establish whether to enforce a law or not. The issue has made many agencies to review and try to reform the law enforcer's culture.
Another concern in the system of criminal justice is judicial bias.
The American system of justice has often been regarded as biased starting from the arrest to the arraignment, the trial, and punishing. The system of courts has a low representation of minority lawyers, jurors, and judges. The underrepresentation of minorities makes them perceive they do not get just treatment in the courts of law and that pursuing solutions to criminal and civil complaints from the courts is a waste of energy and time. In practicality, there has been some ethnic and racial prejudice in the system in the same way it is experienced in other sectors of the society.Cultural standards in other states can also prompt issues in the justice system domestically (Hough & Roberts, 2005). For example, in eastern Iowa, the parents of a Chinese national student were apprehended for bribery and witness tampering but had their charges dropped when it came out that they were acting under a dissimilar set of what is expected from the legal system. Whereas bribery is, in theory, illegal in China, it is happening, and its restriction is seldom enforced. Therefore, the parents of the student assumed that it was anticipated in the U.S. legal system similarly.Resolving the Needs of a Diverse Population by the Criminal Justice Practitioners
Criminal justice practitioners need to know the intersection between ethnicity and race and the fact that numerous people regard themselves as multiracial. In a bid to address the needs of a diverse population, the professionals need to comprehend the necessities of all races and not just the cultures they come from. The criminal justice professionals like the police have been trained to handle different situations that concern handling various multicultural groups. In other instances, the police observe the diversity and the different multicultural needs of diverse groups in a way that preserves the constitutional right of all individuals as provided in the constitution.
Awareness of the Public of the Responsibilities Attributed with the Criminal Justice System
In my opinion, almost half of the population is aware of the rules and responsibilities of criminal justice practitioners while the remaining half is unconcerned. According to research, the reason could be that most of the people in the U.S. get a lot of their impression and knowledge about the justice system via the media (Hough & Roberts, 2005). Thus, a lot of the information people harbor about the system of justice is what the media represents and with that, it is clear that most society members are oblivious of the functions and duties linked with the professionals in the system.
The Perceptions of the Society about the CJ profession
As previously described, research demonstrates that the media provides much of the criminal justice information to most of the individuals in the U.S.(Hough & Roberts, 2005). Drawing on this study, people give an extreme consideration to the "social learning" influences of television concerning the transmission of information. Given that in most television episodes, law enforcers are directly linked with the courts, the police, or government departments and are tremendously white middle-aged males. The portrayal of the police as criminal justice professions becomes the perception of the police by the public.
Removing the Negative Stereotypes Associated with the Criminal Justice Occupation
Several measures can be taken to remove the negative stereotypes linked with the criminal justice profession such as advocating for law and policy reforms. Such national laws will assist to guarantee that judges and law enforcers adhere to their global obligations linked to stereotyping (Hough & Roberts, 2005). For instance, a law can be established that may accord a prejudiced victim a legal cause of redress to hold judges of a certain case responsible. Another measure is to train the law enforcers to give them the experience, which will lessen the malicious effects of insentient racial prejudices (Hough & Roberts, 2005). Human rights supporters can play a critical role in averting and challenging stereotyping linked with the criminal justice system. Significantly, advocates can conduct evidence-grounded studies to highlight the evils of judicial stereotyping. Such research might highpoint the dominance, harms, and nature of stereotyping in cases of violence cases.
References
Chandler, R. K., Fletcher, B. W., & Volkow, N. D. (2009). Treating drug abuse and addiction in the criminal justice system: improving public health and safety. Jama, 301(2), 183-190.
Hough, M., & Roberts, J. (2005). Understanding public attitudes to criminal justice. United Kingdom: McGraw-Hill Education.
Pollock, J. M. (2014). Ethical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice. New Jersey: Nelson Education.
