The Criminal Law

Control theory states that people have the ability to resist the pressure that is likely to make them deviant. It explains that each person has both inner and outer controls. Inner control involves one’s unwillingness to act in a certain way that is based on his or her religion or individual feelings. The latter are made up of people such as family members, teachers and socially prominent people who influence one’s desire to act in a certain way (Card 55).

According to the reaction theory, negative behaviors and attitudes are caused by bad interactions that a person may be involved in his surroundings. He or she  might acquire these types of behavior by observing them  being used by other people. Thus, personal interpretation is said to shape  the behavior of the observer.

On the other hand, learning theory explains that the act of committing a crime comes from an individual’s interaction with those people who he or she frequently deals with within the society. It is mainly about the way   one interacts with the friends, in big and small social groups, with teachers and people in authority.

According to Hirsch’s argument, the theory of social bond is a branch of the wider theory of social control. This theory explains that criminal acts are caused by low connections within the society. It further argues that every person has the ability to commit a crime. However, he or she has a bond with the family members and friends and are reluctant to commit a crime for fear of what these people would say about them. The possibility depends on the connection that a person has with his family members, friends and the rest of the community. David Matza, on the other hand, concentrated on juvenile delinquency and is known for the work he did on the theory of naturalization. His personal commitment ensured his better obtained explanations for the study of juvenile delinquency.

The process of labeling begins when a person commits a crime and is caught by the police and made public.   He  is identified by people on the basis of the wrong thing he has done. This makes the person accept the label he has been given and results in deviation of his behavior towards that label. Despite the fact that some people are likely to pose high risks for the society, it is recommended that label should not be used in response to all people who have certain disorder.

According to Richard Quinney, thinking about crime is both critical and radical. . He states that in order to understand crime, radical thinking is required. Moreover, political policies such as laws that are to govern the behavior of the members of the society are caused by criminal activities. He adds that politicians are also likely to contribute to crimes, being involved in certain activities that ensure their ambitions are fully accomplished. In the process of so doing they are likely to commit a crime.

According to this argument, crimes are caused by the hostile nature of men as well as it results from the  inequalities presented in the society. Feminism is used under the social make up so that social, economic and political conditions under which women  exist are considered to ensure that equality is achieved across the gender. It is aimed at eliminating certain beliefs against women such as the belief that a woman’s place is at home and men are superior people at the managerial and supervisory levels.

This is the act of reconditioning harm that has been caused rather than other responses like giving punishment to the offender. It is aimed at making things the way they were before the offence was done. The correlation between restorative justice and criminology can be manifested in a situation where both a victim and an offender are involved. In this case, restoration is done by assigning a mediator to meet both the victim and the offender in order to resolve the conflict into an agreement. The mediator can assist in making the offender beware of the harm caused to the victim and also lets the victim prove that a wrong act had been done to him. This allows the mediator to come up with a better resolution that allows the offender to understand the harm he has caused and also for the victim to mind the reason why he was harmed by the other person.

Gottfredson and Hirsch made their colossal contribution to the understanding of delinquency crimes  explaining it by lack of social self control in terms of religion, family and political organizations, introduction of drugs, and family break ups -- all of which result in social instability. According to Gottfredson and Hirsch, people are likely to deviate from social norms and get into criminal activity by means of variables such as attachment, commitment, involvement and beliefs. According to them, labeling is the most confusing cause of criminal activities.

In reaction to life-related arguments, Gottfredson and Hirchi explain that there is a direct connection between age and crime while there is no relation of age to other variables that affect crime. They refer to it as “non-interaction hypothesis” meaning there is no interaction between age and any other factor, affecting a crime.

Life course theory is the belief that criminal behavior is caused by experiences that a person undergoes in the society as well as his own characteristics. On the other hand, the theory of latent trait is based on the idea that person’s emotional characteristics influence his or her criminal behavior. This manipulated emotional characteristic is the factor that makes some people risky criminals in comparison to others.

Latent traits hypothesis is the idea that any character that a person has was inherited by him from his parents. These are the traits that may influence a person’s possibility of becoming delinquent in adolescent stage. According to this hypothesis, people may decide about getting into crimes as a result of their genetic or mental characteristics and the setting of their neighborhood. In case these characteristics exist or they are less effective, a person is most likely to get engaged in the criminal activities or find himself in the threat of becoming a criminal. Such characteristics appear as soon as a person is born and continue as he grows, remaining stable in his body and even strengthening  as he grows up.

Turning point is the hypothesis that crime rates are high when a person is in his early years and reach the highest rate when he is in his teens, experiencing the decline in the subsequent years. According to the theorists who approve this hypothesis, crimes are the factors of age and are bound to vary as a person becomes older. It is explained that the move towards employment results in the reduced levels of crime which is followed by the development of non-criminal characteristics. Thus, it explains that work is directly related to the reduced levels of crimes.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program defines a violent crime as the one that comprises severe criminal activity such as murder, indiscriminative manslaughter, rape, burglary and serious assault. In other word, it involves those crimes the  commitment of which presupposes the usage of  excessive force and the willingness to use such force.

In the year 2010, it is estimated that a total of 1246246 crimes were committed in the U.S, this was a decline from the year 2009 by about 5%. For criminals between the ages of 10 years and below, the number was 24% less than in the year 2006 (Card 67).

There are a number of factors that contribute to terrorism, including religion and children. This can be explained by the argument that the members of a certain religious group are so loyal to this groups that they may opt to follow religious terrorists such as Hezbollah which use religion as a hiding place for the terrorist activity. There may also be disagreement about land boundaries such as the case between Israel and Palestine over Jammu and Kashmir. Solving the terrorism problem in the society is an issue that requires a multi-dimensional approach. However, a dialogue has been considered to be the most effective tool that will eliminate the wrongly directed grievance of those terrorists involved in such dialogue. How various forms of media contribute to the fear of violent crime

Media sources make the publicity be afraid of the violence of crime. This is mainly through the manner in which the events are displayed in the media. The display of the information in an exaggerated way, for example showing a rescuer being shot dead by the attackers of a bank robbery, causes a public fear of taking any actions in case a violent crime breaks out in reality. display.

The laws that are used against rape cases were enforced to ensure that women are protected as people under the control of men. However, this perception has changed to mean protecting the position of a woman as a person. Despite this, many rape cases are never reported. Rape shield laws were formed to ensure that women are protected from non consensual sexual assault by men. The laws protect women by ensuring that they wear the types of clothes they prefer without being blamed. The law also limits the extent to which rapists may seek to rely on women’s dressing codes, as a defense for their actions.

Sexual violence occurs in correctional places such as prisons because people try to redefine their sexuality. This may involve the engagement in the same sex relationships. It is not necessarily called homosexuality despite the existence of some cases of it According to Fleisher, once an inmate enters prison, he or she would like to engage in sex as she used to do when she was out. This may force them to look for partners and freedom to have sex which they consider the only freedom they would like to have. However, the empirical literature suggests that most inmates engage in sex not being under coercion.

Property crime refers to the criminal activity in which there is a property that previously belonged to the accuser, which he claims to become in  possession of another person i.e. the accused. In addition, property crime also involves the destruction of property of the accuser by use of fire or disposal presented by the accused. The history of property crimes is not explicitly defined due to the lack of proper laws to legislate the handling of these cases. However, efforts are underway to ensure that these laws are enforced in such a way that the case of the property crime is followed by the right process .

Cyber crime refers to the act of accessing protected sites in the Internet by the unauthorized users employing the methods that hack though the security system and allow them view the contents of the secure site. Some of the factors that contribute to cyber crime include the use of non-competent web applications which make unauthorized users easily access protected information. It may also be caused by the development of web applications that allow access to the secure sites. This ensures that these sites are easily accessed by hackers. It is rather interesting to note that the dynamic nature of technology also contributes to cyber crime since hacking is not possible with the ordinary means of technology.

Martha Stewart had invested on shares but found herself in trouble when she was accused of conspiracy. It happened after she had received an insider from her stock advisor concerning her shares who informed that she would lose over $ 45 000 if she continued investing them. She was charged for presenting false information to her investigators. Her punishment was detained for five months in a federal rehabilitation facility. Finally, she was released taking bail and being fined to $30 000.

The penalty for shop lifting is determined by the value of the goods stolen and the initial convictions against the shoplifter. For instance, if the value of the stolen goods does not reach $150, it is regarded as a class A in case aperson is a first-time offender while those who have histories of shoplifting are labeled class 4 for felony of that offence. Those who steal goods priced $150 and above face class 3 felony charges.

Organized crime in the U.S has been done in a number of ways despite the fact that Mafias are the most prominent people in this sphere. It is mafia who is said to make the Congress and pass a number of legislations to tackle the crimes.  Initially, organized crime was mainly focused on the corruption in politics. During the 20^th century, law regarding organized crimes was enforced to retaliate against the criminals of this type that realized in the investments and mitigation of pressure  that politicians faced.

There are a number of efforts underway to fight organized crimes both locally and around the Globe to ensure illegal deals are prevented. For instance, there are a number of legislations that are being formed so that laws, governing smuggling of drugs, are implemented in order to curb the increase of drug trade.

Drug related crimesrefer to violence as a result of drug use. It is common mainly among high school students (Samaha 12). The drugs that are likely to result in crimes include marijuana, cocaine, crack, heroin, inhalants and steroids. Drug use  is said to be a criminal activity since it influences the possibility of crime commitment. According to Substance Abuse and Treatment in 1997, about 19% of people jailed in the state prisons  they had committed the crimes because they needed money to obtain some drugs.

The main types of drugs used by most criminals are: stimulants such as bhang, cocaine and marijuana. The effect of these drugs is that it makes the user active and less likely to behave normally. For instance, an athlete who uses drugs is able to run very fast, not easily getting tired. The repeated usage of any type of drug results in addiction, so that the user needs more and more of the drug with time. Drug addicts are likely to commit a crime and to break any of the laws. In short, the use of drugs has resulted in the lack of harmony in the society. Subsequently, various laws within the juridical system have been enforced to restore harmony.

According to Professor Ian Gilmore, drug use should not be treated as a crime but as a health problem. Professor Gilmore argues that drug users punishment  means that if they are not punished, they would continue using the drug. He explains that the money from police services should be used to treat drug related crimes so that the drug trade in is drastically reduced. Thus, people who use drugs should be treated as patients rather than criminals. He further argues that drug use is a social problem and requires social, rather than legal intervention (Card 76).

Some of the responses include the shifting of funding priorities by allocating federal anti-drug funds to law enforcement and a small fraction to prevention or treatment (LaFave 54). Another response is that there should be repeal on mandatory testing laws by altering overly harsh sentences on drug offenders. Drug court model is also under expansion and there is an increase in the number of alternative sentencing options when looking for funds for expanded treatment policy.

One of the methods used to control crimes is the Beat Patrol that relates to the fact that an area is to be covered by the patrol team. The Beat Patrol may involve intensive patrol or permanent patrol. Another method is to use special task force such as Emergency Task Units in case of mob situation, disorderly crowds or prison break out.

There has not been success in controlling crimes because certain concerns make the process difficult to be attained. These include the decision of whether the criminal system should vindicate victims’ rights or protect the defendant’s rights (Curzon 43).

Social problems approach tries to investigate how the social and cultural forces make a person participate in a crime and then ensure that such forces are controlled. Social responsibility guarantees that a person is responsible and he does not commit a crime when he does not perform it. It would be reasonable to use the social approach because the behaviors that a criminal has are brought by the experience he gets in the society.

There is a wide diversity that exists in terms of social, economic as well as political signs. Despite the existence of variations in the structure of an organization on the social categories such as family, these diversities can be used to compare two different social groups. It also allows diversifying theories across cultural as well as national regions. It allows the exposure of criminal laws used in one country to other regions of the world hence provide a wider hearing (Perkins 32).

These are people who have the knowledge concerning criminal justice and their role is to look for the ways in which the impact of a crime can be measured (Brody 21). They give ideas in policy making, concerning juvenile delinquency, drug addiction and crime prevention.  They also participate in community activities, state and local criminal systems.