Synthesis Of Theory AND Practice Essay Sample

I undertook my internship at Orangeburg Sherriff’s Office. The mission of this agency is to “ensure the rights of victims are protected while providing advocacy and support by extending compassionate and knowledgeable service to all victims of crime in Orangeburg County” (http://www.orangeburgcounty.org/OCSO/). My internship at Orangeburg Sherriff’s Office helped me to be part of the group of people working to fulfill this mission. I was greatly involved in offering psychological counseling to offenders and thus helping to rehabilitate them into good members of society.

Criminal Justice Theories

They are several theories that are part of the criminal justice system. These theories guide the criminal justice procedures. The first theory that mainly affects the working of the police is the discretion theory. Discretion refers to the use of personal judgments instead of following formal rules in making decisions on what to do when faced with a particular situation (Bohm, 2014). Police find themselves in numerous situations, and not all of these can be guided by specified procedures and policies. Some situations like domestic violence cases and patrol require that police use personal judgments in making decisions. Discretion is important because it helps the police make decisions that are appropriate for a particular situation and concentrate their efforts on executing important roles. An example of an instance where the police exercised discretion is when they ignored to respond to a minor assault case of domestic violence in a home two kilometers away. The officers felt responding to the minor assault case was not the most appropriate thing to do because any arrest had the potential to create more complications for the concerned family. The complications could exacerbate the crisis in this family and result in irreparable harm. The police ignored responding to this call because they felt letting the feuding couple sort out their differences was more appropriate than rushing to make arrests.
Police discretion is a controversial issue, and it has both support and criticism. Those who criticize police discretion feel that police are at a high susceptibility to misuse this provision by using it to physically abuse people or apply the law unequally especially when making arrests. The critics believe discretion results in widespread racial profiling, whereby the police target offenders from a particular race who commit very low-level offenses that should otherwise be ignored. By letting officers use personal judgments instead of following prescribed procedures and policies in making decisions can result in poorly thought-out decisions that can be counterproductive for the criminal justice system. However, police discretion is supported by those who believe that providing the officers with better training and education is instrumental in helping them make judgments that are wise and which are best suited for the situations they encounter in their duties (Bohm, 2014). Furthermore, I believe the police should be free to exercise discretion because it can be instrumental in helping them reach appropriate decisions for every situation they encounter. However, the police should be thoroughly trained and educated on how they are expected to exercise this direction so as to efficiently fulfill their criminal justice roles.
Another theory that finds application in the criminal justice system is the rational choice theory. This theory intimates that a person will only commit a crime after making a determination if the reward or pleasure that accrue from the crime exceeds the punishment or pain he or she might suffer (Ahmada and Emeka, 2014). The criminal justice policy that is informed by this theory is increasing punishment for all crimes committed hoping that the offenders will shy away from committing crimes because the pain outweigh what they will gain (Ahmada and Emeka, 2014). Increasing punishments is intended to deter the committing of a specific crime or all crime in general. An example where the rational choice theory was applied was when two teenagers were locked up in the juvenile jail for two weeks after they were found to have shoplifted a store. The act of locking them for two weeks was geared towards discouraging future engagement in shoplifting. The rational choice theory is not effective in deterring future crime because the focus of the criminal justice system is rehabilitating offenders not necessarily prescribing the punishments for crimes committed. Every prescribed punishment should help them rehabilitate and hence remove criminal tendencies from criminals. Excessive punishments may be considered a violation of human rights hence the human rights groups can sue the various criminal justice components. The application of the theory is not effective enough because people can commit crimes and get away with them due to poor investigations or unavailability of evidence to show that they were responsible for the particular crime (Ahmada and Emeka, 2014). Personally, I feel this theory is not in tandem with the roles of the criminal justice system hence ineffective in deterring occurrence of crimes. The main role of the criminal justice system is to isolate criminal offenders from the society and ensure they undergo rehabilitation before they are allowed re-entry into the community. Punishing criminals can be counterproductive because it fails to address the root causes of the criminal activities. Moreover, the theory does not take into account that excessive punishments can result in violations of human rights. The criminal offenders are protected by human rights tenets even when in custody.
Larceny is another theory that is applied in the criminal justice system. Larceny is wrongful withholding or obtaining of a person’s property with the intent to appropriate it to oneself or another person or just depriving the owner his or her property (New York Laws, 2015). Larceny is a concept that prescribes how property of individuals is wrongfully withheld or transferred to other persons or third party, and hence lay out the procedures to be followed in reclaiming the property back to its rightful owner. An example of larceny is a school principal who was found to have embezzled money meant to run the affairs of the school. This money constituted grants from the state government meant to be used in implementing school programs. Some of the challenges this concept faces when it comes to prosecution of offenders is that there are many defenses that can be fronted in an effort to delineate the concerned person from any wrongdoing. However, larceny is important in protecting the property of individuals and preventing its wrongful appropriation or transfer. In addition, larceny is a godsend for the criminal justice system because it pursues lawful obtaining and transfer of property, and it helps in protection of public property.
Additionally, conflict theory is also widely applied in the criminal justice system. The conflict theory intimates that different interests and groups make up society, and these groups are constantly competing for resources and power (Mooney et al., 2014). The conflict theory is applied in criminal justice in pacifying the various groups and interests in society and ensuring that there is order in society and those with resources and power do not take advantage of those without. An example of conflict theory is a farm owner who was arrested for failing to pay his workers for a long period and offering them poor wages. The conflict theory receives a lot of criticism from groups that feel that it works against them. The conflict theory ensures that the criminal justice system springs into action to protect all members from society from any form of exploitation. However, my opinion is that it is tedious to incorporate the conflict theory in the criminal justice system, and its scope is exceedingly wide hence impossible to fully implement.
Rehabilitation refers to the reforming of criminal offenders. It is the process of helping offenders to ditch their criminal activities before they can be allowed re-entry into the community (University of Cincinnati, 2015). An example of rehabilitation was two young offenders who were allowed re-entry after completing the stay in the juvenile prison. The corrections officer had approved that two offenders had undergone behavior change for the better. However, those opposed to rehabilitation programs believe prisons afford offenders a learn how to commit big crimes in prison and do so with when they get out in collaboration with allies they met there (University of Cincinnati, 2015). Rehabilitation in prisons is not effective enough and more innovative alternative programs should be used in rehabilitating the criminal offenders. My take is that rehabilitation in prisons is not effective enough, and other more innovative ways that can be applied outside the prisons should be incorporated in rehabilitating offenders.
Additionally, Arrest is another criminal justice system concept. Arrest refers to taking a person into the custody of police thus making him not free to move about or leave the precincts (FindLaw, 2013). An arrest means exercising police authority over a suspect or the criminal offender. An example of an arrest is when the police while on patrol impounded on a man who was driving under the influence of alcohol. Criticism against arrest is that it results in unreasonable searches or physical abuse of offenders (FindLaw, 2013). An arrest is effective because it allows the police to conduct an investigation while the suspect or offender is in their custody. My opinion is that arrest is a useful component of the criminal justice process because it helps in the separation of offenders from the community
After arrest, the suspect or criminal offender is arraigned in court. Arraignment refers to bringing of the defendant into court to answer to the case issued and complaint filed by the prosecutor (San Diego County District Attorney, 2015). An example of an arraignment is when the man placed under police custody for driving while drunk was brought to court two days after arrest. Criticism against arraignment is that it disadvantages those who cannot afford attorneys. Arraignment is useful because it offers a chance to the prosecutor to issue his or her case and file the complaint they have. Moreover, the suspected offender has a chance to deny or accept charges. In addition, it sets the stage for the lawful pursuance of the case.
The social bond theory proposes that people who live in similar in social settings share moral beliefs that are common to all. This makes them be sensitive to the right of others, value sharing and help each other adhere to the existing legal code (Akers, 2011). The theory postulates that the communal attachment, involvement, and commitment is crucial in deterring crime in society. Criticism surrounding this theory is bad role models in society will always be there and can mislead people into crime. The theory is effective because it is focused on controlling crime from its source. It proposes that all community members take care each and disengage them from engaging in crime. Hence my opinion is that the theory is effective.
Furthermore, a jury is part of the criminal justice system. A jury refers to a body of twelve persons that has been sworn to use submitted evidence to provide a verdict to case pitting prosecutor and suspected criminal offender. Some of problems in the jury are that the several members of the jury may fail to agree because of different interpretation of the law. However, the jury is effective in reaching a well-thought verdict for the legal case in question because it considers the input of twelve jurors. I strongly believe constituting a jury is crucial because it enables an in-depth analysis of the available evidence before issuing a verdict
Moreover, dispatch is an essential component of the criminal justice system. Dispatch refers to the initial response to emergencies even before firefighters or police respond to it (Cambridgema.gov, 2015). Dispatch is executed by Emergency Dispatchers, and they do so by acting on the 911 call. These professionals then send the appropriate number and type of emergency units to the scene of the emergency (Cambridge.gov, 2015). Moreover, they monitor the emergency services activity at the scene. An example of dispatch is when the 911 Dispatcher answered to an emergency call that was seeking for ambulance services after an accident on the highway. The criticism surrounding dispatch is the failure to take into account safety considerations of the scene which can result in endangering lives of police officers and firefighters. The dispatch is a useful and effective component of the criminal justice system because it helps in protection of victims through initiating a quick response to crimes or fires.
The agency in which I interned is working hard towards achieving its goals and objectives. The agency has professionals who are committed to their duties, and they always aim towards executing them effectively. At the agency, I got the chance to interact directly with people who work in different sections of the criminal justice system. This helped me to develop my communication skills, apply what I had in class in the real workplace and grow my professional skills. The strengths of the agency included having highly qualified staff, and efficient administration. The weakness of the agency included lack of technology that made execution of duties a bit slow. Generally, the Orangeburg Sherriff’s Office is a positive place. The only thing they should improve on is the technology. They require superior technological systems so as to execute duties effectively and fulfill their mission. However, I would like to show immense gratitude for being given an opportunity to intern at the Office.

References

Ahmad, J., & Emeka, T. Q. (2014). Rational Choice Theory. The Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Akers, R. L. (2011). Social learning and social structure: A general theory of crime and deviance. Transaction Publishers
Bohm, Robert M., & Keith A. Haley. (2014). Introduction to Criminal Justice (8th Edition). Boston: McGraw Hill
FindLaw. (2013). Arrest. Retrieved April 23, 2015, from http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-procedure/arrest.html
Cambridgema.gov. (2015). Dispatchers Are the First, First Responders. Retrieved April 23, 2015, from http://www.cambridgema.gov/ec1/Employment/dispatchersarethefirst.aspx
Cole, G., Smith, C., & DeJong, C. (2014). The American system of criminal justice. Cengage Learning.
Mooney, L., Knox, D., & Schacht, C. (2014). Understanding social problems. Cengage Learning.
San Diego County District Attorney. (2015). Criminal Justice System. Retrieved April 23, 2015, from http://www.sdcda.org/office/criminal-justice-system.html
New York Laws. (2015). New York State Law. Retrieved April 23, 2015, from
http://ypdcrime.com/penal.law/article155.htm