Prompts for your Policy Revisions for Criminal Justice Issues and Social Justice final paper:
In your paper,
• Examine two theories in criminal justice and how they apply to policy and organization for the criminal justice and juvenile justice systems.
• Assess the effects of criminal justice policies for law enforcement, the judiciary, and corrections on social justice and the criminal justice system.
• Construct a public policy revision to address two criminal justice issues and a criminal justice policy revision to address a social justice issue.
• Explain how a theory, policy model, and policy instrument apply to your public policy revision and criminal justice policy revision.
• Analyze interest groups, the media, the public, bureaucracy, and political interests as factors in your public policy revision and criminal justice policy revision.
• Investigate process and federal, state, and local interests for your public policy revision and your criminal justice policy revision.
Examination of Criminal Justice Theories and Policy Application
In this section, select two contrasting theories (e.g., a macro-level and a micro-level theory, or one focused on rehabilitation and one on punishment) and explain their direct application to policy.
Theory 1: Choose a Structural/Macro Theory (e.g., Social Disorganization Theory)
Theory Explanation: Briefly define the theory (e.g., crime results from a breakdown of social institutions and weak social ties in a community).
Policy Application (Criminal/Juvenile Justice): Explain how this theory justifies community-based policies.
Criminal Justice: Justifies police strategies focused on Community-Oriented Policing (COP) and improving neighborhood resources.
Juvenile Justice: Justifies after-school programs, mentoring, and neighborhood revitalization initiatives to strengthen social controls and prevent delinquency.
Theory 2: Choose a Process/Micro Theory (e.g., Rational Choice Theory)
Theory Explanation: Briefly define the theory (e.g., individuals weigh the costs and benefits before committing a crime; policies should increase perceived costs).
Policy Application (Criminal/Juvenile Justice): Explain how this theory justifies deterrent and sanction-focused policies.
Criminal Justice: Justifies policies like "three-strikes" laws, mandatory minimum sentencing, and highly visible patrol to increase the certainty and severity of punishment (the "cost" of crime).
Juvenile Justice: Justifies policies focused on swift and certain sanctions (e.g., Scared Straight programs, although ineffective, are rooted in this logic) and interventions that emphasize the immediate consequence of actions.
3. Assessment of Criminal Justice Policy Effects on Social Justice
Analyze how current/historical policies have impacted key components of the system and social equity.
Law Enforcement Policy Effects
Policy Example: "Stop and Frisk" or Zero-Tolerance Policing.
Effect on Social Justice: Leads to disproportionate minority contact (DMC), erosion of community trust, and mass criminalization of minor offenses in marginalized communities, fueling systemic inequality.
Effect on the Criminal Justice System: Overburdens the courts and corrections systems, and misallocates police resources away from serious crime investigation.
Judiciary Policy Effects
Policy Example: Bail System (reliance on cash bail) or Plea Bargaining.
Effect on Social Justice: The cash bail system punishes poverty, leading to pretrial detention for poor and minority defendants who are legally innocent, coercing guilty pleas and disrupting employment/family stability.
Effect on the Criminal Justice System: Speeds up the judicial process at the cost of due process; transforms justice from a search for truth to a negotiation of sentences.
Corrections Policy Effects
Policy Example: Mass Incarceration (driven by mandatory minimums and long sentences).
Effect on Social Justice: Creates a cycle of poverty and crime through felony disenfranchisement, barriers to housing and employment, and destabilization of families/communities (collateral consequences).
Effect on the Criminal Justice System: Leads to extreme overcrowding, high operating costs, and diminished focus on genuine rehabilitation.
4. Construction of Policy Revisions
Propose specific, actionable revisions to current policies.
Public Policy Revision: Addressing Two Criminal Justice Issues (e.g., Police Misconduct & Excessive Force)
Issue 1: Lack of Accountability in Police Misconduct.
Revision: Implement National Decertification Registry and abolish Qualified Immunity for officers in civil rights cases.
Sample Answer
This outlines a structure and content guide for your final paper on Policy Revisions for Criminal Justice Issues and Social Justice.
1. Introduction
Hook: Start with a compelling statistic or a major current event illustrating the tension between criminal justice and social justice.
Thesis Statement: Clearly state the paper's purpose, the two criminal justice issues, the one social justice issue you will address, and the policy revisions you will propose to enhance justice and equity within the criminal and juvenile justice systems.
Roadmap: Briefly outline the structure of the paper (e.g., "This paper will first examine two criminal justice theories, then assess policy effects, and finally construct and analyze two policy revisions...").