The American criminal justice system uses deterrence to curb criminal behavior. Our current criminal system enforces crime control by emphasizing the imprisonment of dangerous offenders in hopes that it will deter future criminals. This plan is dated and flawed, because in this millennium, criminals are glorified rather than condemned by the media and society. The media plays a significant factor in magnifying dangerous lifestyles like drug dealing, prostitution and violence, but they forget to reflect on the consequences. In my opinion, the media has a substantially large effect in influencing criminal behavior. In America there is an unequal distribution of wealth and power, resulting in different class castes. In addition to the media, social structure plays a significant role in pre-determining ones criminal activity. Notoriously, those from cramped dirty ghettos are more likely to be incarcerated or arrested.
[...] For example, if a suspect comes towards a police officer holding an AK-47 and doesn't heed warnings to put the gun down, the officer would not be liable for the death of that individual if proper warnings and orders were given. But if after the death, evidence mounted that the suspect was blind and deaf, the police officer would still not be held liable, because the officer did not have that information at the time of the incident. Some may argue that police discrimination is targeted at ethnic males, mainly African-Americans and Hispanics under 30. [...]
[...] The biggest deterrent of police brutality is indeed civil lawsuits and judgments, which most victims don't pursue because of fear of retributions. The police may be sued if citizens believe that the officer exerted excessive physical force with the use of batons, nightsticks, flashlights, chokeholds, or with the use of weapons. According to the Knapp Commission, there are two kinds of corrupt police officers— ‘meat eaters' and ‘grass eaters.' Meat eaters are the ones that actively misuse their police power for personal gain by demanding money, bribes and consistently cooperating with criminals. [...]
[...] But the most determined individuals will resort to dealing drugs and other forms of crime to reach this imaginary level of affluence. The middle class on the other hand was traditionally concerned with education, hard work, sexual abstinence, honesty and sobriety, but with the help of the media the barriers between lower-class criminals and middle- class criminals are blurring. Previously, those who were subject to living in slums and ghettos were the prominent criminal offenders, but this is no longer the case. [...]
[...] Works Cited "Images of Justice: the Entertainment and Media Violence." Introduction to Criminal Justice, 9th edition. (2002). Lockman, J.E., (1987). "Self and peer perception and attributional biases of aggressive and nonaggressive boys in dyadic interactions." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 404-410. Miller, W. (1958). “Lower class structure as a generating milieu of gang delinquency,”. Journal of Social Issues, 5-19. “Poverty rate lowest in 20 years, household income at record high, census bureau reports,”. (2000, September 26). U.S. Department of the Census news release. [...]
[...] According to the Images of Justice: The Entertainment and Media Violence article, systematic viewing of television begins at 2 and half years old, and children's programming contained an average of 32 violent acts per hour percent had violent characters, and 74 percent had characters who became the victims of violence (Images of justice:, 2002). Now what kind of message is that for our children? Media isn't the sole factor in criminal activity, but watching a high volume of criminal activity will ultimately influence criminal behavior. [...]
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