The criminal Justice field is a system of practices and institutions directed by the government to uphold social control while deterring and mitigating crime. It takes care of sanctioning those individuals in society who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts. Those accused of a crime have certain "protections" against abuse of prosecution and investigatory powers.
The criminal Justice system consists of three main parts: The legislative section that is responsible for creating and planning out laws, the adjudication section which is courts, judges, trials, etc. and lastly the corrections section which consists of jails, prisons, probation, parole, and law enforcement. Within the system these three agencies constantly work together to maintain the rule of law within society.
what are some possibilities?
The Criminal Justice field has numerous areas one could go into depending on their interests and background including:
Criminology
Criminology is a combination of both sociology and criminal justice. It attempts to understand and explain the anatomy of a crime, specifically its causes, costs, and consequences.
- Criminalist
- Criminologist
- Forensic Psychology
- Penologist
Law Enforcement
Law enforcement officers focus one preventing and investigating crimes, and apprehending suspects. They also work with the courts to see that criminals are prosecuted.
Law enforcement officers focus one preventing and investigating crimes, and apprehending suspects. They also work with the courts to see that criminals are prosecuted.
- Accounting Forensics
- ATF Agent
- ATF Investigator
- ATF Technician/Professional
- Border Patrol Agent
- CIA Agent
- Coast Guard
- Compliance Officer
- Computer Forensics
- Counter Terrorism
- Crime Laboratory Analyst
- Crime Scene Investigator
- Customs Agent
- DEA Agent
- Diplomatic Security
- FBI Agent
- Federal Air Marshal
- Federal Protective Service
- Fish & Game Warden
- Forensic Engineer
- Forensic Odontologist
- Forensic Science
- Forensic Psychology
- Fraud Investigator
Courts & Judicial System
The courts are at the center of the U.S. criminal justice system. Their primary objective is to determine the guilt or innocence of suspected criminals, and then set sentencing.
The courts are at the center of the U.S. criminal justice system. Their primary objective is to determine the guilt or innocence of suspected criminals, and then set sentencing.
- Corrections Officer
- Correctional Treatment Specialist
- Juvenile Probation Counselor
- Prison Warden
- Probation Officer
- Substance Abuse Counselor
My focus:
My focus is on probation and parole since they tend to go hand in hand. Convicted criminals are often placed on probation rather than given a prison sentences. Individuals who've completed their prison sentences often get placed on parole after being released. While on probation or parole, convicted criminals are required to remain drug free, refrain from committing crimes, and adhere to other requirements. Probation/parole officers follow-up with people on parole or probation to ensure they remain crime free and live productive lives (however as you all can assume it doesn't always go as planned).
Parole officers have similar responsibilities as probation officers, but parole officers monitor released prison inmates.In most regions nationwide, parole is administered by state governments, and probation is administered by county governments.They regularly meet with people they're responsible for monitoring. Parole and probation officers usually meet offenders at state or county office buildings and offenders' homes and site of employment.While serving probation or parole sentences, some offenders are required to wear electronic anklets to keep track of where they spend their time.
In addition to meeting with clients and assisting them, probation officers serve as court liaisons and perform other court related tasks. They write reports, conduct background investigations, and recommend probation or jail sentences for offenders. Often, probation officers gather offenders and their families to summarize sentencing recommendations before presenting them to judges. Occasionally, they testify at hearings to explain their recommendations and provide updates about offenders' progress and setbacks.
Interests, values and assumptions:
The interests of not just parole and probation officers but of the entire criminal justice system are to most importantly help people, to uphold the laws, to maintain society, keep people safe and try to reintegrate people back into society so they can acclimate and succeed.
The main values are equal justice under the law, access to justice, honesty and integrity, pursuit of excellence, public safety and cooperation and partnership.
Some assumptions in and about this field are that crime is on the rise especially violent crimes, sentences are getting shorter, prison would be more effective with tougher regimes and that no matter what the criminal justice field does, society will always think they could be doing more.
I've come to know criminal justice as a more broad field than I originally thought. I used to think that it was only basically a pre-law degree to get people into law school. It is now evident that it is much more than that. My ex-roommate was criminal justice, so I got to know the field a little bit better talking with him. His goal to become a police officer. My question reading this post was to see what you wanted to do in this field, but you did a great job of explaining your wish of becoming a parole/probation officer. I have found the psychology behind the idea of a PO to be pretty interesting. Having another human being to report to and get to know gives people an incentive to behave and get get their reputation up while not wanting to disappoint someone. That's the idea at least, and often is the case.
ReplyDeleteAs Joe said, I never really realized all the options you can have with a Criminal Justice degree. There are a lot of potential jobs you can get and it also sets you up for future schooling like law school. I think it would be the most interesting to be a probation or parole officer because you get a lot of human interaction and you get a feel for both sides of a client's situation.
ReplyDeleteI think that the criminal justice field is incredibly important and it is not always obvious how many important roles they play. When I think about criminal justice I think of Law and Order and not so much about trying to reintegrate people back into society and it is interesting to learn about that side of the field.
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of respect for police officers and what they do. I know kids these days have a bad image of cops as over abusing fun killers but all they really care about is keeping people safe and I think that's cool.
ReplyDeleteI like the pictures included in the blog. The heading was very catchy and funny. As a criminal justice major I find that what you put down interesting. I like that you put the jobs down as bullet points rather than just a paragraph. The color really adds to the texts. However, the light blue is not that easy to read, maybe a darker shade of blue would be better. I like how the paragraphs are short and to the point. I really liked this blog.
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