CRM 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Day Parole, Cultural Diversity, Victim Blaming
5 Jun 2018
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Evidence-Based Legislation, Policies, and Programs:
● Lack of access to well-developed body empirical knowledge to inform legislative policy
decisions
● Most initiatives are not evidence based
● Follow business model where research is strongly related to innovative practice
Challenges to Developing Evidence-Based Practices:** Know this for exam
● Accustomed to old practices and not easy for them to move from these old practices to
new practices
Proactive Problem-Solving vs. Reactive Sanctioning:
● Reactive Sanctioning:
○ Levels of crime fluctuate independently of CJS efforts
○ CJS reacts to problems rather than solve them
○ Problems defined according to law rather than how they are experienced
● Proactive Problem-Solving:
○ Problem-solving courts and RJ
○ Address more than criminal behaviour
○ Symptom of deeper issues
Reducing Marginality:
● Many people in conflict with the law are marginalized
● Crime is a symptom of deeper social, economic, and community disorder
● CJS does not address marginality (addiction, poverty, homelessness, mental illness)
○ CJS can’t address marginality without groups outside of the CJS
○ Collection of statistics and data can help solve the problem
Victim Needs:
● Avoid victim blaming
● Address marginalization and re-victimization of crime victims
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
● Balance between victim rights and administration of justice
Ethics in Criminal Justice:
● In policing:
○ Deception and confessions
○ Biased policing
○ Discretion
● In the courts:
○ Plea bargaining
○ Punishment
○ Adversarial justice
● In corrections:
○ Mandatory treatment
○ Staff ethics vs. managerial directives
○ Inmate mother and children
● Police, correctional officers, probation officers, should be getting trained in ethics early
on their careers (not currently happening)
Criminal Justice in a Diverse Society:
● Cultural diversity poses challenges to criminal law and the justice system
● Few studies on how professionals manage when confronted with diversity
● How do Crown, defence, judiciary, parole, and probation officers handle cases involving
minorities
Opportunities for CJS Reform--Fiscal Crises of Governments:
● Cutbacks in funding to CJS
● Smart on crime
○ Fairness, accuracy, alternatives, prevention. Reintegration, evidence-based
assessments
● Reduce overcriminalization
○ Penalties that have no relation to the offence or culpability and are overly
excessive
○ Restorative and problem-solving opportunities
● Tighter budgets could mean better oversight on how money is spent, and more evidence
based evaluations on how the money is spent
Opportunities for CJS Reform--Expanding Effective CJ Interventions:
● Recognize and document effective interventions
○ Specialized courts
○ Risk, need, responsivity principles
○ Community engagement and involvement
● Collect and report helpful errors
○ Compile “lessons learned”
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Lack of access to well-developed body empirical knowledge to inform legislative policy decisions. Follow business model where research is strongly related to innovative practice. Challenges to developing evidence-based practices:** know this for exam. Accustomed to old practices and not easy for them to move from these old practices to new practices. Levels of crime fluctuate independently of cjs efforts. Cjs reacts to problems rather than solve them. Problems defined according to law rather than how they are experienced. Many people in conflict with the law are marginalized. Crime is a symptom of deeper social, economic, and community disorder. Cjs does not address marginality (addiction, poverty, homelessness, mental illness) Cjs can"t address marginality without groups outside of the cjs. Collection of statistics and data can help solve the problem. Address marginalization and re-victimization of crime victims. Balance between victim rights and administration of justice.
