What is the significance of criminal law

Such matters may moderate the importance of deterrence in sentencing. One of the major obstacles for deterrence in criminal justice is that most offenders commit crimes without premeditation. People commit crimes in the heat of the moment.

Therefore, they are not thinking about retribution and sentencing at that moment, so you cannot discourage the offender. The aim of criminal justice is to educate the greater community. It does this by demonstrating that all criminal acts will be punished. Authorities will catch all those who offend and punish them. Incapacitation removes offenders from society and restrains them in a purpose-built facility. This prevents them from committing any further crimes.

Incapacitation cannot rectify past crimes; however, it does prevent future crimes. The form of incapacitation will depend on the criminal act. It will also depend on the seriousness and prevalence of the offence. Incapacitation can take the form of imprisonment and Community Correction Orders. The process of a trial and judgement determines the type of incapacitation and sentences the criminal accordingly.

Many offences may not warrant incapacitation imprisonment. Rehabilitation is a central goal of the judicial and correctional systems. Once a person has been sentenced and convicted they may be offered rehabilitative programs in a correctional facility. Criminal justice practices, they go on to note, 'are inherently coercive'.

This focus on criminal justice as a set of often coercive social regulatory institutions, and not merely a collection of 'crime fighting' agencies, throws a spotlight on the broader social purpose of criminal justice, rather than merely considering its operations within the framework of a fight against crime versus the protections afforded suspects.

But then criminal justice, as a social regulatory set of institutions, operates within a society characterised by notable inequalities in wealth and power. What is the implication of this for the operations of criminal justice? For Sanders and Young they are very clear. They go on to argue that the 'enforcement of the criminal law Now Sanders and Young are hardly red in tooth and claw revolutionaries. Their scholarship sits squarely within the parameters of liberal critique. But while liberal scholarship has many strengths, it also has its limitations.

Take, for instance, the perspective set out by the Marxist political scientist Ralph Miliband over thirty years ago , on the differences between a liberal and a Marxist view on the nature of social conflict and its resolution:. In the liberal view of politics, conflict exists in terms of "problems" which need to be "solved". The hidden assumption is that conflict does not, or need not, run very deep; that it can be "managed" by the exercise of reason and good will, and the readiness to compromise and agree The Marxist approach to conflict is very different.

It is not a matter of "problems" to be "solved" but of a state of domination and subjection Ultimately, stability is not a matter of reason but of force The reason for quoting Miliband's analysis is that it implies a rather different take on the purpose and nature of criminal justice.

From a Marxist perspective - at least if we take Miliband as the reference point - the purpose of criminal justice might be characterised as the ongoing maintenance of class domination by means of coercive force, legitimated by legal norms. Thus, of the four functions of the capitalist state identified by Miliband the first of them is the maintenance of law and order; what he dubs 'the repressive function'.

It is not necessary to subscribe to Miliband's politics, nor Sanders and Young's liberalism, to acknowledge the critical purchase they offer to an understanding of criminal justice. In different ways they pose the challenge to take seriously the relationship between social structures and social processes on the one hand, and normative principles in relation to criminal justice on the other.

A concern with the appropriate principles and priorities that guide the operations of the criminal justice process remains an important and necessary task. But a theory of criminal justice that does not take seriously the ways in which criminal justice might both regulate and manage underlying social antagonisms is likely ultimately to lead to bad policy and dubious outcomes.

Skip to main content. What is the purpose of the criminal justice system? I feel a deep responsibility to contribute to society whatever tools and gifts that I have. The truth of the matter is, I love it. Q: What kind of support does National offer to people working in criminal justice who want to pursue further education?

The chancellor here at National is committed to supporting police officers and others working in public safety in achieving their educational goals. We also give these professionals as much credit towards their degree for their prior training as we can. We worked really hard with faculty, with the registrar, and with our accrediting bodies to look at basic training, like the police academy, and see where that aligns with our degree programs.

The training that you get in a police academy aligns really well with criminal justice, homeland security, and public administration — but especially criminal justice. We also recognize some training in other states, but every state has different training standards. We can give them extra credit in those degree programs that I mentioned.

Q: How do the flexible options at National University help working adults fit their education into already busy lives? National University was the only place that I could take all my units from community college and the four-year schools that I had gone to and concentrate on one class per month.

This format is still incredibly applicable to those in public safety who are doing shift work. Not only do we do one class per month, but we can offer entirely online degrees for most of our classes without diminishing the quality of the education. You can get online and do your work anytime and the professor is still available to you, you can still interact with your classmates, but you do it on your time. Why is criminal justice important?

A lot of law enforcement professionals naturally gravitate towards criminal justice, because it most directly benefits them and they can apply it in the field immediately. We want you to take what you learned in class and that day take it out to work with you that day.

It makes you look for integrated and systems-oriented solutions as opposed to quick fixes. That kind of systems thinking and integrated problem-solving will serve you in any profession, anywhere in the world, in anything that you do. We need new ways to look at problems and how to solve them. If you are interested in pursuing a career related to criminal justice, National University offers online degrees in Criminal Justice as well as on-campus classes.

The Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice Administration prepares students to work in the justice system at the local, state, and federal levels. Studying criminal justice can lead to a career as a police officer, detective, probation officer, correctional officer, forensic science technician, crime scene investigator, FBI agent, fraud investigator, social worker, lawyer, DEA agent, US marshal, or many other positions within law enforcement and judicial agencies.

Many agencies will also offer raises when employees complete degrees.