Posted: February 15th, 2022

How Effective Is The Criminal Justice System Criminology Essay

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This essay goes to critically analyse and discover how feminine offenders are handled throughout the Criminal Justice System (CJS) focussing on completely different companies together with how they’re handled in custody, in jail, and likewise the psychological well being of feminine offenders and the way they’re wants are or aren’t met. I may even be trying into the historical past of the feminine offender and draw upon completely different theorists concepts as to why they offend and likewise if they’re inherently completely different to their male counterparts.

The approach wherein feminine offenders are handled has advanced fairly significantly over time. Many centuries in the past the feminine prison was seen as being ‘mad’ and ‘dangerous’ as a result of they had been subjected to double deviancy in that not solely had been they going in opposition to their perceived organic position, but additionally as a result of they had been committing an offence, subsequently making them a prison. When confronted with this, girls aren’t solely punished by the CJS but additionally by pals, household and society usually.

‘Feminine criminals have been constantly portrayed down the ages as peculiarly evil and wicked, and as unstable and irrational. Usually their irrationality is linked to their organic and their psychological nature. Paradoxically, they’ve been depicted as unfeminine and therefore unnatural (Lombroso and Ferroro 1895) or all too female (Pollak 1950 in Carlen and Worrall :18).’

Girls, like males, are handled by many various companies within the Criminal Justice System, however is there any distinction in remedy between the genders? This is a crucial side to contemplate when analysing the effectiveness of how feminine offenders are handled.

A lot analysis has been completed into the distinction of remedy between genders when being handled by completely different companies inside the Criminal Justice System (CJS). It has been mentioned that girls are handled extra leniently by the CJS in comparison with males. One of many causes prompt for it is because girls are mentioned to ‘captivate’ males thus making certain them extra lenient remedy. Police additionally see girls as much less of a menace than males which is alleged to be one more reason why they get handled extra leniently and likewise are much less more likely to be sentenced for his or her crimes. Police have been accused of getting a sexist angle in direction of coping with feminine offenders and are reluctant and unhelpful in the case of circumstances of girls in refuges.

One Question Assignment that has at all times attracted numerous curiosity is the explanations as to why girls offend. There are quite a few and complicated causes as to why girls commit crime. Rumgay (1996) argues that ‘the backgrounds and circumstances of girls’s lives are inseparable from their involvement in crime’ (Gelsthorpe 2002b:290). The elements included for feminine offending are, poverty, dependancy, prostitution, abuse and unemployment to call just a few. ‘(A) excessive proportion (of girls within the CJS) are lone moms. Many have lived on state advantages, few have been in paid employment, many have giant money owed, one in ten could have skilled homelessness and two in 5 could have skilled foster or different state care previous to imprisonment’ (Fawcett Society 2004: McIvor 2004; Carlen 2002 in Gelsthorpe et al 2007:13). Extra feminine offenders than male offenders have been a sufferer of sexual or emotional abuse previous to their imprisonment. This may have a profound impact on a girl’s time spent in jail as they should cope with authority from male jail officers which might have an effect on their psychological well being though not quite a bit has been written about male jail officers working in feminine prisons. Strip looking out in feminine prisons can also be one thing to contemplate when discussing the emotional impacts jail life has on feminine offenders as Corsten (2007:eight) states the ‘common, repetitive, pointless overuse of strip looking out in girls’s prisons (to be) humiliating, degrading and undignified and a dreadful invasion of privateness’. For ladies who’ve suffered a previous of sexual abuse ‘it’s an appalling introduction to jail life and an unwelcome reminder of earlier victimisation’ (Corston 2007:eight). You will need to observe that ‘expertise of abuse doesn’t excuse girls of their criminality however it does imply they’ve completely different wants from males within the CJS and a special strategy to their criminality is required’, (Corston 2007:20). The jail system has come underneath numerous criticism lately for apparently failing to successfully cope with the wants of those girls.

Much more feminine offenders endure from psychological well being issues than their male counterparts and that is one thing that’s not being handled successfully sufficient in feminine prisons, ‘two thirds of girls in jail are affected by some type of psychological dysfunction’ (Wilson 2005:49). It has additionally been mentioned that employees in feminine prisons are missing important abilities and likewise that the prisons are underneath resourced. Analysis has prompt that psychological well being issues enhance while a girl is imprisoned. Liebling (1994) states that girls have a tendency to not riot or exert violence in jail when distressed, however they’re way more more likely to self-harm or try suicide as an outlet. That is mentioned to be the rationale why charges of tried suicide and self inflicted dying are considerably excessive in feminine prisons. A research which was performed by the Safer Custody Group (SCG) found that females in jail are forty instances extra more likely to kill themselves and eighteen extra instances more likely to self hurt than girls locally (Rickford 2003). He additionally goes on to say ‘regardless of the most effective efforts of particular person employees and regardless of the initiatives of the SCG, overcrowding undermines the power of the Jail Service to offer an honest, protected surroundings wherein girls are much less liable to self harming’ (Rickford 2003:15).

To be able to perceive the extremity of psychological well being issues in feminine prisons the SCMH explains:

‘Prisons are overcrowded and lack employees expert in coping with psychological well being issues. There’s additionally a excessive diploma of co-morbidity amongst prisoners; some have a mixture of psychological well being issues, substance misuse, persona dysfunction or studying difficulties’ (2006:1).

There’s a lot hypothesis surrounding the authorized framework surrounding psychological well being in jail and is barely hazy. ‘Prisons, even their well being care wings aren’t recognised as hospitals underneath the Psychological Well being Act 1983’ (SCMH 2006:7). That is one other indication that the psychological well being wants of feminine prisoners aren’t being met. The Human Rights Act of 1998 got here into pressure in October 2000 stating that the Jail Service has an obligation to guard individuals in its care. Article 2 states ‘Everybody’s proper to life shall be protected’ (Rickford 2003:32).

Different elements affecting girls in jail is the truth that they’re way more much less more likely to have a associate on the skin taking care of their kids, aged relations or kids, and virtually 40% lose their house while imprisoned (Girls in Jail 2006 in Hayes 2007:188). That is very vital when discussing this as a result of over half of girls in jail are moms with dependent kids. Carlen & Worrall (2004:37) focus on that whereas ‘90% of fathers in jail anticipate their kids to be cared for by the kids’s mom, solely about 25% of moms in jail anticipate their kids to be cared for by the kids’s father’ (Dwelling Workplace 2002a). On account of this, over 18000 kids a yr are taken into care (Corston 2007).

As a result of there are far much less feminine prisons in comparison with male prisons, girls usually tend to be distant from house. This might imply that they don’t see their household as a lot as they want or must. Travelling to and from jail is expensive particularly to those that are from low revenue households. Not solely are moms not seeing their kids usually however it additionally might have a unfavourable impact on the connection between a mom and her kids thus breaking down the bond they as soon as shared. All these elements might solely add to a girl already fighting psychological well being issues. Analysis by HMP Holloway, London, confirmed that ‘solely 35% of a pattern of prisoners on reception had been from London. The majority had been from Sussex and Hampshire with some from Devon, Dorset and Cornwall; 5% had been from the Midlands. A 3rd of the Holloway inhabitants surveyed by the Chief Inspector had not acquired a go to from household or pals all through their sentence’ (HMP Holloway 2000 in Rickford 2003). If the kids of those feminine offenders re taken into native authority care, the native authority has to fund the kids’s transport to jail thus leading to a higher social value.