Criminal Justice Policy Analysis

In chapter one of Making Sense of Criminal Justice Policies and Practices by G. Larry Mays and Rick Ruddell, they describe policymaking and the relationship that politics has in the criminal justice system. They provide examples of when a new policy is going to be made, and how it all begins with the general public. In Making Sense of Criminal Justice Policies and Practices, they point that the way the general public contributes is by who they select to represent in the politics. It is also pointed that politics in criminal justice also has its’ pros and cons. In chapter two they compare and contrast the crime control model and the due process model, along with explaining where in the criminal justice they work and function. In Making Sense …show more content…
The cycle to help a new policy take its course happens in six different steps which are problem identification, policy demands, agenda formation, policy adoption , and policy evaluation. However, in some states they have direct democracy, and this when there’s a petition for a new law, and it requires a minimum number of register voters to help the new policy pass. Chapter one also briefly discusses the two philosophy of criminal justice; crime control model and the due process model. They define each philosophy, the crime control model is used to control criminal behavior, while the due process model is used to protect the individual rights and the freedom of a person. The chapter finishes by explaining the role of fear in the media has when it comes to making criminal justice policies. Due to the fact that media wants higher rating and to really grab a person’s attention, new station tend to go with the topic that is trending, and “if it bleeds it leads.” The problem with this is that it misinforms people on what really is happening. In the news somebody may say a lot of crime, and assume that crime is going up, when in fact the national crime rate is declining. However, due to the fear of crimes happening this may encourage citizens and potential voters to come up with a new policy. This also effects presidential elections, for example, when a presidential nominee …show more content…
These research that are being funded, are looking for answer as to why crime happen, and ways they can prevent them. Through research they have been able to find that most crimes are committed by adolescent teens, but some eventually grow it of it and others become life-course-persistent offenders (career criminals). They also studied several factors that may indicate high risk youth that may be life-course-persistent offenders, they look at things like biological and psychological factors (genes, behavior, etc.), family risk factors (parents, siblings), social risk factors (schools, peers), and environmental factors (neighborhood, and other surroundings). Researchers have also been able to eliminate other prevention program or practices that haven 't work by evaluating them. Reading the chapter you can see that rather then decreasing the recidivism for adult offenders, it is better to prevent any crime from happening by intervening the at risk youth and give them the proper