Reference no: EM13800791

Alternative theory and strategy in the criminal justice system

There is no doubt that restorative justice is one strategy of avoiding the stereotyping of the individuals in the criminal justice system. According to restorative justice is a process through which parties to a particular criminal offense come to a collective resolution of how best to deal with the aftermath of the criminal offense as well as the impact in the near future. The one aspect of restorative justice is the reintegrative shaming theory that refers to the use of shaming as a form of sanction in the criminal justice system that results in strengthening the bond between the criminal offender and the community from which theoffenders comes from. The theory is the best alternative to the labeling theory as itcomprises of two different process namely stigmatic and reitegrative shaming. While the first results in ruined ties between the offender and the society, the latter involves bringing back the offender to the society as a reformed member of the society.

The major tenets of concern under the reintegrative theory include the tolerance of the fact that crime worsens things, disrespectful, and outlasting shaming of crime worsens the crime and reintegrative shaming, or disapproval of the act within a continuum of respect for the offender, disapproval terminated by rituals of forgiveness, prevents crime.That means that the failure by parenting that is permissive to disapprove and confront the children's misconduct as well as authoritarian parentingbothresults in delinquency. Therefore, restorative justice mainly makes things easy since it provides the moral rezoning for the families concerning the nextcourse of action concerning the crime being an alternative punishment from the state.

The good thing about the restorative justice is that there are conferenceswhere both the offender and the victims are invited together with the closealleys for discussion concerning the consequences of the crime. The discussion culminates in both parties drawing out the feelings of the harmed persons aswellas how best to repair the harm andthe step0s necessary in preventing reoffending. Particularly, reintegrative theory would focus on the shame of the most respected and trusted personsinvolved in the crime. That means that the conference structure comprises of the discussion of the consequences of the crime to the victims and thosein support of the offender structures' reintegration into the society.

There are various scholarly studies attest to the fact that reintegrative theory results in the offenders experiencing more remorse and more forgiveness as compared to the court process. The reformed "offenders" have another leaf tomingle with the society andcarry out meaningful development having been taught the direconsequences of involving in the crime. However, it is worth noting thatthe reintegrative theory works well in the rural communicate as oppose to the urban communities that make it difficult for the former crime offenders to fully interact with the community. It is as a result of the fact that the people in urban set up would always label these individuals even if they have been released and their case includedeither through a court process or the traditional conferences.
Given that the experiences of the receivers of the ideal justice, the it is these receivers who comprise of the victims, the offenders and the community that determinewhether or not restorative justice is satisfactory in the fight about crime or and in the aftermath of the crime. In reference to Braithwaite a renowned theorist, restorative justice does not involve a consistent guarantee of the reduction of the crime offending, it does not mean that the restorative justice programs are unlikely to worsen the re-offending. However, there is need for further study into the importance of the restorative justice in the effort to determine if it really delivers justice to all the targeted audience who include the offenders, victims and the community. It is because if the fact that some policymakers and academicians have developed a retributive principles toward the practice and effectiveness of the restorative justice.

Labeling Theory

The question on whether the labeling theory is a legitimate crime causationelicits a heateddebate given the fact that the proponents of the theorywould argue that it is very critical in shaping the community or society while the opponents of the theory would against the theoryciting the negative effects it has on the offender and the fact instead of reducing crime it increases it. It is as a result of the fact that while labeling theory examines how the social environment is the cause of individual's engagementin crime, it has devoted typically less time on the attention of the official reaction to the crime especially form the law enforcement officers and agencies.

The labeling theory stresses the fact that the official efforts to control the rime as opposed to reducing crime it increases it now that persons who get arrested for one reasons or another are officially labeled as criminals thus making it difficult for them to integrate well into the society after their release and that why in some instance the former offenders would opt to stay in courts as opposed to getting back to their communities for fear of the unknown. But why would the labeling of individual result in increased crime rates? Well, it is because the labeled individuals may find it difficult getting employed and as such, there is increased levels of stress for the individuals while at the same time reducing their stake in the community. Additionally, the labeled individuals may it difficult associating with conventional people as a result of the latter's refusal to accept them and as such, they look for the obvious option which is to associate with other criminals. The result of this is a reduced bonding between the labeled individuals and the conventional people thus fostering the social learning of the crime. Also, as a result of labeling, the labeled individuals end up viewing themselves as criminals and in return they act in accordance with the self-concept.

In conventional societal settings or culture such as America's, prostitution is illegal however, there are many women or ladies that involve it the exercise and to them it is a lucrative business as it is a form of employment and as such, despite their actions being contrary to the societal expectations they can never shy away from it as long as they get an earning form it. That is involving in deviant behavior which refers to the behavior contrary to the dominant practices within the society(Clinard& Meier, 2001). I reference to Becker, the self-filling prophecy involves the actions of the individuals thus it is in support of crime given the judgment form others and as such, it has a greater effect on the labeled individual's behavior. However, there is considerable thought among academicians that anyone who does not fit in the norm is likely to commit crime. Therefore, of more importance is the fact thatsubculture relates directly to criminal activities group of working class which have underachieved in education or work. There is need for investigating the labeling theory to ascertain why people could commit criminal behavior as well as why people can be influenced into deviant behavior.
Gangs

Of the three categories of the cultural deviance theory, the gang fits in the Lower that states that class culture as a whole is responsible for generating crime in urban areas. It is because gangs mainly engage in different crime activities by demonstrating their possession of distinctive territories and turfs. For instance, major U.S cities such as New York and California have high records of cases where children and the public are killed from time to time as a result of gun violence (Waldaman, 2014). Additionally, different cities have different types of age composition in a gang in those large cities and sub-urban cities report more adult gang members than juvenile ones. It is widely believed that smaller cities with relatively more gang problems also have the same proportion of juvenile and adult members (Waldaman, 2014).

Problem explanation

The one theory that explains the problem in which the number of youths joining gangs in the inner city has doubled, while the number of gang leaders serving time in prison and being released after good conduct has increased, is labeling theory. It is because there is a formed opinion in that there is a linkage between the number of for offenders released and the increase in the youth joining gangs. There is a likelihood that those released from prison are nit well received in the society and that is why they continue with criminal activities that in turn are copied by the young persons. Again, it is because there is a labeling of a particular section of the society as gangs.