Whites as police officers. This gives the impression among the viewers that blacks are violent are thieves etc. (Prosise and Johnson 2004). Some criminals are believed to have some psychological dysfunctions that are hereditary having inherited them from the family chain. According to this myth, there is a possibility that one of their parents or relatives must have been involved in criminal activities at some point in their lives. Another psychological factor is trauma they may have been exposed earlier in life. This may have resulted in changes in the behavior and is linked to criminality.
Trauma may cause someone to be inhuman towards others; therefore, one will not fear to commit murder or even rape as a result. However, a slight percentage of people exposed to traumatizing events early in life end up becoming criminals Studies have shown that crime is more rampant in regions where poverty is high. In search of better lives, some people engage in illegal activities since they believe it as a shortcut pout of poverty (Swaroop and Marenoff 2006). There is a significant disconnect between the people and their leaders.
The people lack role models, mentors, and other motivating political groups that discourage crime activities and encourage active living. Social isolation has led to decreased participation in the political process (Rankin and Quanne 2000). According to Rankin and Quanne, lawmakers do not represent their people as expected of them. Tonry (1996) says that criminal justice systems are biased in that it enforces strict punishments for property crimes that are mainly committed by blacks and low-class people in the society while ignoring corporate crimes primarily determined by middle and upper-class people in the society, mostly whites.
If the law enforcers favor one race over the other, then crime will not be fully eradicated since this biases will only ensure partial enforcing of law. The political class can influence and alter rules so as to suit themselves, as a result of this vice, the entire criminal justice system is rendered unfair and nonfunctional. This kind of discrimination in the criminal law leads to criminalizing only those things committed mainly by low-class people. The wealthy political class walks free due to biases in law enforcement, correctional systems as well as court process (Robinsons 2001).
The rich always have access to jury consultants and the best witnesses. According to Stylianou (2003), corporate crimes are deemed to have less economic, financial or physical damage when compared to crimes committed in the streets. This is not true in real cases since those crimes that are perpetrated by the wealthy. Both political and big companies have caused awful damage on the economy of the society. According to research done by Robinson and Murphy (2008), there are huge losses incurred as a result of white collar crime. Corporate crime is deadly compared to street crime.
Innocent bias occurs when the law is enforcing as well as entire judicial system unintentionally apply the law in an unfair manner (Robinson 2001). The police and other disciplinary units may collude with courts to pass unfair judgments on cases that involve the wealthy political class (Thomson, 2005). Criminal justice practice has been found to be unfair in many ways. Some of the issues and challenges incurred include wrongful convictions, racial biases and diverse defense representation. This makes innocent people lose their lives due to failed and disparate criminal justice systems.
The criminal justice policies that have been put in place mostly target the blacks as well as the small class in the society, therefore, leading to the imprisonment of many people. According to Kappeller et al. (2005), there is a central myth that most crimes shown in the crime-base programs are committed by black people especially when compared to other races. This has led to fear of victimization of African-Americans (Robinson 2000). The race-related crimes tend to taint the image of blacks as criminal gangs and that nothing good comes out of them, this leads to mistrust on the blacks.
Non-whites are widely arrested for all crimes when compared to whites (Rankin, 2011). The television programs to promote in dramatizing and widening the race difference among the viewers. (Hanby 2005) The programs that have a theme of crime do not educate the public about criminology and criminal justice systems as well as causes and factors leading to crime The criminal judicial system in place tends to ignore crimes committed by the wealthy instead focuses more on street crimes when in a real sense, corporate crimes committed by the rich have had more damages on the society compared to those perpetrated by low-class people.
These systems chose to focus on street crimes and hardly white collar crimes (Conaghan & Russell, 2014). The policies are politically influenced thus become inadequate as they only favors the wealthy (Robinson 2004). Criminal law best serves the interest of lawmakers, the rich and the people like them; therefore, rendering the entire criminal justice systems unfair and small (Bell 2008). The media, through its programs, has created a perception concerning crime among its viewers.
They achieve this through the images of crime and their solutions, in doing this they try to show the fairness found in criminal justice systems. In reality, it’s the opposite where people with influence in the society always walk free. The criminal justice systems are in reality unfair all the way from the law making stage to the corridors of courts to the correctional systems. Due to the challenges associated with criminal justice system, reducing crime has not been fully achieved fully. It requires a concerted effort of the everyone to ensure that crime rates are greatly reduced.
In conclusion, entire criminal justice system should prioritize the real problem planning how to counter the crimes committed by the wealthy class. This is achieved by enacting laws that are fair to all and indiscriminating anyone, letting the law takes its due course since no one is above the law. When this is achieved all crimes shall be dealt with according to the law without fear or favoritism. There will always be inequality in the criminal justice systems as it will only serve a few interested groups. This situation can only change when all crimes are handled in the same manner according to the law. Shelden 2007).
Harold E & Paul J. wrote a book called ‘myth that causes crime’ in this book they have documented that police cannot adequately control crime on their own but with the help of citizens’ cooperation (Anon 2006). According to the book, we can only conquer crime by fully controlling the myths that can cause psycho-Social effects to a community. There needs to be a reformation regarding equal accessibility of justice by lawmakers, jury consultants, and lawyers irrespective of his or her social status.
The criminal law needs to cut across the social classes (whether rich or poor), races (whether white or non-white). The laws that discriminates on others in the society should be done away with (Rawls 2005) Since the media is a crucial tool in the dissemination of information, it should strive more on promoting fairness in its content as far as criminal justice systems are involved. In order to realize equal and fair criminal justice practice, media needs to be on the forefront in eradicating discrimination in law enforcement, court proceedings, and correctional service units.
