ver the last four years here at the University of Evansville, I have made the best memories, socially and academically. Whether it is getting poured on while running to a car or hours in the lab working on senior sem, UE Criminal Justice has changed my life (and my brain). With amazingly supportive professors along my way, I have been able to flourish and thrive, exploring different areas of my discipline within my four years here.
Core Concepts and Ideas in Criminal Justice Throughout the four years I have spent in criminal justice, a lot of recurring things continued to arise from course to course, year to year. The first is the concept that the justice system in the United States is ever-changing. Looking at the history of corrections,
…show more content…
For offenders, community corrections involves serving their sentence in a way in which they are not fully disconnected or removed from their community, whether it be for work release, sober living arrangements, probation, or other forms, it allows for an offender to maintain their bonds to society or have a better chance at completely transitioning back to society if they are placed on parole. Because of this, offenders may have better odds at refraining from recidivating back into the crime and back into the cogs of the criminal justice system. This connects to another idea of criminal justice, Social Control Theory, which in my opinion, is one of the most important theories discussed in courses. SCT posits that as a person’s bonds to their society decrease or break, the more likely they are to engage in deviant acts or illegal behavior. This is important, especially with the increase in the importance of community …show more content…
Whether it be the terminology used to describe the steps in the justice process, sentencing differences, legislation, or publicity of cases, it is important that children in the justice system are rehabilitated, as the choices they make they cannot have the complete mens rea and understanding of their wrongful act and consequences of it. The final concept that hit hard in my discipline was the concept of the Blue Wall of Silence, or the moral codebook of police officers that is obviously, no officer left behind. It describes how officers are hesitant to go against other officers, even when it is the morally correct thing to do. In instances of police brutality or police misconduct, an officer’s brothers and sisters generally tend to rally behind them in silence and closed doors. They are unlikely to testify against each other or tell others when they are