Criminal Justice Course Reflection

This course has been an eye opener for me because I was unware of how the criminal justice system worked. One of the things that stood out to me the most was the disproportionate imprisonment of some races in contrast with others such as Blacks and Hispanics. However, it is not completely a genetic thing because the environment people live in plays a huge role too. Since most minorities like Hispanics and Blacks live in disadvantage neighborhoods they are more prone to get involved in criminal activity because of the alternative value systems that emerge from block opportunities. From the readings it is evident that when whites are poor and live in the same disadvantage environment as minorities they are also more likely to engage in crime than their fellow white counterparts of the upper classes.

Before I had taken this class, I understood as a rule establish by society in order to preserve the well-being of everyone. However, this course made me question where does the law come from actually? Why is that we punish some crime such as “street crime” more heavily, than other crimes committed by elitist. All of this is due to the people who are in power and impose their will by lobbying the criminal justice system. Also, the privatization of federal prisons has allowed corporations to get involved in the system in order to profit. So to an extent prisoners are being exploited as a cheap commodity. Moreover, now I understand that the field of criminology is interpreted by using data. Before I took this class I thought it was all theoretical though that try to explain crime. However, most of the theories that try to explain why crime happens or how