Category: Criminal Justice Essay Examples
See our collection of criminal justice essay examples. These examples are to help you understanding how to write essays on crime-related topics. Contemporary study of criminology and criminal justice is also increasingly interdisciplinary and thus features a broad variety of topics on the causes, effects, and responses to crime. Also, see our list of criminal justice essay topics to find the one that interests you.
Psychological egoism is an argument about the nature of human beings; more specifically, it is a philosophical position which holds that each person, all of the time, chooses and acts so as to promote their own interests—or what they believe to be their own interests. If choosing and …
While elder abuse is not a new phenomenon, it is a relatively new field of information and study that impacts a wide range of medical, legal, individual, institutional, and ethical issues. A National Institute of Justice study indicates that nearly 11 percent of the 5.7 million individuals in …
Electronic monitoring (EM) serves as an intermediate sanction. First proposed for use during the 1960s in an effort to deinstitutionalize the mentally ill in Boston, this sanction has grown into a useful, typically cheaper, alternative to incarceration. The first program officially designated to monitor drunk drivers began in …
Elite deviance is one of the most pervasive and persistent social problems in the world today. It consists of criminal and deviant acts by persons of the highest socioeconomic status employed by or for the largest corporations and the most powerful political organizations. Such acts violate generalized rules …
The term empathy—from the ancient Greek word empatheia, which means literally “in and with”— was coined by Edward Titchener in 1924, on the analogy of sympathy, to convey the meaning of being able to recognize that other people have mental states, feel emotions, and have needs. Also the …
Entrapment occurs when a police officer induces a person to commit a crime that he or she was not likely to commit without persuasion or inducement. It is used as a defense in criminal trials when the circumstances of the crime include police or other investigator activity that …
The concept of ethnocentrism is as far-reaching as the formation of culture. The term was coined from the work of politics and social science professor William Sumner in describing how an individual from within any body of people will see a particular way of acting as fundamentally right. …
Ethnocentrism influences the manners in which individuals participate in a larger society, as they view entire bodies of people as superior to another. This creates a disparity of power and privilege between the in-group and what populations it perceives to be out-groups, based upon expressions and manifestations of …
The word euthanasia is formed from the Greek eu (good) and thanatos (death) and is commonly used to refer to the act of deliberately causing the death of a person in severe pain as a result of a terminal or incurable illness. Euthanasia may be defined as “active,” …
Evidence is the raw material of the criminal justice system, and it comes in many sizes, shapes, and types. At the core, it is the proof on which the fact finder in a criminal trial—judge or jury—bases its verdict or decision of guilty or not guilty. In the …
The exclusionary rule holds that any evidence directly resulting from a violation of constitutional rights must be excluded from trial. Violations are generally tied to the Fourth and Fifth Amendments and can occur when there is an illegal search and seizure or when the suspect makes incriminating statements …
Both justification and excuse defenses are referred to in criminal law as affirmative defenses, meaning that although the defendant admits (affirms) that he or she committed the act in question, they wish to provide the court and jury with evidence showing that the circumstances surrounding their otherwise criminal …
Over time, the definition of an expert witness has evolved into someone who provides opinion testimony at trial based on specialized knowledge, training or experience, reliability, relevancy, and assistance in helping the fact finder to reach a decision. An expert witness should not be confused with a lay …
Eyewitness testimony is testimony about what one claims to have seen or experienced through one of his or her other senses. For instance, one might claim to have seen or experienced a robbery or an assault. A major purpose of eyewitness testimony is to identify the perpetrator of …
Since the colonial era desecration of the flag has brought into conflict the right of expression and the protection of a national symbol. The provocative nature of the act, as it generates feelings of revulsion in many people who are angered by the desecration of a beloved national …
Whenever police wish to question a suspect who is in custody, the suspect must first be given four warnings, commonly referred to as the Miranda warnings: (1) you have the right to remain silent; (2) anything you say can be used against you in court; (3) you have …
A maximum security forensic (MSF) hospital is a licensed inpatient state facility which specializes in providing both forensic assessments as well as psychiatric treatment to patients with violent felony charges. The physical structure of a MSF hospital often appears similar to a correctional facility in that it has …
The examination of physical and behavioral evidence is integral to criminal investigations, to court proceedings, and ultimately to achieving justice. Where these are concerned, the examination assists with the determination of what happened, of whether or not a crime has actually taken place, and with suspect elimination. As …
Following an interpersonal wrongdoing, one possible option for the victim is to forgive the offender. Some scholars believe that the ability to forgive is natural and innate. That is, people are born with the capacity to forgive, which may vary depending on cultural and individual life experiences. Although …
Michel Foucault (1926–84) was a French philosopher who made significant contributions to the academic discourses of continental philosophy, social theory, and the history of ideas, literary criticism, and criminology. Additionally, Foucault’s arguments have greatly informed significant debates in areas such as history, sociology, political theory, feminism, linguistics, cultural …
