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.
Smith v. Doe (2003) was a court case in which the U.S. Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of retroactively applying reporting requirements to convicted sex offenders. This issue arose in the context of the application of the Alaska Sex Offender Registration Act, which required convicted sex offenders to …
The theory of social control has had considerable influence in how criminologists explain crime and criminal offending. Early proponents of this perspective sought to explain the role of external factors that may influence why some people, particularly young people, engage in delinquency and crime whereas others do not. …
In criminal justice studies multiple definitions of social justice are drawn from a range of philosophies and theories across the social sciences and humanities. The term social justice itself is used in wider society usually to connote both social-solidarity-oriented policies and socially just outcomes for individuals and particular …
Over the last decade there has been a global trend among police organizations toward proactively engaging and communicating with the media and public. This trend has only intensified with the development of new media technologies and social networking platforms, which police are increasingly embracing as part of their …
Subsequent to the rise and proliferation of the Internet since the mid-1990s, there has also been the corresponding development of online social media Web sites intended to facilitate information-sharing, personal and group communication, and professional networking. These include Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, YouTube, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Instagram, Google+, and even …
Socrates (469 B.C.E.–399 B.C.E.) was a classical Greek philosopher from Athens and is considered to be the father of Western philosophy. Socrates changed the nature of philosophy by being the first philosopher to focus his attention on human nature. Prior to Socrates, philosophical discussions and debates revolved around …
Sodomy laws are laws that criminalize various forms of consensual sexual contact between adults, most commonly oral and anal sex. During the past 30 years these laws have been subject to legal challenges in both the United States and abroad. Although sodomy laws have been abolished in much …
Solitary confinement is inextricably linked to correctional history. Early correctional reformers used solitary confinement as a rehabilitative philosophy. More recently, solitary confinement has been used as a retributive measure to control dangerous inmates and protect vulnerable populations. Solitary confinement is a term used in institutional corrections that refers …
Because domestic violence is one of the more complex and problematic issues in contemporary society, it is not surprising that proposed interventions are often met with degrees of skepticism that produce far more questions than answers. For example, the proverbial question of whether a given action operates in …
Mental health courts began in Broward County, Florida, in 1996. There are now more than 200 nationwide. This specialized court was developed to deal with people in the criminal justice system whose primary problem was mental illness. Defendants with mental illnesses were coming into court repeatedly with minor …
Drug courts are specialized tribunals designed to process individuals who have committed nonviolent, drug-related criminal offenses. These courts are intended to punish drug users and deter drug use while concurrently treating problematic substance use. Research is equivocal regarding the extent to which drug courts represent an efficient means …
Sports are one area of human interaction that has been subject to a great deal of adjustment as to its ethical thresholds and parameters. Almost without exception, these adjustments represent a decay of previous standards. In ancient Rome, the working man paid to watch athletes struggle in competition. …
In a world of nation-states (states), political violence by the state is virtually inevitable. Governments need to protect the security of their citizens, punish criminals, and sometimes kill or commit other acts of violence during the course of internal or international armed conflict. However, under international and domestic …
Sting operations are inherently deceptive covert operations designed to develop evidence of criminal wrongdoing, identify offenders and offenses, apprehend and arrest offenders, and facilitate successful criminal prosecutions. Sting operations are frequently replete with controversy and ethical concerns over whether such operations reflect acceptable standards for right conduct and …
The stop and frisk strategy (also known as a “Terry stop and frisk”) is commonly used by law enforcement in the United States. While stop and frisk procedures have been used in the United States for quite some time, the court challenges that are common today did not …
Based on the legal standards set forth in Tennessee v. Garner, 471 U.S. 1 (1985) and Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989), police officers are authorized to use deadly force only when it is reasonable and necessary to (1) defend themselves or others from the use or …
Over the past 30 years, U.S. correctional institutions have been scrutinized for the practice of confining inmates to supermaximum, or supermax, prisons. Supermax prisons house the most violent and disruptive inmates at the highest security level. Inmate movement and interaction with others is extremely restricted. The main purposes …
Jail and prison suicide rates in the United States are much higher than rates for those who are not incarcerated. Jail suicide rates are more than four times the national average, while prison rates are somewhat elevated at one and a half times greater. Juvenile facilities also have …
Police surveillance techniques and crime mapping have advanced considerably from the days when suspects were physically followed by plainclothes detectives and crime trends were tracked using push pins and a paper map. Technological advances such as the development of the global positioning system (GPS) have made it possible …
Audio and video surveillance technology has been around since the dawn of electronic audio and visual technology. From the invention of the telegraph in the 1800s to the development of the smartphone in the 2000s, it has been possible to eavesdrop on private conversations, and over the years …
