Criminal Rights
We shall dwell on the criminal justice systems of Jamaica. In all parts of the South American nation, the application of imprisonment has seen a significant rise in the recent years. In King stone, the government authorized the increase in the usage of imprisonment. The initiative was taken so as to fight the rise in crime and social deprivation in the society (Reichel, 2008).
In Jamaica, the increase in the use of prison took a significant leap before the industrial revolution. During this period, the ruler would consider using corporal punishment so as to show his power and influence over his subjects. The punishment was usually meted out in the public (Reichel, 2008). The citizenry soon developed disgust for this trend of meting punishment as a public spectacle. This rendered to increase in usage of the prison system as an alternative form of punishment.
The application of the prison as a method of punishment has spread too many countries in the world. Statistics shows that Jamaica like many developing nations lead in having the highest prison populations. This trend has made Jamaican government adopt a policy known as expansionism. Many countries adopt the policy of imprisonment in meting out punishment because of the shortage of other alternatives. The policy makers in these countries believe that prisons are effective in meting out punishment to the offenders. They also argue that politically, imprisonment is politically preferable compared to the other available alternatives (Ebbe, 2007).
I have observed a common trend in crime behavior, in almost all countries. Modern cities and daily modern life tend to increase the likelihood of generating crimes. I observed this scenario in King Stone Jamaica. I came into conclusion that this was as a result of conflicts between the demands of intense individualism and the effects of collectivity demands. I had also observed especially in many South American cities that the crime rates were notably higher (Ebbe, 2007). This was probably because of societies losing the influence and the authority of their informal structures of control mechanisms.
As a result of moving in many suburbs across Kingstone Jamaica, I have come into a conclusion that it’s not possible to have a crimeless society. It is as a result of crime that there exists the law system and justice in the society. This system forms the basis of social order and perpetual solidarity. Persons in the society must be programmed to adhere to its moral and normative standards. After observing how rowdy people can become in Jamaica, I came into conclusion that the system of criminal justice is important for the adherence of law and order (Pakes, 2004).
In the course of my excursion across various parts of Jamaica, I came to discover that crime rates are more prevalent in towns compared to the rural areas. This is as a result of the breakdown in informal and social regulation mechanisms. The overreliance of on professionalization, formalism, legalism and bureaucratization has also gone a long way in contributing towards this trend (Ebbe, 2007). We also view that many developing countries, which are becoming, quickly absorbed in the system of the worlds with regards to trade and commerce have their crime rates increasing at exponential levels (Daniel, 1997).
The crimes common within these counties are high level corruption and related economic crimes (George, 2013). Urbanization has also gone a long way in increasing rates of crime. This is because it has facilitated the ease with which the criminal executes their criminal activities (Ebbe, 2007).
In Jamaica, I observed that the policy makers do not tend to look for more realistic and practically workable solutions in combating crime. They fail to reason that patterns in punishments follow their own logic (Fairchild, 2006).
They should have identified variations in emotional tone of crime from decency and humanity to insecurity, frustration and resentment. I was interested with their way of reasoning in formulating policies related to crime. They questioned the rationale of the increasing trend of resorting to punishment and more specifically increased usage of prisons (Fairchild, 2006).
I also noted that there existed variations in cultures of control among different countries. In Jamaica, the policy makers were faced with the dilemma of an ever –expanding prison system. They have ruled out any direct any direct correlation with cross-national variations in public aid for prison sentences (Reichel, 2008). I also noted that the rates of imprisonment in modern industrial differ greatly between what is referred to as neo-liberal, social democrat, conservative-corporatist and oriental-corporatist types of political economy. Experts whom I talked to argued that neo-liberal societies tend to have highest rates of inmates in prison. This is because they follow economic and social policies that result to what the experts referred to as exclusionary cultural altitudes with regards to deviant and marginalized citizens (Reichel, 2008).
In comparing crime and prison statistics of Jamaica with other various countries in the world, I noted an interesting observation. Neo liberalism in Europe and the United States does seem to be related with attributes that result in greater use of the prison.
References;
- Ebbe, O. N. (2007). Comparative and international criminal justice systems policing, judiciary, and corrections. Boston, Mass.: Butterworth-Heinemann.
- Fairchild, E. (2006). Comparative criminal justice systems. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth.
- Pakes, F. J. (2004). Comparative criminal justice. Cullompton: Willan.
- Reichel, P. L. (2008). Comparative criminal justice systems: a topical approach (3rd ed.). Upper
George, C. Christopher, S. Christina, D. (2013). Criminal Justice in America. Cengage Learning: United States.
Daniel, M. (1997). Human Rights and Non-discrimination in the ‘War on Terror’. Oxford