Sociology

Each case brought before law enforcement personnel is unique, and must be treated thus.  Sane people do not want to be shamed or punished, and if they have mistakenly offended others, are usually prepared to mend their ways especially when humane mediators are involved in their cases.  Human beings have a natural affinity with each other.  Hence, this research paper argues that it is most reasonable to consider the traditional criminal justice system alongside human alternatives to the system. 

There are three topics open to critical analysis in Schmalleger  Smyklas (2008) book, Corrections in the 21st Century.  Chapter 3 asks the reader to deeply consider whether the criminal justice system should merely punish, punish and reform, or only reform individuals that have perpetrated crimes.  Chapter 7 is connected to this question.  It asks of the reader to critically analyze the reason behind prison sentences.  The reader is compelled to dwell on the following question Are prisons meant to reform people or simply dump all those that are considered criminals in one place  Likewise, Chapter 16 is a question that is open to in-depth analysis.  It questions the logic behind juvenile corrections, getting the reader to suppose that there is something terribly wrong with the juvenile corrections system as it stands (Schmalleger  Smykla). 
   
In fact, all of the above mentioned chapters call for changes to the traditional criminal justice system.  To be precise, they ask for humanization of the criminal justice system prevalent in the United States and many other parts of the world in the twenty-first century.  This can be achieved by adopting alternatives to the traditional justice system.  After all, each and every individual exhibiting criminal behavior cannot be jailed, just as each and every victim of abuse does not wish for all perpetrators to be tortured with imprisonment.  Even children may exhibit behaviors that appear uncivilized, if not criminal for example, an unruly child in school may smash his or her friends head with a football.  Still, a child is a child  at the lower end of the learning curve.  This is the reason why alternatives to the traditional criminal justice system, such as shaming, peacemaking strategies and restorative justice are especially recommended for juvenile delinquents (Sherman  Strang, 2009).  As a matter of fact, research has shown that young offenders are most likely to change their problem behaviors through restorative justice techniques rather than court proceedings (Sherman  Strang, 2009).  Adult drink drivers, too, are very likely to reverse their problem behavior due to the humaneness of restorative justice (Sherman  Strang, 2009).  Of course, the same has not been claimed for serial killers or rapists.  Just as all types of crimes cannot go unpunished, all types of criminals do not require the harshness of the traditional justice system, defined by the terminology of punishment, zero tolerance, criminal personality (Wormer, 2010).
   
The United States jails more individuals than any other place in the world, perhaps half a million more than Communist China (Kemp et. al., 2009).  It is not surprising, therefore, that U.S. prisons are overcrowded.  Yet, the victims do not only desire for the perpetrators of crimes to be punished but also shamed so as to keep them from criminal activities in future.  Shaming, peacemaking strategies, and restorative justice also carry elements of punishment.  These alternatives to the traditional criminal justice system allow the perpetrator of a crime to be known to all concerned.  However, these alternatives to the traditional justice system are less harsh.  What if the person who is said to have committed the crime is innocent  If a blamed person is truly innocent, the traditional criminal justice system that punishes him or her is a sham at best.  On the contrary, alternatives to the traditional justice system, e.g. shaming, peacemaking strategies and restorative justice, are more apt to allow for truth to be known.  The humaneness of these alternatives to the traditional criminal justice system may be explained with the following example provided by the Australian Institute of Criminology
       
As American judges move steadily towards greater humiliation and stigma as punishments for convicted offenders, the Australian Federal Police in Canberra are showing that shame
does not require humiliation Professor Braithwaite has defined two different kinds of
shame. One kind is stigmatic shaming, which disintegrates the moral bonds between the
offender and the community. The other is reintegrative shaming, which strengthens the
moral bonds between the offender and the community
             
Canberra police have adopted Professor Braithwaites principles by diverting confessed
offenders from court to a more intense, personal (and lengthy) alternative known as
 Diversionary Conferencing. In these conferences, which are convened by a police officer,
offenders, their family and friends, and their victims or a community representative all
actively participate If the offender agrees to the groups proposals for restoration, the
police then monitor the offenders compliance in carrying out that plan. If offenders do not
keep their promises, then these cases can be referred for prosecution, but nothing said
during the conference can be used in a court (Sherman  Strang, 1997).

Of course, the use of alternatives to the traditional criminal justice system depends on the extent of justice required by the victim and the seriousness of the crime.  Numberless severely mentally disturbed people, also known as psychopaths, insist on repeating their crimes.  Psychologists offer defense on behalf of such individuals.  It is still debatable whether insanity is an acceptable defense.  If a psychopath constantly harasses an individual, the victim may naturally want the mentally ill person to be punished, if not sent to a mental hospital.  Peacemaking strategies, such as getting a respected community leader to arbitrate or mediate disputes, resolve family troubles, and correct behavior by allowing the criminal to perform community service, are not expected to work in such cases (Neilson, 1999, 108).  Then again, even the traditional criminal justice system is not expected to serve its purpose in all cases.
   
It is, therefore, best to consider a mix and match of various crime deterrence techniques.  Unless a young offender is severely mentally ill, alternatives to the traditional criminal justice system, such as shaming, peacemaking strategies and restorative justice, are expected to work best.  Unless it is a rape, robbery or murder case, alternatives to the traditional system must be most appropriate for an adult offender who has never received a legal notice in his life.  All that the victim desires is justice.  He or she does not want the crime to be repeated in his or her life.  As Sherman  Strang (1997) maintain, if the perpetrator of a crime agrees not to repeat the offence, and manages to keep his or her word, it is perfectly correct to allow the individual to change his or her behavior by realizing his or her folly.  If supervisors of alternatives to the traditional system discover that the offender is unwilling to repent or happens to suffer from psychopathy, however, the traditional system of jailing or sending the criminal to a mental asylum is preferable. 
   
In any case, the chosen method of crime prevention should be humane.  When humaneness becomes a forgotten fact, even law enforcement personnel, lawyers and judges may be held responsible for perpetration of crimes.  After all, by labeling innocent individuals as criminals, crime preventers may only destroy lives.  So therefore, it is best to deal with each case on an individual basis with its own facts and dilemmas.  Victims, too, are human beings that may or may not correctly spot perpetrators of crimes.  Considering the fact that it is only human to err, harshness of the traditional justice system should be alleviated with alternatives to the system for alleged criminals, especially those whose crimes are not too serious in nature and whose victims are unsure of their identities.