Living with the loss of a child: Mothers in the criminal justice system

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 265-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda C. Lewin ◽  
Kathleen J. Farkas
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Family Support ◽  
Justice System ◽  
County Jail ◽  
Alcohol And Drugs ◽  
History Of ◽  
Loss Of A Child ◽  
Purposive Sample

AbstractObjective:Bereaved mothers have expressed the need to maintain a bond with their children who have died, to retain control over the funeral rituals, and to express their loss to others who are empathetic. This study describes grief over the loss of a child in women who have been or are currently incarcerated, and the influence of the women's family members.Method:This descriptive qualitative study consisted of open-ended interview questions to encourage the women to describe their experience in their own words. A purposive sample (N = 10) was recruited from a prison re-entry program and a county jail.Results:All of the participants described maladaptive responses such as the use of alcohol and drugs, restricted family support, and dysfunctional coping. None of the participants had received focused bereavement services.Significance of Results:The descriptive perspective from the participants can inform clinicians who work with women who have a history of involvement with the criminal justice system, and recommends that they should inquire about the women's children and experiences with loss. Community re-entry and jail/prison counselors should provide access to confidential and group-based therapeutic support, including Compassionate Friends.

scholarly journals A history of Malawi’s criminal justice system: from pre-colonial to democratic periods

Fundamina ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-336
Author(s):  
Lewis Chezan Bande
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Late Nineteenth Century ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Limited Government ◽  
Correctional Services ◽  
Procedural Law ◽  
History Of

This contribution traces the historical development of the criminal justice system in Malawi, from the pre-colonial period, through the colonial and independence periods, to the contemporary democratic period. It highlights the major political hallmarks of each historical period and their impact on the development of the criminal justice system. The contribution shows that all aspects of the current criminal justice system – substantive criminal law, procedural law, criminallaw enforcement agencies, courts and correctional services – are products of political and constitutional processes and events of the past century. Their origins are directly traceable to the imposition of British protectorate rule on Nyasaland in the late nineteenth century. The development of the Malawian criminal justice system since then has been heavily influenced by the tension and conflict of colonialism, the brutality of one-party dictatorship and the country’s quest for a constitutional order that is based on liberal principles of democracy, rule of law, transparency and accountability, respect for human rights, limited government and equality before the law. To properly understand Malawi’s current criminal justice system, one has to know and appreciate its historical origins and development.

10. Race, ethnicities, and the criminal justice system

2021 ◽  
pp. 273-307
Author(s):  
Neena Samota
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Justice System ◽  
State Level ◽  
System P ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Uk

This chapter explores the broader context and history of race-related issues in the UK, considering why racial disparities persist in diverse societies like the US, Australia, Canada, and the UK, before narrowing the focus to race and ethnicity in the sphere of crime and criminal justice. The concepts of ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’ have long played major roles in both classroom and broader societal discussions about crime, punishment, and justice, but they have arguably never been more present and visible than today. The chapter looks at the problems with the statistics available on race, ethnicity, and crime, noting the ways in which they may not tell the whole story, before considering the statistics themselves as the chapter discusses the relationships between ethnicity and victimisation and offending. It then moves on to how ethnic minorities experience the various elements of the criminal justice system and the disadvantages they often face, before outlining the attempts that have been made to address these disparities at a state level. Finally, the chapter discusses critical race theory, a key theory in modern criminological examinations of race and its relationship to crime and justice, which grew out of the US but has much broader value and relevance as a framework of analysis.

Tempering Expectations: A Qualitative Study of Prosecutorial Reform

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-73
Author(s):  
Rebecca Richardson ◽  
Besiki Luka Kutateladze
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Path Dependence ◽  
Effective Implementation ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Communication Challenges

Objectives: We investigate path dependence and barriers to the acceptance and implementation of reform-minded prosecution, which focuses on reducing unnecessary incarceration, promoting fairness, engaging with the community, and improving accountability in the criminal justice system. Method: Using semistructured interviews with 47 prosecutors in two Florida jurisdictions, both with newly elected state attorneys, we explore reform-minded prosecution priorities and barriers to their effective implementation. Results: Findings suggest that though reform-minded priorities are present in the study prosecutor’s offices, existing prosecutorial norms, case-focused decision-making, policy ambiguities, and communication challenges serve as barriers to their effective implementation. Conclusions: The study highlights the role that line agents play in determining the success of reform-minded prosecution. It also identifies key barriers to reform that reform-minded prosecutors must overcome if they are to achieve meaningful changes toward greater effectiveness, transparency, and impartiality in prosecution.

THE RACIAL HISTORY OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN AMERICA

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-241
Author(s):  
Heather Ann Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Native American ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
The United States ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Incarceration Rate ◽  
Racial History ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law

AbstractThe United States today has the highest incarceration rate, as well as the largest number of people living under correctional control more broadly (including probation and parole), than any other country on the globe. The size of the American criminal justice system is not only internationally unparalleled, but it is also historically unprecedented. This apparatus is also deeply racialized. African Americans, Latinos, and indigenous populations (Hawaiian, Puerto Rican, Native American), are all represented in U. S. jails and prisons in numbers dramatically disproportionate to their representation in the population as a whole, and every non-White population is incarcerated at a rate far surpassing that of Whites. Notably, however, while the scale of today’s criminal justice system is unsurpassed and unprecedented, its severe racial disproportionality has always been a defining feature. Only by taking a close look at the long and deeply racialized history of the American criminal justice system, and more specifically at the regularly discriminatory application of the law as well as the consistent lack of equal justice under the law over time, can we fully understand not only why the American criminal justice system remains so unjust, but also why prison populations rose so dramatically when they did.

Why isn’t history a recognized criminal specialists’ teacher?

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-36
Author(s):  
Jarosław Warylewski
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Death Penalty ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Justice System ◽  
The Real ◽  
Penal Law ◽  
History Of

The study includes reflections on the history of punishment and other means of a criminal reaction, their effectiveness and their impact on the criminal justice system. It indicates the limited “repertoire” of the mentioned measures. It draws attention to the real threats to the most important legal interests, especially to life, such as war and terrorism. It doubts the effectiveness of severe penalties, especially the death penalty. Indicates the dangers of penal populism and the perishing of law, including criminal law. It contains an appeal to criminologists and penal law experts to deal with all these dangers in terms of ideas rather than individual regulations.

The Forgotten Female Offender

1977 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-102
Author(s):  
Ray R. Price
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Female Offender ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Female Crime ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Disparate Treatment ◽  
History Of ◽  
System Information

Until recently the female offender was generally overlooked by an overwhelmingly male-dominated criminal justice system. Information derived from an extensive search of the literature illustrates the dramatic increase of female crime; it further suggests the potential for modifying the sexist nature of the criminal justice system. Questions are raised about some popular misconceptions pertaining to the data. A review of the history of women's involvement as subjects of the criminal justice system in general, and correction in particular, reveals disparate treatment for men and women throughout that process. Both positive and negative effects of this orientation are examined. The article then focuses on rehabilitation. Attention is directed to particular suggestions for reform, leading to a postulation of new directions in treatment of the female offender.

scholarly journals Women, violent crime and criminal justice in Georgian Wales

2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATHERINE D. WATSON
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sexual Assault ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Violent Crime ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Rape Victims ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Law

This article examines encounters of women with the criminal justice system in Wales during the century before the Courts of Great Sessions were abolished in 1830. Drawing on evidence from cases of sexual assault and homicide, it argues that women who killed were rarely convicted or punished harshly. A gendered discretion of sorts also acted against rape victims, as trials never resulted in conviction. Using violence as a lens, the paper reveals a distinctively Welsh approach to criminal justice, and offers quantitative evidence on which further comparative studies of the history of law and crime in England and Wales may be based.

The Corfu Criminal Court Archive: Recording, Impressing and Studying the Phenomenon of Violence and Justice in the Ionian State (1815-1864)

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-65
Author(s):  
Yanna Dimitriou ◽  
◽  
Eleni Socratus ◽  
Emmanuil Drakakis
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Qualitative Evidence ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Law ◽  
First Time

This article examines the encounters of the Ionian people with criminal justice system during the period from 1815 to 1864, when the Ionian Islands were a British protectorate. Drawing on data from cases of the Criminal Court Archives of Corfu for the first time, it argues that criminality mostly concerned the lower social classes and was not very common. Using violence as a lens, the paper primarily focuses on Corfu’s criminal justice system and offers quantitative and qualitative evidence on which further comparative studies of the history of law and crime in Greece and Europe at that time may be based.

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