Diversion In The Criminal Justice System Research Paper
Diversion in the Criminal Justice System
Criminal Justice Policy
April 16,2012
Research Paper
April 16, 2012
Diversion has been known to be called, “the easy way out”, or “a slap on the wrist”, but diversion entails more than an offender saying, “They got an easy way out”. According to the book diversion can be a type of rehabilitation, “The National Academy of Sciences defines it as “any planned intervention that reduces an offender’s criminal activity” (Walker 2008, pg 251). Most criminal activity is done by people from the ages of 14 and 24. The main goal of rehabilitation programs is to reduce crime sooner than later the book refers to it as, “planned intervention program, that might include counseling, …show more content…
Diversion is meant to help keep people out of the criminal justice system; due to the fact most of them are not violent offenders. It refers to people that are not a serious threat to society, but made a wrong choice and it is their first time offending. Using diversion, the courts hope that it will not only keep people out of the criminal justice system, but it will help them, rehabilitate them, or try to resolve the problem. It also is an additional way to keep from overcrowding jails, courts, and any kind of correction institution. In doing this the courts can focus on more serious offenders. According to the text book, “diversion is a planned intervention with a treatment component and the goal of getting offenders out of the criminal justice system as early as possible” (Walker, 2008,pg.262). In diversion the offender is given a jail sentence as in “11/29” if the offender does not commit any more crimes then they will be expunged from the criminal justice system and then they will have a clean record. …show more content…
Tannebaum, Becker, and Lemert were all right in the idea that juveniles should be dismissed from the criminal justice system, to be given another chance. They also said that if juveniles were not dismissed from the criminal justice system that “labeling” could take affect very easily. If a juvenile is proven guilty an certain crime, that could essentially lead the individual to living up to their “label” and lead them to commit more deviant acts. This is why they try to give them another chance and treat them with a diversion program of some sort. An additional quote from text book states that, “Commission gave it strong endorsement in 1967, and in the 1970’s an estimated 1,200 diversion programs were established” (Walker,2008,pg.262). Given this information one could conclude that during the 1960’s the criminal justice system was establishing more of a variety of ways to help people and trust them with a second chance. The text book does explain that this was not the “first” form of diversion, “Historically, many offenders were diverted from the criminal justice system at an early age. Police officers routinely chose not to arrest someone even though there was probable cause, and prosecutors dismissed the cases when prosecution would not serve the “interest of justice”. We call this old diversion” (Walker, 2008,pg. 262). Police officers have been practicing diversion for a long time. They trusted that
Criminal Justice Policy
April 16,2012
Research Paper
April 16, 2012
Diversion has been known to be called, “the easy way out”, or “a slap on the wrist”, but diversion entails more than an offender saying, “They got an easy way out”. According to the book diversion can be a type of rehabilitation, “The National Academy of Sciences defines it as “any planned intervention that reduces an offender’s criminal activity” (Walker 2008, pg 251). Most criminal activity is done by people from the ages of 14 and 24. The main goal of rehabilitation programs is to reduce crime sooner than later the book refers to it as, “planned intervention program, that might include counseling, …show more content…
Diversion is meant to help keep people out of the criminal justice system; due to the fact most of them are not violent offenders. It refers to people that are not a serious threat to society, but made a wrong choice and it is their first time offending. Using diversion, the courts hope that it will not only keep people out of the criminal justice system, but it will help them, rehabilitate them, or try to resolve the problem. It also is an additional way to keep from overcrowding jails, courts, and any kind of correction institution. In doing this the courts can focus on more serious offenders. According to the text book, “diversion is a planned intervention with a treatment component and the goal of getting offenders out of the criminal justice system as early as possible” (Walker, 2008,pg.262). In diversion the offender is given a jail sentence as in “11/29” if the offender does not commit any more crimes then they will be expunged from the criminal justice system and then they will have a clean record. …show more content…
Tannebaum, Becker, and Lemert were all right in the idea that juveniles should be dismissed from the criminal justice system, to be given another chance. They also said that if juveniles were not dismissed from the criminal justice system that “labeling” could take affect very easily. If a juvenile is proven guilty an certain crime, that could essentially lead the individual to living up to their “label” and lead them to commit more deviant acts. This is why they try to give them another chance and treat them with a diversion program of some sort. An additional quote from text book states that, “Commission gave it strong endorsement in 1967, and in the 1970’s an estimated 1,200 diversion programs were established” (Walker,2008,pg.262). Given this information one could conclude that during the 1960’s the criminal justice system was establishing more of a variety of ways to help people and trust them with a second chance. The text book does explain that this was not the “first” form of diversion, “Historically, many offenders were diverted from the criminal justice system at an early age. Police officers routinely chose not to arrest someone even though there was probable cause, and prosecutors dismissed the cases when prosecution would not serve the “interest of justice”. We call this old diversion” (Walker, 2008,pg. 262). Police officers have been practicing diversion for a long time. They trusted that