The criminal justice system that is currently deployed in the United States is a rather intricate phenomenon. On the one hand, a lot of light has been shed on it in different types of media, thus, allowing people to get a general impression of it. On the other hand, a range of its aspects remain concealed and are known only to the people that study it in depth. Therefore, the first chapter “Crime and Justice in the United States” of the book “Introduction to Criminal Justice” by Bohm & Haley provides mixed impressions.
The operation of the current system of justice, i.e., the framework according to which the American justice system responds to crime, seems to be the easiest part of the book “. The description of the process of analyzing the justice system elements and the way in which they work in the U. S, society, while being very brief, was also very informative. Furthermore, it was inspiring to learn about the complex process of introducing new ideas based on the principles of democracy into the framework of the justice system. The identified part of the chapter also triggered an array of questions related to the current situation. Particularly, the ways in which the representatives of the justice system manage the impediments to the implementation of the relevant practices are of significant interest.
However, the authors of the book also introduced several rather difficult concepts in the chapter. For instance, by describing the effects that social trends have on the subject matter, the authors of the book made the justice system seem flawed and lacking efficacy. By mentioning of various myths and how they hamper the process of solving crimes, the authors of the book raise a range of essential questions that need answers. For instance, seeing that myths about the justice system are persistent in the modern society, it would be reasonable to ask how these myths are spread among the U.S. population, who reinforces them, and how to eradicate them successfully. One might argue that the active use of social networks contributes to the dissemination of myths greatly. Indeed, verifying or, at the very least, controlling the information shared by the users of social media is impossible at present. As a result, myths about criminal justice remain persistent among the U.S. population.
Even though the reading raised an array of questions, it has also provided a platform for building knowledge and training skills related to the area of criminal law. Furthermore, seeing that some of the justice system aspects were linked to the current communication models and tools used by the American citizens, it was quite peculiar to learn about the impact of social media on the subject matter. For instance, in my community, the awareness about the negligence of some of the law enforcement members was raised after several incidents, which helped address the situation appropriately. However, after reading the chapter, I realized that social media might also pose a threat to the justice system due to the persistent nature of myths surrounding it. For instance, a lot of my friends used to keep posting erroneous information about crime prevention in young people. Therefore, the chapter has also provided a deep insight into the problems that the members of the criminal justice system have in the contemporary society. Nevertheless, it is possible to address the identified threats once awareness is raised among the community members.