SAGE Journal Articles
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Drawing on a sample of 798 Ohio criminal justice professionals (police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges), the authors examine respondents’ perceptions regarding the frequency of system errors (i.e., professional error and misconduct suggested by previous research to be associated with wrongful conviction), and wrongful felony conviction. Results indicate that respondents perceive system errors to occur more than infrequently but less than moderately frequent. Respondents also perceive that wrongful felony conviction occurs in their own jurisdictions in .5% to 1% of all felony cases, and in the United States in 1% to 3% of all felony cases. Respondents, however, specify an acceptable rate of wrongful conviction to be less than .5%. Findings thus indicate that criminal justice professionals perceive an unacceptable frequency of wrongful conviction and associated system errors and suggest that programs aimed at reducing system errors and improving professional conduct would be broadly accepted among criminal justice professionals.
Follow-Up Questions:
1. What pioneering research effort in the area of wrongful conviction led to increased public, political, and media attention into the matter?
2. What is one important tool used by modern authorities that allows wrongfully convicted defendants to conclusively prove their innocence?
3. Briefly summarize the results from the study conducted by Ramsey and Frank on wrongful conviction.
The purpose of this research was to compare the values, likelihood of engaging in ethical violations, and perceptions of the seriousness of a variety of ethical violations of criminal justice students with students in other disciplines while controlling for their gender and interest in law enforcement. Few differences were found between criminal justice students and other students in terms of their value orientations. Although criminal justice students were found to be less likely to believe they would engage in ethical violations and more likely to view such violations as serious, these relationships were found to be insignificant. The variable found to have the most effect in all models was the gender of the student. Women were less likely to commit ethical violations and more likely to view them as more serious. Overall, the research lends more credence to the socialization or occupational opportunity theories for explaining the existence of the police subculture.
Follow-Up Questions:
4. According to Herman Goldstein (1977) what is the root cause of police corruption and misconduct?
5. Have researchers ever discovered significant differences between criminal justice students’ unethical behavior as compared to other groups of students?
6. Briefly summarize the findings from Bjerregaard and Lord’s study into the ethical and value orientation of criminal justice students.
A striking phenomenon in many western countries is the increasing use of the criminal justice system as a means of channeling and coercing drug users into treatment. Despite somewhat equivocal research evidence about its effectiveness, this approach has continued to expand, including in Britain. This article takes a step back and explores some of the critical background issues that have been largely overlooked to date. Some conceptual, ethical and criminological aspects of coerced treatment in the criminal justice system are considered. It is argued that coerced treatment is a central issue for both contemporary criminology and criminal justice policy.
Follow-Up Questions:
7. What is the context under which coerced drug treatment operates in Britain?
8. What are the rationales for the policy of coerced drug treatment in Britain?
9. What are two ethical considerations posited for involvement of the government, or State, in utilizing coercive drug treatment?