NCJ Number
131225
Date Published
Unknown
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Social and political changes in East European countries have extended to the criminal justice system. These changes are analyzed in terms of motivation for change, subjects initiating change, and the extent of change.
Abstract
Three basic determinants of motivation for change involve a widespread ethos of change, societal awareness of possible alternative solutions, and contradictions between the criminal justice system as a structural and functional entity and social expectations. Subjects demanding change include innovative individuals, reformers, ideologists, and intellectual or moral authorities. Predispositions and prerogatives to demand change are often built into the structure of the social role, although the duty to initiate change is sometimes a constitutive element of statutes or charters of innovative organizations. The power of different subjects to promote change is not equal, primarily because societies of East European countries are still centralized. Changes in the social and professional consciousness of persons involved in the criminal justice system have been significant. However, the extent of change effectively introduced into criminal law and strictly associated with criminal justice system operation is slight. 28 references