NCJ Number
201187
Journal
Criminology Volume: 41 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2003 Pages: 1-37
Date Published
February 2003
Length
37 pages
Annotation
This article, on the emergence of a new criminal justice paradigm, presents the American Society of Criminology 2002 Presidential Address.
Abstract
The Age of Reason gave birth to the discipline of criminology, with its emphasis on reasonable responses to criminal offenders, rather than the expression of moral indignation toward criminal actors. The author describes the two main paradigms of criminal justice that have dominated the field of criminal justice in the past: the paradigms of expression and economics. The paradigm of expression based punishment on an emotional response to a presumably emotional offender, while the paradigm of economics based punishment on a rational response to a presumably rational offender. The author contends that the current criminal justice paradigm, labeled expressive economics, bases punishment on an emotional response to a presumably rational offender. The current paradigm has created a frustrating paradox and given birth to many criminal justice interventions that have widely failed to reduce crime, such as the liberal use of long prison sentences for offenders. The author argues that criminal justice is now poised to create a new paradigm, which the author labels emotionally intelligent justice. This new paradigm would compel officials to control their emotional reactions to crime and respond in a rational manner toward presumably emotional offenders. Furthermore, emotionally intelligent justice also reacts rationally toward emotional victims and communities. The emerging use of restorative justice is an example of a rational stance toward emotional offenders and victims. Other examples of the emerging paradigm include the use of mental health and drug treatments for offenders and programs designed to make criminal justice officials aware of the impact of their emotional reactions on victims, offenders, and communities. The author discusses theoretical and empirical research that lends guidance to the emergence of an emotionally intelligent justice paradigm. In conclusion, the author challenges practitioners and researchers to effectively utilize the Age of Information to create a more effective and rational criminal justice system that does away with outdated methods of crime reduction and punishment. References