What if, after spending much of your life in Key West, Fla., you stripped down to your birthday suit at a bar in Toledo, Oh.? In Key West, after all, clothing in the saloons can be optional. What's more, dress code signs aren't always all that specific.
An Introduction to Criminal Justice course typically explains the definition of crimes and criminals. Students in Introduction to Criminal Justice often learn about how laws in different places have changed throughout history. They might also come to understand how people in England once believed that criminals maintained a crime "gene" and how experts in the United States now suggest a variety of aspects can cause someone to commit crimes - or prevent them from doing so.
Fast forward to the future, as many Introduction to Criminal Justice courses might do. A 2006 National Institute of Justice Journal article suggests that technology, changing demographics and terrorism are to affect criminal justice systems worldwide into 2040. A more global society also is expected to have an effect, according to the National Institute of Justice Journal article.
Think there are differences in laws when traveling from Key West to Toledo? In a global society, the borders that separate nations vanish. People become more mobile and, with economies, become more blended. As it stands, a recent Palm Beach Post report suggested that nearly 5,000 women were murdered between 2000 and 2009 in Guatemala, where attitudes toward violence against them have been different than they might be elsewhere.
Christopher E. Stone, a criminal justice professor with an Ivy League university, points out that people from different regions also speak different languages and might have different expectations when it comes to the roles of attorneys and judges. In the National Institute of Justice Journal report, he notes that exchanging information with different countries might cause prosecution systems to change. As it stands, professionals involved with an International Crime Court are coming up with new procedures that might affect what happens in the countries from which they hail.
In the National Institute of Justice Journal article, Stone also brings up areas such as technology, prison designs and consulting services and their relationship in a more global society. He addresses changes as far as criminal justice systems in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and England are concerned. Stone also talks about law enforcement oversight on the part of civilians in some countries.
Students might take Introduction to Criminal Justice in instances where they're considering a major or have one in mind. Because the field is varied, students might be pursuing studies that can lead them to careers in areas such as law, law enforcement, social work and investigations. Students in Introduction to Criminal Justice might gain a broad overview of these fields and then study them in greater depth as they proceed in their studies.