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Ap Synthesis Reflection

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Ap Synthesis Reflection
Shabnum Hamidi
11/14/12
Period 2
CST Synthesis Reflection
CST & the Criminal Justice System “I am convinced that imprisonment is a way of pretending to solve the problem of crime. It does nothing for the victims of crime, but perpetuates the idea of retribution, thus maintaining the endless cycle of violence in our culture. It is a cruel and useless substitute for the elimination of those conditions--poverty, unemployment, homelessness, desperation, racism, and greed--which are at the root of most punished crime. The crimes of the rich and powerful go mostly unpunished.” (Howard Zinn) This quote simplifies my evolved awareness of the issue concerning crime and the criminal justice system has grown. Beginning this unit I had a basic …show more content…
My opinion at first towards the death penalty was that if the crime was gruesome enough then the person should also pay through being put to death but after watching “Dead Man Walking” my opinion on this issue completely changed. It showed me that through counseling and programs showed in the movie, the inmate could truly change for the better. And that we should move forward in the direction of helping rehabilitate the inmate rather than using the death penalty because it is not only expensive but in affective towards the long term goal of living in a progressive and harmonious society. One very positive way to lead us to this society is through restorative justice, which has made a huge positive impact throughout the United …show more content…
I was very happy to see the restorative justice programs being such a huge success and a step towards fixing the criminal justice system problem. Another great step that is occurring is with the Catholic Church and their movement into stopping the death penalty which is another great way to dealing with the situation through responsibility, restoration, and rehabilitation. The idea of the death penalty seemed completely wrong to me after reading a story from the Murder Victim’s Families for Reconciliation where a women lost her brother but didn’t want to death penalty placed on her brother’s murderer but to put him in counseling programs because an added death wouldn’t have solved anything. And seeing the forgiveness and the logic behind this woman’s thinking I saw that the death penalty isn’t an affective way of solving a problem basically a way of “pretending to solve the problem of crime.” Every single activity and experience throughout this course of this unit was very powerful and influential in developing my awareness and understanding from knowing a few very small facts about the criminal justice system to now a vast majority of statistics and information about this
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