Globalization, Privatization, and Militarization: Impacts on Criminal Justice
Globalization, Privatization, and Militarization:
Impacts on Criminal Justice
INTRODUCTION
Over the years, the criminal justice system has seen many changes. These changes have taken place due to the economy, social changes, environmental changes, and even cultural changes. Three items in particular that have affected the criminal justice system world-wide are globalization, privatization, and militarization. This paper will discuss the history of globalization, privatization, militarization, and cover the impacts that each has had on the criminal justice system. It is through being able to recognize these impacts that one can plan and prepare to adapt to an ever-evolving system.
GLOBALIZATION DEFINITION AND HISTORY Merriam-Webster (2013) defines globalization as “the development of an increasingly integrated global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets” (n.p.). Globalization did not start with just the economy. The ideas of globalization can be traced essentially back to the origins of man when they began to move from equatorial Africa. Next were the Europeans trading for silk and spices with the Far East, eventually leading to the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus traveling to the West in an effort to find a shorter route to their foreign trade partners. Modern day globalization began to come about after World War II. This was mainly due to countries such as Sri Lanka, India, and some in South America gaining independence and establishing their own trade relations with the rest of the world as they now had their own economy. With increased global economies, came the United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) which was established to aid in settling commercial and trade disputes. So while seen as something relatively modern in our age, globalization can be traced to the beginning of time and has continued to evolve over the centuries (Larchi,
Impacts on Criminal Justice
INTRODUCTION
Over the years, the criminal justice system has seen many changes. These changes have taken place due to the economy, social changes, environmental changes, and even cultural changes. Three items in particular that have affected the criminal justice system world-wide are globalization, privatization, and militarization. This paper will discuss the history of globalization, privatization, militarization, and cover the impacts that each has had on the criminal justice system. It is through being able to recognize these impacts that one can plan and prepare to adapt to an ever-evolving system.
GLOBALIZATION DEFINITION AND HISTORY Merriam-Webster (2013) defines globalization as “the development of an increasingly integrated global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets” (n.p.). Globalization did not start with just the economy. The ideas of globalization can be traced essentially back to the origins of man when they began to move from equatorial Africa. Next were the Europeans trading for silk and spices with the Far East, eventually leading to the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus traveling to the West in an effort to find a shorter route to their foreign trade partners. Modern day globalization began to come about after World War II. This was mainly due to countries such as Sri Lanka, India, and some in South America gaining independence and establishing their own trade relations with the rest of the world as they now had their own economy. With increased global economies, came the United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) which was established to aid in settling commercial and trade disputes. So while seen as something relatively modern in our age, globalization can be traced to the beginning of time and has continued to evolve over the centuries (Larchi,
References: American Civil Liberties Union (2013). The Militarization of Policing in America. Retrieved from http://www.aclu.org/militarization. Investopedia (2013). Privatization. Retrieved from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/privatization.asp. Larchi (2013). History of Globalization. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/larchi/history-of-globalisation. Martinot, S. (n.d.). The Militarization of the Police. Retrieved from http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~marto/milpol.htm. McClure, G. (2010). The Role of INTERPOL in Fighting Organized Crime. International Criminal Police Review. 1-9 Merriam-Webster (2013). Globalization. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/globalization. PICO National Network (2011). Unholy Alliance: How the private prison industry is corrupting our democracy and promoting mass incarceration. Public Campaign. 1-16. The Free Dictionary (2013). Militarization. Retrieved from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/militarization. Thoma, M. (2005). The Troubled History of Privatization Efforts for City Services. Economist’s View. Windybank, S. (2008). The Illegal Pacific, Part 1: Organized Crime. Policy. 24(1). 32-38.