Crime is something that impacts everyone, whether directly as a victim or indirectly through societal and economic costs. From the early 1960s, in the United States, criminological research resulted from individual efforts. The reliance on individual investigators to conduct and oftentimes fund their own research agenda was primarily a function of a lack of funding sources devoted to issues surrounding criminology and criminal justice. However, research in criminal justice has dramatically increased.
The period between 1960 and 1980, saw the enormous increase in efforts in the federal government to initiate research projects that were designed to understand the extent of criminal behavior, including the etiology of criminal behavior, as well as the reaction of the criminal justice system to criminal behavior. Although still under supported financially, funded research efforts during this time period gathered much information that helped set the stage for the continuation and expansion of criminological research efforts. Since 1980, there has been a substantial increase in the financial resources afforded to criminological research, which has led to a large number of activities within criminology and criminal justice system. Looking at the social factors of criminals, it is possible to see these factors could influence criminal decision and the way they handle situations. Mary Bell was an eleven- year-old girl, who lived in England in a poverty stricken area, known as Scotswood. The criminal grew up the product of a prostitute mother and a thieving father figure. She was often abused, although does not admit to this until later in her life. She was only 11 years old when she became a criminal. According to courts, she was found guilty of manslaughter, because of diminished responsibility in the murders of two three-year-old boys, named Brian and Martin. Mary Bell would later speak of many things in life she endured. It was well known that she was a bed wetter among the neighborhood children, of which Brian and Martin were part of. Her mother would publicly humiliate her when she did wet her bed by placing her mattress outside to show the neighborhood. Mary also stated that her mother would offer her to business customers. Mary, during her young years, would frequently be left with various family members and seemed to suffer from an alarmingly high number of supposed medicinal intoxications. It is later suggested her mother might have had Munchausen by proxy syndrome. Rowe (1986) (pp. 532)
The child was very intelligent, which alarmed police, as well as her actions during the trial. She did attend school, but not regularly. She was reported to have a very high IQ by psychiatrists working with her. It was suggested by defense attorney that because of her childhood, Mary suffered from sociopath logy. She was unable to connect to society through normal affectionate means because of the environment she was in. The neighborhood kids often laughed and made fun of her. She was humiliated constantly by her mother and never had a positive male role model. She responded to society with aggression and violence. Rowe (1986) (pp. 525)
An important point to make is that levels of education have been determined to be significant in the manifestation of criminal behavior. Individuals with learning disabilities have been shown to be more prone to violent behavior. The major reason for this is given in an interrelated causal pattern of events with education at the center. School achievement is predictive of pro-social behavior or behaviors designated as upholding the moral values of a society. This is because academic achievement is interrelated in our society with several other variables such as financial success, high self-esteem and an internal control. This particular model may account for reasoning behind the general idea that individuals with a high IQ generally have fewer tendencies for criminal behavior than individuals with a low IQ. Rowe (1986) (pp. 513) The hypothesis is that having a higher IQ results in easier achievement in school. As stated above, doing well academically is associated with several societal factors as well. Individuals with a lower IQ may not succeed as much academically, which would result in lower self-esteem and not as much financial success, resulting in an increased disposition for criminal behavior. It is important then to stress education and to address issues with learning disabilities at an early age to disallow the appearance of these negative attributes.
Perhaps one of the most fundamental studies influencing scientific opinions of nature vs. nurture would be a study done comparing monozygotic versus dyzygotic twin pairs. In this study, twin pairs were examined for the concordance of criminal behavior for both twins. This is a study of particular interest because both sets of twins were raised in the same environment, but in the case of the monozygotic or identical twin sets, the siblings are genetically identical, where as in the other case, the case of the dyzygotic or fraternal twin sets, the siblings are merely genetically similar. The MZ twin pairs were found to have a 50% concordance (in one out of two cases both twins exhibited criminal behavior), where in the DZ cases, there was only 21% concordance. This illustrates a strong correlation of genetics and criminal disposition, but it also indicates the relative importance of environmental factors as well; environmental factors influence criminal behavior, which explains why there is not a 1:1 correlation of genetic disposition and criminal behavior.
The criminal justice system is what keeps our society from doing wrong. Police officers are to protect lives and property. A law enforcement officer’s duties depend on the size and type of their organizations. Police pursue and apprehend individuals who break the law, and then issue citations or give warnings. A large proportion of their time is spent writing reports and maintaining records of incidents they encounter. Most police officers patrol their jurisdictions and investigate any suspicious activity they notice. They also respond to calls from individuals. Then we have detectives, who often are called agents, perform investigative duties such as gathering facts and collecting evidence.
The daily activities of police and detectives vary with their occupational specialty—such as police officer, game warden, or detective—and whether they are working for a local, State, or Federal agency. Duties also differ substantially among various Federal agencies, which enforce different aspects of the law. Regardless of job duties or location, police officers and detectives at all levels must write reports and maintain meticulous records that will be needed if they testify in court.
The entire state court systems, as well as federal court system, have at least two types of courts, trial courts and appellate courts. Each state is also free to structure its judiciary in any manner. That is why there are significant differences found in different court systems. Trial courts are what most people think of when they think of courts. Trial courts are where a case begins, where witnesses are heard and evidence is presented, sometimes to a jury and sometimes only to a judge. In the federal system, trial courts are known as United States District Courts. Since the United States is divided into 94 judicial districts, state boundaries are used to establish district limits. Every state has a least one district with larger states having more than one. State trial courts are known by various names, such as district, superior, county, and circuit courts, but despite their variations, many courts are basically the same. Appellate courts are different because they do not hold trials; instead they review the record from the trial court and examine it for mistakes, known as trial court error. Appellate courts usually hear arguments from the attorneys involved in the case under review. No witnesses are heard and no other evidence is admitted. After the appellate court reviews the evidence and examines it for errors, it makes its opinion. The appellate court can reverse, affirm, or remand the lower courts decision. When a decision is reversed, the appellate court is saying that a mistake was made during the trial and the trial court has to change its decision. When a decision is affirmed by the appellate court, it is agreeing with the decision the trial court made, and the first decision is left unchanged. There are eleven judicial circuits in the United States, with one court of appeal in each circuit. There is also a court of appeal for Washington, D.C. and for the Federal Circuit, which means there’s thirteen United States Courts of Appeal in all.
The highest court in the country is the United States Supreme Court. Appeals from the circuit courts are taken to the Supreme Court, and appeals of federal issues from the state supreme courts are taken to the U.S. Supreme Court. Usually the people have the right to appeal to any court; the U.S. Supreme Court has turned down 97% of cases appealed within the last few years. So it would be a good idea not to get into a real bind within the court system, because the States Supreme Courts and federal circuit courts are often a defendant’s last chance to have his or her case heard.
Lawyers operate in a wide variety of capacities, such as providing legal counsel to governments, corporations and to individuals in a variety of situations. In a courtroom, however, the lawyer's role is narrowed to a more specific purpose. Generally, there are two sides in a courtroom proceeding. One side, called the plaintiff, who is seeking a remedy for an injury or to a violation of rights. The plaintiff is also called the complainant. A plaintiff can be government, a corporation, and a group of people or a single individual. The other side is the defendant, who is accused of causing an injury or of violating the plaintiff's rights. The defendant is also called the respondent.
A plaintiff's lawyer, who is also called an attorney, works for the plaintiff and explains to a judge what happened between the plaintiff and the defendant and why it happened. The attorney for the plaintiff wants the judge to find that what happened was not legal and that something should be done to fix it. A defendant's attorney, who works for the defendant, also explains to the judge what happened between the plaintiff and the defendant and why it happened. The attorney for the defendant wants the judge to find that what happened was legal. The defendant can be government, a corporation, and a group of people or a single individual.
Crime exacts a heavy toll on governments, on society at large, and especially on its victims. The U.S. has the largest correctional system in the world. There are more than 2.2 million people in prison and jail. Jails and prison are sometimes used interchangeably; most members of law enforcement distinguish between the two. Primarily, the difference is that a jail is used by local jurisdictions such as counties and cities to confine people for short periods of time. A prison, or penitentiary, is administered by the state, and is used to house convicted criminals for periods of much longer duration. Both are part of a larger penal system which includes other aspects of criminal justice such as courts, law enforcement, and crime labs. A jail is designed for short time periods only; it tends to have fewer amenities than a prison. Individuals who are being housed in a jail have access to bathrooms and are provided with food and water, and in a low security jail, they may be able to socialize in common areas during certain periods of the day. Most jails are designed to hold a very small number of criminals, and have relatively lax security when compared to prisons, although in areas prone to violence, a jail may be run along very strict lines. A jail houses people who have been convicted to serve a short sentence, individuals awaiting trial, people who have not yet paid bail, and detainees who have just been picked up on suspicion of committing a crime. The criminals are processed through a booking procedure, and the criminal justice system decides what to do with them after that.
In a prison, the amenities are much more extensive, as some prisoners may be serving their lives behind bars. It takes about $72,200 to house a prisoner a year. Prisons have exercise areas, common areas for eating and socializing in lower security areas, church facilities, and an educational facility which includes classrooms, libraries, and labs to work and study in. In lower security prisons such as those used to imprison people convicted of white collar crimes, the prison could sometimes be mistaken for a hotel. In most cases, prison inmates are expected to share cells with other inmates, and because of the long duration of most prison sentences, a complex social and political structure arises among the prisoners.
A prison is capable of handling far more prisoners than a jail is, and the prisoners are typically segregated on the basis of the types of crimes that they have been convicted of, as a safety precaution. In addition, in countries which still have capital punishment, a prison maintains facilities to carry out capital sentences, along with housing for criminals sentenced to this type of punishment. In general, the prison facility as a whole is very tightly secured, even if not all the criminals inside are violent, to prevent escapes or potential violence between wings of the prison. Prison staffs are specially trained to work in a prison environment, and a board of governors appointed by the state oversees prison management. The criminal justice system has a wide variety of people from all jurisdictions to help keep this world a safe place. By understanding the causes of criminal behavior, it may be possible to change some of the factors and eliminate some criminal behavior. However, this is not simple, and understanding the behavior of the criminal does not necessarily eliminate criminal behavior. The perception that crime, especially violent crime, has become one of the most serious problems facing society has led to determined efforts by many researchers to find the causes of criminal behavior. Researchers have focused on biological causes, believing that a biological basis of criminality exists and that an understanding of the biology will be useful in predicting which people are predisposed to become criminals. Crime is something that impacts everyone.

References

A Latent Markov Model for Detecting Patterns of Criminal Activity
Francesco Bartolucci, Fulvia Pennoni and Brian Francis
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Justifying Justice: Therapeutic Law and the Victimization Defense Strategy
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Published by: Springer
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Criminology and Criminal Justice Research: Organization - Government-sponsored Research, Development Of Research Centers, The Federal Impact On Research, Research Tools http://law.jrank.org/pages/935/Criminology-Criminal-Justice-Research-Organization.html#ixzz1SWKmf43w

Professional Ethics in Criminal Justice: Being Ethical When No one is looking, 2nd
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Rowe DC.Genetic and environmental components of antisocial behavior: a study of 265 twin pairs. Criminology1986;24:513–32.