(Newswire.net — February 13, 2020) — If you are looking to get a degree in criminal justice and have a career where you help to solve crimes and catch criminals. Although it would be exciting to solve crimes where you can pretend to be Sherlock Holmes and help with detecting stuff, the reality is often different from what you were expecting and things are not all rosy when you step in the field. There are many problems which professions working in criminal justice are facing, and you may get intimidated at the beginning if you are not adequately skilled about the job. Due to the high interest in criminal justice, you can pursue a degree or masters of Science in criminal justice. Criminal justice organizations mainly consist of corrections, courts, and police almost daily. Several issues keep the professionals stay awake at night, and some of them are mentioned below.
1. Drug Use:
This is one of the common problems which criminal professionals are facing recently. The percentage of people abusing drugs has drastically increased recently, and people are now often arrested for being positive for drug abuse. Majority of the people who have been arrested while driving has been tested positive for drug abuse which has affected their driving capabilities. Traffic police in the developed countries constantly keep drug testing devices with them so that they can regularly check up on drivers whether they are under the influence of drugs which can cause heavy fines. Despite all of these procedures the amount of drugs being consumed is increasing, and there is a debate going on whether to legalize some of the drugs such as marijuana which is already legal in some of the states along with other countries doing it too.
2. Young involved in crimes:
Another scenario that is giving headaches to many officers in criminal justice is the increased percentage of young people being arrested for their involvement in various crimes. Apart from indulging themselves in drug abuse, you will also come across them being guilty of theft and other petty crimes which is a worrying sign for many law enforcement agencies. Various factors are involved in the percentage increase in young criminals, and some experts point out the lack of job opportunities that force them to commit such acts while others point out to issues in the social structure of the society which leaves these people out from getting benefits. Whatever the reason these issues need to be tackled, and you may have to develop strategies which would help you limit the involvement of youth in the crime scene.
3. High Incarceration rate:
Another major headache for the crime agencies in the United States is the high rate of people getting imprisoned. The problem with this problem is that not only are the majority of these people repeat offenders and are kept under constant supervision, but the number of first-time offenders is also increasing with each passing day. So far, the agencies have not been able to reach a concrete reason why this has occurred, which could be attributed to different issues, but it has caused some issues in the communities from where they were arrested. It can also be attributed to the high number of social crimes such as thefts and drug abuse. The government has spent a lot of money on correcting these problems, but so far no progress has been made, and you may have to deal with these issues when you come in the professional world.
4. Violence on women:
Unfortunately, despite the freedom and rights which are given to both genders, there has been a sharp increase in violence against women in different scenarios. Ranging from domestic violence issues caused by their intimate partners to sexual harassment faced by women at their work, women have been facing these issues for quite some time. Many different movements and campaigns have been raised to encourage women to speak up when they are harassed or face any discrimination, but stats suggest that the violence levels are rising against women. According to stats, every 4 out of 5 women are either harassed or physically assaulted once during their lifetime which is a worrying figure especially since many of such cases are happening in developed countries like the United States. Despite the widespread influence of feminism across the globe which encourages women to speak up against discrimination and other such issues which women have been facing for generations but it seems to have an adverse effect between the relation of the two genders. This is a major headache for criminal justice professionals who are looking at ways to improve their response time so that these crimes against women are minimized.
5. Three strikes legislation:
This is a law that has been giving quite a headache to agencies who are dealing with criminal justice. If you are not familiar with this law, it was designed to discourage people from being repeatable offenders since if anyone committed a crime on three separate occasions, the criminal would be given a life sentence. The issue arises that many states have started implementing this law which has caused issues for keeping these prisoners due to limited storage. As the crime rates in the country are high and many of these criminals are repeat offenders, many prisons are looking to expand their facilities so that they can house the high number of prisoners who are being jailed every year. Now criminal justice professionals are looking at ways to have this law replaced and look for different ways to deal with these offenders otherwise it will cause a major problem for many states due to the alarming increase in the number of prisoners.
6. Terrorism:
Although the incidents related to terrorism activities have declined in recent years due to the efforts of the law enforcement agencies, other events can be improved. For example, there are now occasional issues related to cybercrime and identity theft issues which have caused several issues and have led to system failures. Hence criminal justice professionals must deal with such cases and protect the privacy of everyone.
Conclusion:
Despite its popularity and being one of the most sought out professions, the responsibility of criminal justice professionals is huge due to the importance of the profession. These people are responsible for solving the issues which many people face, and hence it becomes imperative that they solve them as quickly as possible. Therefore, there are several challenges that people working in this profession are facing and what can be a stressful job for you if you are not adequately prepared to deal with them.