Introduction to Criminology and Criminal Justice PDF

Surname 1
Introduction to Criminology and Criminal Justice
Name
Date

Surname 2
Question 1
According to Marianne Constable1, law corresponds to language, and it involves more than
statements and rules. It requires a particular vocabulary and speech. Under the sub-topic Law is
a language and Acts, Marriane Constable asserts that "it is a world of doers and deeds," therefore
subjects control the acts and deeds they predicate, hence they should be held accountable. In law,
attribution of a criminal act requires the actus reus and the mens rea (concurrence of the evil
doing hand and the evil-doing mind). This is correct when homicide is concerned. When a
person causes the death of a person, the charge depends on whether there was the intent. The
consequence, which is the crime, will be determined based on the actions and further the mental
state of a person, Mostly, a person causes death recklessly, according to Marriane, will be guilty
because they are in control of their actions; hence they predicate what happens is such a
situation. Also, the concurrence of evil-doing hand and the evil-doing mind in grammar can
conclusively be said in law to be first-degree murder2.
She goes further to acknowledge the existence of the rule of law, which requires that subjects
cannot be punished without the existence of the law. However, grammar needs that a person
cannot be convicted or sentenced without predicting. This, therefore, reduces law to a language
of statements and rules depending on the nationality one is looking at. According to her,
language or law cannot be exhausted, and they contain rules which are not exhaustive on what
else can be put in place as a new rule. Legal speech act is social acts as well, according to her.
She asserts that law ought to be attended as a language, rather than as acts. Therefore, actions of
law, unspoken facts, and visual studies are not relegated to the periphery of legal studies. When
1 Constable, Marianne. Our word is our bond: How legal speech acts. Stanford University Press, 2014.
2 Constable, Marianne. Our word is our bond: How legal speech acts. Stanford University Press, 2014.

Surname 3
language is brought into perspective, one gets to understand the imperfect aspects of law, the
knowledge which is continuous and cannot be interrupted but constitute law as a language. The
imperfections cover the silence and utterances which occur in silence and practical knowledge
which is not perfect. Therefore, this makes the law a matter of subject which reveals what we do
and who we are.
James Boyd, on the other hand, asserts that translation is an art which depends on recognition
and response. He uses the mechanical analogy to show this concept by stating that the world
could be described according to interacting parts. This he likens to reality and the machine which
translates to the reality. He further describes that a translator is a person who connects two
words. According to James, social still and our deepest motives has the root in language and not
ideas3. He uses the baby as an example, whereby the baby learns gesture and response depending
on how the mother teaches them. Therefore, language is the deepest form of expression which
translates the gestures and actions we share with each other. This, therefore, brings forth the
question of justice which seeks to answer the questions; who are we to each other?, what places
do we occupy in the universe?, what are our roles and what relations do we make with each
other?. These questions can be answered by law and leads us to justice. Justice and translation
meet in answering these questions, and they show the right or healthy relations people are
supposed to have with each other and the relation with language and with each other. When the
law of sentencing is put into perspective, we see that any deviation from how people interpreted
the normal way of behavior, leads to justice seeking. The relations we make with each other, and
the space everyone occupies is important, any breaches will lead to people seeking justice.
3 White, James Boyd. Justice as translation: An essay in cultural and legal criticism. (University of Chicago Press,
1994).

Surname 4
In light of the above, the central activity we see in law is reading regulations., texts and cases. In
the making of this legal literature, they come out imperfect in the arrangement. Therefore,
through language, the law becomes a translation which shape both how we respond to the action
of others and how people engage each other, This description by James Boyd, shows how the
law of sentencing came about4. People translate certain actions and behaviors in a certain way
and subject them to the law language which asserts that acting in a particular way implies that a
person behaves in a certain way hence worthy of certain consequences. James concludes that in
the interpreter's case, how the law is construed is the most important aspect. It is not about
putting obedience in a piece of paper but how it is construed. The construction is done in a way
that gives meaning the actions and in a way that cannot be reduced to regulations and rules.
Therefore, for actions to be interpreted as to have breached law in a way or the other, meaning
has to be given to the particular context as activities occurred. Consequently, one will be judged
based on their actions, and the interpretation of the court, for example if a crime happens and one
flees, fleeing is usually seen as in action which shows a person had something to do with the
crime, otherwise why did they run. Therefore, actions also out to be interpreted to give meaning
in the most logical way. Sometimes, not reporting certain crimes to the police, always show the
guilt of a person, for example if one knows a crime occurred and they did not report. Sometimes,
when construed, it may be concluded that one did not report because they had something to do
with the crime. For justice to be achieved therefore, construction of actions and language
sometimes brings more meaning to what someone might have been thinking.
Question 4
4 White, James Boyd. "Translation as a Mode of Thought."( Cornell L. Rev. 77 1991): 388.

Surname 5
The Sentencing Act of Australia 19915, under section 5 provides that punishment is made for the
purposes of deterrence, just punishment, denunciation, rehabilitation, and a combination of any
two or more of these purposes. This section is applicable only to adults. In section 362 (1), it
provides that in the sentencing of children, rehabilitation should be the main consideration. In
contemporary Australia, how criminals are treated has been an issue. When justice is necessary,
it is also important that rehabilitation is considered as part of the punishment. The purposes of
punishment need to be given a lot of weight because sentencing is not only a logical exercise, but
also brings a great measure of difficulty which is unavoidable. In sentencing, when retributions
are the purpose, the purpose is retaliation, where the criminal is harmed because they also
brought harm to the society6. In deterrence, humans are shown that committing certain crimes
causes pain. In general, humans avoid pain and seek pleasure, hence they will avoid doing
certain actions so that they avoid the pain that comes with it. In rehabilitation, the purpose is to
reform the criminal tendencies and to reduce their tendencies to commit the crime7. Restorative
justice is also the other reason for punishment, whereby those who commit the crime appear as if
they have been punished and make the offender not commit the crime again. To sum up,
sentencing and punishment ensure that the system maintains high standards and that crime is
reduced and prevented8.
5 Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic)
6 Ashworth, Andrew, and Martin Wasik. "Fundamentals of sentencing theory: Essays in honour of Andrew von
Hirsch." (Spring Publishers 1998).
7 Maslen, Hannah. Remorse, penal theory and sentencing. (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015).
8 Sentencing Procedure Act 1999 (Australia)

Surname 6
Bibliography
Articles/Books/Reports
Ashworth, Andrew, and Martin Wasik. "Fundamentals of sentencing theory: Essays in honour of
Andrew von Hirsch."(Spring Publishers 1998).
Bottoms, Anthony. "The philosophy and politics of punishment and sentencing." The politics of
sentencing reform (Havard University Press 1995): 17-49.

Surname 7
Constable, Marianne. Our word is our bond: How legal speech acts. (Stanford University Press,
2014).
Maslen, Hannah. Remorse, penal theory and sentencing. (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015).
White, James Boyd. "Translation as a Mode of Thought." Cornell L. Rev. 77 (1991): 1388.
White, James Boyd. Justice as translation: An essay in cultural and legal criticism. (University
of Chicago Press, 1994).
Legislations
Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic)
Sentencing Procedure Act 1999 (Australia)