Criminal Justice Administration

Criminal Justice Administration
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Introduction
Violation of laws is a common thing in all parts of the world and that is why governments come up with a set of processes and agencies to prevent and control the violation through what is commonly referred to as a criminal justice system (Foblets, 2010). Each criminal justice system has a specific jurisdiction in which it is implemented and the jurisdiction can be a military installation, federal government, state, country or city. The five major components of a criminal justice system include corrections, courts, prosecution and law enforcement. Communication is a very vital component of the criminal justice system and therefore any kind of communication breakdown among the personnel within the system or between law enforcers and the citizens affects their performance in a negative apart from bringing down the reputations of an entire criminal justice system (Foblets, 2010). Cultural diversity is one of the issues that have a great impact when it comes to justice delivery because it can be a hindrance to effective communication. This article will discuss how cultural diversity contributes to some of the communication problems with a criminal justice system.
How cultural diversity contributes to the communication challenges in the criminal justice system
Diverse communities are always a great challenge when it comes to delivering justice for all and therefore most criminal justice system agencies find it difficult to effectively execute their duties in such a culturally diverse environment because of communication problems (Cole, Smith & ‎DeJong, 2014). The ability to freely interact and communicate with colleagues in the criminal justice has always been a major challenge in most jurisdictions. Cultural differences or diversity contributes to poor communication practices that in turn affect the performance of criminal justice agencies. Some of the negative effects of poor communication include employee turnover, incorrect assumptions, missed deadlines as well as personal conflicts among the personnel. Productivity and alignment can only be promoted when there is effective communication in the entire justice system and also eliminates all the possible risks within the system. It is always easy for messages to be misconstrued as a result of language barriers and this can be a risky affair when it comes to the administration of criminal justice (Cole, Smith & ‎DeJong, 2014). Judicial employees that speak different languages are bound to face different challenges when interacting with each and this means that they cannot perform effectively. The language problem makes them feel embarrassed or frustrated, especially when dealing with their superiors. The inability to understand directives is a challenge for law enforcers and this therefore creates a lot of loopholes in the criminal justice system (Cronkhite, 2012). Communication is affected in quite a number of different ways by diverse cultures. There are some cultures that place a lot of emphasis on verbal cues while others focus on non-verbal cues and this can be another source of misunderstanding.
Communication within the criminal justice system is also affected by cultural issues such as diverse perceptions when it comes to body language, personal space as well as roles and status (Cronkhite, 2012). Communication between a man and a woman is in most cases guided by their cultural orientation and there some cultures where men cannot take orders from women. The space between two individuals that are involved in a conversation is also guided by cultural backgrounds and this is also another major cultural issue when it comes to communication. Interaction between members of the community and criminal justice system actors such as defenders, prosecutors and court officials is also based on communication and therefore things become very complicated when they cannot speak a common language (Cronkhite, 2012). The officers within the justice system have to interact with resource providers, their juniors, defendants in criminal proceedings, witnesses as well as crime victims, but this has always been a challenge when a culturally diverse community is involved (Cronkhite, 2012).
Legal proceedings involve people from different ethnic, racial and cultural backgrounds and this means that some of them may not speak the official language. It is also very difficult for such a group of people to have some confidence in the criminal justice system because they always feel disadvantaged as a result of the language barrier (Ebbe, 2013). Language barriers can also lead to miscarriages of justice, especially when the translation is not accurate. Everyone has a right to access justice in a language they understand both cultural and ethnic diversity has been a hindrance to effective communication especially in the court. The ever-growing number of immigrants makes it difficult for criminal justice personnel to communicate effectively with the people they are supposed to serve. It is always important for citizens to trust their justice system, but communication problems have made them to lose confidence (Ebbe, 2013). One of the most sensitive systems in any country is the criminal justice system and it is important not to leave any room for mistakes especially when communicating important information. Research findings have shown that cultural diversity is actually the root cause of all the major communication challenges in the criminal justice system. Most jurisdictions have found it difficult to overcome the communication barriers that are brought about by cultural diversity and something needs to be urgently done to address the situation.
Apart from interpreting the world in their own way, people from different cultural backgrounds see and hear things differently (Ebbe, 2013). It is possible to find a scenario where people that speak the same language finding it difficult to agree on the meaning of certain words because of their cultural diversity. There is alw...