NCJ Number
187933
Journal
Criminal Justice Review Volume: 34 Issue: 2 Dated: Autumn 1999 Pages: 119-144
Date Published
1999
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This article explains the concept of civic culture as the core of Western civilization and the touchstone of modern criminal justice and examines the relationship between civic culture and criminal justice.
Abstract
The concept of civic culture came out of the English Civil War and the Enlightenment. Civic culture emerged only after centuries of religious and political strife. Through these troubles the West evolved a commitment to individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, and progressivism. These concepts are central ideals in Western culture. The influence of civic culture on criminal justice is direct in that it defines the goals and the methods of criminal justice, but it is also indirect via its impact on criminality. Criminal justice must address the nature of the criminal to be effective. The three generic types of deviance implicit in the idea of civic culture are the civic offender, the social offender, and the criminal offender. The civic offender subscribes to the ideals of civic culture and consider an honorable career possible. Social offenders endorse the ideals of civic culture but find an honorable career impossible. They live at the margins of society. Criminal offenders commit violence and serious property crime and have little regard for the virtues of civic culture. The differences among these offenders suggest the problems that the courts, the police, and correctional institutions confront as they attempt to deal with offenders in civil society. The classification of defendants into one of these three groups is a legal decision with crucial implications for the defendant’s destiny as well as the administration of justice. The analysis concludes that the criminal justice system should deal with offenders in terms of their offense and justice and in terms of their needs as members of civil society. Footnotes and 77 references