Impact of Computer Based Technologies on Criminal Justice: Transition to the Twenty-First Century (From Visions for Change: Crime and Justice in the Twenty-First Century, P 299-316, 1996, Roslyn Muraskin and Albert R. Roberts, eds. -- See NCJ-173810)

• NCJ Number: 173819
• Author(s): W G Archambeault
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Prentice-Hall, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter explains the nature and impact of the computer- based information society on American criminal justice.

Abstract

It logically links information dependency to computer dependency. After tracing the evolution of computers and computer-based technologies, the author then discusses the applications of computers in American criminal justice of the 1990s. Computer applications are discussed under the topics of data-based management, organizational communications, computer- assisted diagnosis/education/training, computer-assisted monitoring of offenders, and computer-related crime. Evolving technologies, including artificial intelligence and virtual reality, are discussed in terms of their future applications. The author advises that three emerging computer technologies have significant implications for criminal justice of the 21st century: artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), and biomedical research into direct brain-computer linkage. Currently computer-generated graphical arrays and displays are already being used in American courts to illustrate events surrounding crime-scene investigations and traffic accidents. Future development may enable computer simulations to be generated as witnesses testify about what they observed. Drawing from current research on direct brain-computer interface, VR-AI may allow witnesses to recall subconscious or suppressed memories. The integration of AI, VR, and computer-assisted instruction may have potential for offender therapy and rehabilitation. Study questions, 10 notes, and a 50-item bibliography