NCJ Number
85217
Date Published
1981
Length
36 pages
Annotation
Patterns of official deviance, illegal or improper behavior intended to serve the goals of an organization, are described for police, lawyers, judges, and prison guards, and remedies for official deviance are proposed.
Abstract
Official deviance occurs in policing when the police violate the law or the formal rules of the agency to obtain evidence or cover up police abuse of citizens and suspects. Official deviance among lawyers surrounds the secretive arrangements made between prosecutors and defense counsels in plea bargaining, such that the charges finally brought against the defendant do not accord with the actual violation that occurred; further, prosecutors often overcharge to provide room to plea bargain. Judges engage in official deviance when their concern to establish a cost-efficient court system becomes more important to them than ensuring the rights of the defendant. Prison guards are involved in official deviance when their commitment to security and an ordered institution leads to inmate abuse and denial of due process and proper hearings before instituting severe disciplinary punishment. Remedies for official deviance must come from outside the system or organization whose ends are served by such deviance. While investigative journalism may place a temporary glare on such deviance, this is not sufficient to bring about nor enforce the reduction of official deviance. Independent monitoring and preventive mechanisms that operate continually to identify, rectify, and guard against official deviance in all aspects of the criminal justice system are needed. A total of 112 references are provided.