Socialization in the Criminal Justice System

A man grows up eating dog food and fighting for his master. He is caged in darkness and has limited social interactions, leading him to develop an obedient attitude towards his master, the only person he knows. However, his master treats him poorly and uses him as a tool to earn money. This is the basic scenario in the movie Unleashed, starring Jet Li.

However, after relinquishing the hold his master has on him, Jet Li is thrown into the outside world, afraid and alone, like a stray dog. At first, he starts off acting like a dog because that is all he knew, shying away from affection and the warmth of another human. However, as the story progresses, he learns more about being human and becomes almost normal through all of the interactions and influences he experiences.

This story fits in perfectly with Dictionary.com's definition of socialization. According to Dictionary.com, socialization is "a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position." A good example is Jet Li in Unleashed because he was treated like a dog, therefore he acted like one. Also, Wikipedia states that, "however, this also includes adult individuals moving into an environment significantly different from one(s) in which they have previously lived and must thus learn a new set of behaviors." When Jet Li was released from his master, he was flung into an unfamiliar environment which allowed him to develop a new set of behaviors.

Socialization is important to the Criminal Justice system because in order to judge a person for their crime, one would have to take many things into consideration, including their background. People who grow up in certain outlandish circumstances usually wind up doing unorthodox and outlandish things. Taking things such as race, location, economic status, and community into consideration can be crucial in deciding whether or not a person is guilty of any given crime. According to vdare.com, Hispanics are three times as likely as Caucasians to be imprisoned for committing a crime.

However, these statistics lead into a great debate about the ethics of the judicial system. Should race be taken into consideration when judging somebody for a crime? Absolutely not; but regardless, it still happens.

Despite my greatest efforts to prevent media and my family from influencing my beliefs, I believe that they have done a successful job in drilling into my mind that African Americans can be associated with drugs, violence, and gangs; that Hispanics are all incompetent and do nothing but mow lawns; and that Middle-Eastern people are all terrorists. I try to fight the stereotypes they have placed in my life and I make an active effort to relinquish these awful generalizations. However, it is difficult for me because I constantly have to deal with these ideas everywhere I go, whether it's at home or on the television. With my active distinguishing of stereotypes, I believe that I can overcome what my family and the media say about certain races and replace these negative notions with positive portrayals of human beings in general.

These institutions have influenced my behavior in the past and the present as well. I have better judgment now and I am able to mold my own beliefs. Had they not shown me the wrong way to behave and think, I would have never discovered the right way.