The criminal justice system contains three main departments, namely the police, courts, and correctional centers. Different countries have different ways of controlling criminals through the use of the three divisions. The organization, funding, training, use of force, minority concerns, and accountability are issues of critical concern because they tend to identify the United States' criminal justice system as either different or similar in some way to other countries worldwide.
Organization
The United States criminal justice system adopts the decentralized form of organization; this situation is different in many other countries where centralization is preferred. Sweden is an example of countries whose military, courts, and correctional centers have adopted the centralized system ( Lowatcharin & Stallmann, 2019 ). A case of England may indicate that they have more divisions in the policing subsector; however, many of the force members have to respond or adhere to basic central working standards in the country ( Lowatcharin & Stallmann, 2019 ). The United States's criminal justice system involves around eighteen thousand agencies that promote state and federal policing requirements ( Lowatcharin & Stallmann, 2019 ). This situation hinders the system from having uniformity in its central standards of operation.
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Funding
Both the United States and other countries worldwide spend part of their gross domestic product on the criminal justice system. The USA spends around 1% of its GDP on the military forces; this information makes it different from the countries like Hungary, which spends about 1.4% of their GDP on the forces ( Harris et al., 2017 ). Finland is also different as it consumes about 0.5% of its GDP on policing activities ( Harris et al., 2017 ). States in America have a role in contributing to the police's funding; this situation is not the same for many countries in Western Europe. In some cases, the criminal justice system in the USA funds itself through the implementation of fines and the use of fees. This situation may seem worse in countries that involve corruption among their members of the criminal justice system; they may tend to include bribes as a source of funding.
Training
When training the police and correctional officers, the United States tends to focus on their armament rather than other concerns. The focus on communicative skills may help ensure a reduction in incidences of members of the criminal justice system misusing their authority to introduce coercion. The period at which recruits into policing training centers learn basic operation skills are lower in the United States than in other countries ( Harris et al., 2017 ). The existence of 21 weeks programs in the United States is a difference that is evident when comparing it to countries like those in Europe, where trainees undergo training for up to three years ( Harris et al., 2017 ). In some countries like Finland, correctional officers and the police go for internships.
Use of Force
The police are among the members of the criminal justice system who represent the professionals relying on tear gas and rubber bullets when policing. The use of force through such firearms among the police in France and Nigeria's histories are examples of situations resembling the United States ( Pryor et al., 2019 ). Killings by the police tend to be on the rise among the policing subdivision of the American criminal justice system ( Pryor et al., 2019 ). This information, however, does not mean that there exist no countries where the police do not use force when policing. Countries like Norway and Finland have always been good examples of democracies where the police killings have been declining.
Minority Concerns
Minority concerns are common issues when it comes to the implementation of justice in the United States. The country is an example of regions with various forms of discrimination ( Kovera, 2019 ). Such historical information may lead to the understanding of the reason behind the issue being of concern in the criminal justice system. Communities such as the blacks have always been victims of incarcerations ( Kovera, 2019 ). The increasing number of detentions among the minorities is a concern that considers them as poor people. Situations like the one in the United States also exist in European histories where religion and race lead to the misuse of the function of the criminal justice system. Minorities like the Muslims have always developed a lack of trust in these countries' criminal justice systems because of the negative feelings they grow from their interactions with the police, correctional officers, and courts.
Accountability
Independence of police oversight is a critical issue that leads to accountability among these criminal justice system members. The same situation is valid for using an oversight body when evaluating the correctional officers and courts ( Elbasani & Šabić, 2018 ). Denmark is an example of countries that have involved independent bodies in ensuring justifiable investigations into members of the criminal justice system which break the law ( Elbasani & Šabić, 2018 ). Contrary to Denmark's case, many incidences where members of the criminal justice system violate the law in the United States have had the police conduct investigations. However, states like New Jersey seem to allow authorities in some situations to take control when conducting such studies. Due to conducting investigations using the police, Canada and the United States are similar in the rarity of incidences where charging of these offenders takes place.
In conclusion, the police, courts, and correctional centers are basic subdivisions of the criminal justice system that differ in every country. This context also identifies some similarities in countries like the United States and Hungary regarding funding the criminal justice system. The system's organization is different in the United States than many centralized systems in countries like Sweden. Other issues that were of concern in this comparison included the training of these individuals, their use of force, minority issues, and accountability. The focus on such issues best elaborates the argument that various countries control crimes in different ways.
References
Elbasani, A., & Šabić, S. Š. (2018). The rule of law, corruption, and democratic accountability in the course of EU enlargement. Journal of European Public Policy , 25 (9), 1317-1335. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13501763.2017.1315162
Harris, A., Huebner, B., Martin, K., Pattillo, M., Pettit, B., Shannon, S., ... & Fernandes, A. (2017). Monetary sanctions in the criminal justice system. Houston, Tex.: Laura and John Arnold Foundation. Accessed August 15 , 2017. http://www.monetarysanctions.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Monetary-Sanctions-Legal-Review-Final.pdf
Kovera, M. B. (2019). Racial disparities in the criminal justice system: Prevalence, causes, and a search for solutions. Journal of Social Issues , 75 (4), 1139-1164. https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/josi.12355
Lowatcharin, G., & Stallmann, J. I. (2019). The differential effects of decentralization on police intensity: A cross-national comparison. The Social Science Journal , 56 (2), 196-207. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362331918301447
Pryor, C., Boman V, J. H., Mowen, T. J., & McCamman, M. (2019). A national study of sustained use of force complaints in law enforcement agencies. Journal of Criminal Justice , 64 , 101623. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235219302272
