Positive factors in organizational and personal development

Positive Philosophy in Law

Thomas Aquinas and Hans Kelsen held that the law enforced by human courts is indeed a positive law. Legal philosophers have since come up with a flurry of arguments claiming that positive law must have its source and content. These philosophers were and are of contention that the court's core mandate should be that of harmonizing heterogeneous sources of law into a coherent body of law for ease of administration of justice. Sources of law can be drawn from the ancient Roman law, legislation, custom, precedent and equity, raw materials processed by courts into genuine law, statutes, precedents, and opinions of experts. With regard to content, law should be enforced to administer justice (Murphy, 2005).

This paper seeks to list some factors that a judge in a state's criminal court system would consider before sentencing burglary/theft offenders, people suspected to have committed aggravated battery, or those found in possession of marijuana and prescription painkillers without a prescription.

Before sentencing individuals suspected of engaging in criminal; activities like burglary, aggravated battery, possession of marijuana and prescription painkillers without prescription, I will have to consider factors outside their control. Some of the factors I will look at will be reason, propensity, behavior setting, structural characteristics, resources, rules, and routines.

Arguments have been advanced to the effect that some people tend to engage in criminal activities because they are motivated to commit such acts. Criminals are said to engage in antisocial activities because of their desires like gain, security, or respect (Lahey, Moffitt & Caspi, 2003). However, before handing down judgment, I will have to factor in the understanding of the act and the situation. Take for example; an individual who wants a CD player or money believes that he could obtain them by breaking into three houses and stealing electronics and money. He however does not see an act of theft as a way in which he could obtain the above mentioned items. It will be unfair to deliver a blanket judgment on such offenders without factoring in the psychological context or conception and labeling of the facts understood.

As much as criminals may chose to engage in crime by choice, the choices they make are at times an expression of an individual norm or habit, the context within which they operate, and the immediate social situation like the financial and social resources.

Peoples' readiness to react aggressively has been advanced as one of the reasons behind engagement in crime. Unlawful acts like possession of marijuana and engaging in battery are attributed to cognitive and emotional characteristics that determine morality and self-control (Lahey, Moffitt & Caspi, 2003).

The law is very clear on the kind of sentences that should be handed down to individuals found in possession of marijuana and prescription painkillers without prescription. However, before doing that, it is pertinent that a number of factors are considered. These include what such people think is right or wrong, how they relate to other people, and what they care about. People vary in their propensity to engage in crime just like they vary in their morally and self-control. This underscores the role environment plays in an individual's development. Such factors have to be factored in when handing down sentences to convicts.

Some people can take to attacking others and causing significant injury because the environment they stay in makes it a norm. Crimes like battery are linked to temptations and provocations. Certain microenvironments produce higher levels of temptation, provocation, and deterrence than others. Cognizance has to be taken of the fact that certain behavior settings are more criminogenic than others hence offenders who come from certain neighborhood are likely to be tempted or provoked. Such offenders have very weak deterrence. For such offenders, punishments should not be applied across the board because of the difference in circumstances. Necessary steps should be taken to ensure that deterrence is upheld. The pattern of social activities and social relationships can have a bearing on ones morality and self-control. A community's cultural characteristic has profound effect on conditions for social life and control in the community because people who grow up in such communities will develop their individual characteristics relevant to their future propensity to offend (Lahey, Moffitt & Caspi, 2003).