1.13 Conclusion
In this chapter, we focused on defining crime and the criminal justice system. We covered the different models and creation of laws within the system while also discussing the components that make up the system. Finally, we looked at the role of victims within the criminal justice process.
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, students will be able to do the following:
- Describe the differences between deviance, rule violations, and criminality.
- Explain the differences between the interactionist, consensus, and conflict views in the creation of laws.
- Identify the three components of the criminal justice system: Police, Courts, and Corrections.
- Briefly identify the unique role of victims in the criminal justice process.
Review of Key Terms
- Consensus view: An idea that all groups come together, regardless of social class, race, age, gender, and more, to determine what should be illegal.
- Crime control model: A model that focuses on having an efficient system, with the most important function being to suppress and control crime to ensure that society is safe and there is public order.
- Crimes against the person: Crimes that are often considered the most serious and may include homicide, rape, assault, kidnapping, and intimate partner violence
- Criminal justice system: The criminal justice system is a major social institution that is tasked with controlling crime in various ways. It includes police, courts, and the correction system.
- Criminalized act: When a deviant act becomes criminal, and a law is written with defined sanctions that can be enforced by the criminal justice system.
- Deviance: Behavior that departs from or violates the established social norm.
- Folkways: Behaviors that are learned and shared by a social group. Often referred to as customs.
- Misdemeanor: These are the least dangerous types of crimes which can include, depending on the location, public intoxication, prostitution, and graffiti, among others.
- Victim-impact statements: Accounts by the victim, the victim’s family, or others affected by the offense that express the effects of the offense.
Self-Comprehension Check
Critical Thinking Questions
Now that you have read the chapter return to these questions to gauge how much you’ve learned:
- In your own words, what should be the primary function of a criminal justice system?
- Which of the three component parts of the criminal justice system are you interested in learning more about and why?
- What role do victims play in the criminal justice system, and what rights are they guaranteed?
Licenses and Attributions for Conclusion
“Conclusion” by Sam Arungwa is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Revised by Roxie Supplee, licensed under CC BY 4.0, for light editing.
The criminal justice system is a major social institution that is tasked with controlling crime in various ways. It includes police, courts, and the correction system.
Behavior that departs from or violates the established social norm.
