Criminal Justice System

Criminal justice system definition

A working definition of the criminal justice system would be as under:

In the UK, the CJS includes agencies such as the police, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), a criminal courts system (including a wide range of courts) and the prison/probation systems.

Why is it important to have knowledge of the criminal justice system?

Even for those of us who have never had personal contact with the criminal justice system in any form, it is essential that we have knowledge of its meaning, functions, and operations.

This is not only because it is one of the most powerful institutions in society, enforcing the laws, rules, and norms we live by, but because the CJS is flawed and capable of malfunction, bias, and harm like any other social institution. As sociologists, we must study the criminal justice system and its impacts on society through a critical lens.

The role and philosophy of the criminal justice system

There are a number of sociological perspectives on the philosophy, guiding principles and the role of the criminal justice system.

Functionalist and subcultural theorists on the criminal justice system

These thinkers argue that the role of the police and courts is to catch and punish mainly male, working-class offenders - the group which commits most crimes.

In doing so, they protect the rest of the law-abiding population.

Functionalist and subcultural theorists claim that the police represent the criminal justice system overall and act as a means of formal social control, enforcing the collective values and interests of society.

Social action theorists on the criminal justice system

For proponents of social action theory, the role of the police and the criminal justice system at large is to label some groups as more criminal or deviant than others. Essentially, this scapegoats such groups.

In targeting and arresting only particular groups, the CJS ignores other equally criminal subsections of society.

Social action theorists assert that the working class therefore only appears to be more criminal; inherently, this is not the truth.

Marxist theorists on the criminal justice system

The traditional Marxist view is that the CJS reflects the interests of the ruling class and seeks to defend them - corporate and state crimes are often ignored and the role of the police is to target those who are less powerful.

In the rare instances when wealthy and powerful groups are indicted for crimes, they tend to receive more lenient treatment.

Contemporary Marxists add that along with the working class, ethnic minority groups are also targeted unfairly.

Fig. 1 - Marxists believe that the CJS protects the interests of the wealthy.

Agencies and functions of the criminal justice system

The criminal justice system comprises a range of agencies, all of which handle different functions of the process, from apprehending offenders to rehabilitating them. These include:

• Police

• Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)

• Courts

• Prison

• Probation systems

Let's go over each of these institutions in turn.

The role of the police in the criminal justice system

The police are responsible for enforcing the laws established by legislative bodies such as Parliament.

They also conduct criminal investigations, collect evidence, detain and question the suspects involved and finally send the evidence to Crown Prosecution Service.

There are two lenses through which we can study the relationship of the police with society.

The consensual approach to the police

• The police represent and protect the interests of the law-abiding public.

• They are recruited from and enforce laws through close links with their local communities.

The conflict approach to the police

• This approach argues that the police are an occupying force, imposed on working-class and ethnic minority communities (Scraton, 1985).

• They exist to reflect the interests of the powerful groups in society.

The role of the CPS in the criminal justice system

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) rules whether a criminal case is likely to get a conviction in court.

Crown Prosecutors connect with the police force and advise them in investigations, e.g. by informing them of the type of evidence required. After assessing the evidence, the CPS decides whether to prosecute the offender and what to charge them with.

Lastly, they prepare and present the case in court, aiming to prosecute the suspect.

The role of the courts in the criminal justice system

The courts are where cases against suspected offenders are presented, debated, and ultimately decided.

Less serious offences are judged in Magistrates Courts and serious crimes go to the Crown Court.

• Magistrates Courts - These are presided by magistrates, volunteers drawn from the local community, and are more likely to be representative. All cases are initially brought to this court.

• Crown Court - This is a formal court with a judge and jury. The initial hearing will have taken place at a magistrates' court but, if the crime is deemed serious enough, the full hearing takes place before a Crown Court judge.

The role of prisons in the criminal justice system

Imprisonment is the most common form of punishment in the world. Given that keeping people in prison is so expensive, and that the prison population is so large, it makes sense to ask what its purpose is.

Prisons have generally been seen as having four key goals, with varying degrees of importance based on location and time period.

• To protect the public - prisons keep dangerous, violent, and antisocial individuals away from society.

• To punish criminal behaviour - keeping people imprisoned takes away their freedom in retaliation for breaking the law.

• To reform offenders - spending time in prison and partaking in educational programmes is meant to help criminals reflect, learn new skills, and change their ways.

• To deter people from crime - the threat of being sent to prison should ensure that most people never break the law.

The role of probation systems in the criminal justice system

This is an essential part of the criminal justice system as it keeps an eye on people even if they never officially went to prison or left it.

Probation officers supervise offenders who are serving their sentence in the community, are released from prison, or are on licence.

They counsel and help offenders before trial, during, and after any prison or community sentence. They can also recommend rehabilitative programmes.

Problems of the criminal justice system

The CJS is deeply embedded in our culture and everyday life and norms and has the power to fundamentally impact and change the lives of both individuals and society at large. Naturally, this means there are also problems that we must study.

The CJS has been roundly condemned by several sociologists for abusing this power and perpetuating control, bias and prejudice.

Foucault: Surveillance

Michel Foucault wrote about how the nature of punitive institutions (such as prisons) links to wider concepts such as power, politics, and social control.

He argues that the modern prison has its origins in a building called the Panopticon, which was designed to allow prisoners to be surveyed at all times but without being able to tell when they were being watched.

This creates a culture of surveillance that has spread to all sections of society such as schools and workplaces. People behave as if they are being watched and self-correct their own behaviour to conform.

According to Foucault, with the advent of technologies such as CCTV, we are all becoming 'prisoners of society'.

Fig. 2 - Foucault argued that we live in a 'surveillance society'.

Garland: Mass incarceration

David Garland asserts that the US and the UK are approaching an era of mass incarceration.

The number of prisons has increased significantly since the 1970s. There are nearly 2 million state and federal prisoners in the US¹. Garland (2001) states that once figures start to reach these proportions:

The reason for this exponential rise in mass incarceration is the growing politicisation of crime control. Garland argues that since the 1950s, the state is much less concerned with the original purpose of imprisonment - the rehabilitation and reintegration of prisoners. Now, its primary focus is convincing the public that it is taking a tough approach toward crime, which has become politically advantageous.

S. Cohen: Control beyond the CJS

In recent years, there has been considerable growth in the range of community-based criminal justice strategies, such as curfews and community service orders. Simultaneously, the numbers in custody have been rising steadily, especially among young people.

This has led Stanley Cohen to argue that the rise in community controls has simply cast the net of control over a larger group of people.

Cohen believes that the increased range of sanctions available nowadays simply enables control to penetrate even deeper into society through different avenues.

Racism in the CJS

Coretta Phillips and Benjamin Bowling suggest that the processes that the CJS operate on disadvantage ethnic minority groups. For instance, criminal cases against ethnic minorities are dropped more often than those against white people because the evidence is mainly based on racist stereotyping.

It is important to note that there have been many allegations of oppressive policing of minority ethnic communities since the 1970s. These include mass stop and search operations and armed raids. The police are also accused of failing to respond effectively to racist attacks.

Furthermore, evidence of institutional racism has been found in the Macpherson Report (1999), while the Lammy Report (2017) found that 25% of those in custody were from minority groups³.

Gender bias in the CJS

According to official statistics, men are prosecuted and therefore responsible for three-quarters of all criminal offences⁴. Women made up less than 5% of prisoners in the UK in 2020⁵.

Some sociologists argue that this is partly due to the criminal justice system being overprotective of women, underestimating their criminality and treating them more leniently. This is known as the chivalry thesis.

However, others such as Pat Catlin also add that the CJS perpetuates patriarchal attitudes and double standards against women, punishing those who don't conform to accepted notions of femininity, sexuality, and motherhood more harshly.