Introduction to the Criminal Justice System
For the past week I’ve been trying to gather and comprehend basic information on the criminal justice system, specifically how it is structured and how it operates. This has been challenging because the system is a very large one with multiple levels of input and output. I found Cox & Wade’s (1985) description of a criminal justice network to be helpful in understanding the basic components of the system, the functioning of the system, and the internal and external pressures within and on the system. The authors write, “…it may be more realistic to think in terms of a criminal justice ‘network’ consisting of a web of constantly changing relationships among individuals, some of whom are directly involved in criminal justice pursuits, others of whom are not” (p. 4).
The basic components of the criminal justice system are the police, the courts, corrections, and, according to Cox & Wade (1985), the public. These four components have different roles and contribute, or don’t contribute, differently to the system. It is important to note that the goals of these different components may not be the same, or even contradictory at times. While a common goal among all components may be crime control, each component may have a certain interpretation of what that means, or the exercise of crime control may be limited by resources. For example, the police and the prosecutor may both be interested in crime control, but because of their different roles and responsibilities, they may make that goal more difficult for each other because one party is concerned with making an arrest and obtaining evidence, and the other party is concerned with the due process of law. Every citizen has the right to due process under the law, which can make an arrest and obtaining evidence more difficult, which can result in increased pressure from the public and city officials. Internal and external pressures, as well as specific operating procedures, cause different pursuits of the same goals.
On top of pursuing similar goals in different ways, each component is separate and therefore has it’s own goals, problems, and responsibilities. However, decisions made by one component directly or indirectly affect the other components. Cox & Wade (1985) write, “Criminal justice…is like an intricate spider web. Pulls or pressures on one part of the web may cause changes in al other parts” (p. 8). All systems have lines of communication, and information is most effective if it is given and received directly, but this is not always the case within the criminal justice system. This is for a few reasons. There is no widespread consensus about the goals of the system; therefore individuals within all components use their discretion. For example, the public uses discretion in reporting crimes, a police officer uses discretion in making an arrest or not, a judge uses discretion in deciding the severity of a sentence, and the parole board uses discretion in deciding on an inmate’s parole eligibility. Cox & Wade (1985) also cite territorial jealousy as an element in preventing direct communication between components. There is nothing necessarily wrong with indirect communication, but it is just a slower feedback loop and it can waste time and resources.
My first impressions of the criminal justice system were that it is huge and complicated. I still do think it is huge and complicated, and at times intimidating, but learning about the different internal and external influences has helped me to get a better grasp on why the system functions the way it does. I have lots of questions and it is clear that I have lots to learn. In the next coming weeks I will take a more concentrated look at the courts, the corrections system, and the social impacts of the criminal justice system.
Cox, S. M., & Wade, J. E. (1985). The Criminal Justice Network: An Introduction. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Publishers.