Criminal Justice Lecture 1
An introduction to criminal justice
What are the aims of criminal Justice?
- Catch and punish the guilty (RETRIBUTION)
- Safeguard the innocent (PUBLIC PROTECTION)
- Distinguish good from bad (DENUNCIATION)
- Prevent further crimes (DETERRENCE, INAPACITATION) (Criminal Justice act, 2003)
- Console the victim/wider society (REASSURANCE)
- Reform the repentant (REHABILITATION)
- Reaffirm the state/rule of law (LEGITIMATION)
- Entertain the masses (SOCIAL COHESION)
The agents of the criminal justice system
The term covers all institutions that respond ‘officially’ to the commission of criminal offences:
- The police
- Crown Prosecution service (CPS)
- Courts (crown and magistrates)
- Probation service
- Youth offending teams
BUT it is debated if it is a ‘system’ in any meaningful sense
(SYSTEM- )
dictionary- a set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an inter-connecting network:
a complex whole
The criminal Justice ‘System’
- In theory, the agencies are seamlessly joined up and provide a smooth transition from the
point of entry (the police) to the point of exit (end of community sentence/release from
prison)
- The reality is much different- agencies have different ideologies, aims and targets and there
is often little communication between them
- And the public also have a totally different view
(e.g. John Worboys- ‘The black cab rapist’)
An introduction to criminal justice
What are the aims of criminal Justice?
- Catch and punish the guilty (RETRIBUTION)
- Safeguard the innocent (PUBLIC PROTECTION)
- Distinguish good from bad (DENUNCIATION)
- Prevent further crimes (DETERRENCE, INAPACITATION) (Criminal Justice act, 2003)
- Console the victim/wider society (REASSURANCE)
- Reform the repentant (REHABILITATION)
- Reaffirm the state/rule of law (LEGITIMATION)
- Entertain the masses (SOCIAL COHESION)
The agents of the criminal justice system
The term covers all institutions that respond ‘officially’ to the commission of criminal offences:
- The police
- Crown Prosecution service (CPS)
- Courts (crown and magistrates)
- Probation service
- Youth offending teams
BUT it is debated if it is a ‘system’ in any meaningful sense
(SYSTEM- )
dictionary- a set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an inter-connecting network:
a complex whole
The criminal Justice ‘System’
- In theory, the agencies are seamlessly joined up and provide a smooth transition from the
point of entry (the police) to the point of exit (end of community sentence/release from
prison)
- The reality is much different- agencies have different ideologies, aims and targets and there
is often little communication between them
- And the public also have a totally different view
(e.g. John Worboys- ‘The black cab rapist’)
