OMalley - The short guide to criminal justice

First edition published in Great Britain in 2018 by

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Dr Lisa OMalley is a Senior Lecturer in Social Policy in the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of York, where she teaches Introducing Criminal Justice, Policing and Youth Justice to undergraduate students. Her research interests are primarily concerned with the intersection between crime and social policy, including the relationship between housing tenure and crime, the criminalisation of place and community safety.

Sharon Elizabeth Grace is a Lecturer in the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at the University of York. She teaches specialist modules on illicit drug use and victimisation as well as leading the core criminology and criminal justice modules. Her research interests lie within both criminal justice and drug policy and practice particularly as they relate to women with complex needs.

The origins of this book lie in our development of crime and criminal justice teaching in the University of Yorks Social Policy Department. In 2005, just the two of us started with a completely blank page. Some 13 years later, we teach on two exciting and lively programmes of study (BA Social Policy, Crime and Criminal Justice; and BA Criminology). This book therefore represents those 13 years of work in developing core criminal justice teaching and learning; and in thinking about how to make learning about criminal justice interesting and engaging, while ensuring that students clearly understand how the criminal justice system works (or doesnt). Without the engagement of all those students over the years, learning from them and with them, this book would not have been possible, and we thank them for their lively discussions, probing questions and innovative ideas. The faults in the book lie with us.

Lisa OMalley, Sharon Grace, York, 2017

Criminal. Justice. System. Three words each of which might merit a whole book in its own right and each of which might conjure up very different definitions, values and expectations. Together they describe one of the largest enterprises of the state, costing around 34 billion per year, employing around 300,000 people, investigating around 4 million reported crimes each year, prosecuting 1.5 million suspects and holding around 85,000 individuals in custody at any one time. But how does this system operate, how are resources distributed across its functions and what kinds of issues face the people who work in this system and those it serves? These questions are addressed in subsequent chapters of this short guide. In this introductory chapter, the aim is to say a little more about some of the key terms and themes that provide the context to later discussions.

What do we mean by criminal justice? The answer to this question will vary depending on someones interest in the subject and, possibly, the kind of work they are undertaking. For most students, the study of criminal justice sits alongside wider programmes of knowledge that might comprise criminology, sociology, social policy, politics, and so on. As such, the study of criminal justice might involve understanding the purpose and function of different agencies as well as engaging with debates about how the system works or could work better. For those who work within the agencies of the criminal justice system, definitions of justice may be less important than the need to meet targets or work within rules and guidelines that are decided by national governments, or sometimes international bodies and over which individual employees may have little control. As a suspect, the term criminal justice may take on special significance especially if you are not guilty of a crime or believe there are factors that should be taken into account about why you committed an offence. In these circumstances, your perception of justice is likely to be heavily influenced by how you are treated by people working in the agencies of the system, and whether you accept or agree with the outcome of your case. Similar issues might influence victims views of criminal justice, where finding out who committed the crime and seeing justice done (most often in the form of punishment) might be most important.