Chapter 1 Synthesis

Crime, in this setting, can be described as a wrong committed against the society
as a whole. This definition is hard to interpret though because a society is an everchanging entity that is as complex as it is large. Something that may be considered a
crime in one society might be ones right in another. There are two main models that
describe how different societies treat crime: the consensus model, and the conflict model.
Crime can be classified under six different categories: violent crime, property
crime, public order crime, white-collar crime, organized crime, and high-tech crime. Each
type of these crimes can be found in certain sects of communities. For example, you
generally wont find white-collar crime in a poverty stricken neighborhood; but it is safe
to assume that organized crime can be considered a crime umbrella. This umbrella could
be responsible for housing crimes such as: violent crime, property crime, public order
crime, and high-tech crime.
The criminal justice system is responsible for deciding what is to be considered
what is a crime, and more specifically what category said crimes fall under. The purpose
of the criminal justice system is to: control crime with set boundaries, prevent crime with
public advertisement of fines for specific crimes, and to provide and maintain justice with
sentencing. Law enforcement officers provide the upfront maintenance of justice by using
discretion and direction to what fines and/or court dates the suspected public might face
for committing a crime.
The court system is in place to process members of the community that have been
suspected of committing a crime. It is the job of the judge the provide or forego
sentencing in any given situation, in the more serious cases there might also be a jury in
place to help provide sentencing for a more fair judgment by ones peers. The corrections
system is in place to house those who have been found guilty by the court system, it is the
goal of the corrections system to rehabilitate and restructure the mind and actions of the
members that are housed there.
The wedding cake model of criminal justice can be viewed as crime set up in
tiers; the top tier being celebrity cases, the second tier is serious or high profile felonies,
the next tier covers ordinary felonies, and finally the base of this model consists of
misdemeanors. It is unfortunate that only the top tier generally receives the ideal
standards of criminal justice; this is the case because celebrities, or people who are very
well off financially, can afford the top-notch lawyers to defend them. These expensive
lawyers know the criminal justice system like the back of their hand, and if there is
something that they are not familiar with they have vast resources and staffers under them
to find ways to bend the law in their favor.

As a whole this chapter covers types of crime and how they are dealt with,
briefly touching on all steps of this process. I think that it is safe to say that each
aspect of this process will be presented in greater depth in future chapters. That
being said, all steps of correctional justice process are very important in our society
today; if we didnt have these steps in place the criminal justice system would be

flawed. These are in place to act as a check and balance system, which is a very
important part of the system and how it functions.