Social Institutions In Criminal Justice

Social institutions are what shape our culture and the way we interact with each other. A social institution is a group, whether it be family, school, or church, that instills a sense of direction and helps to shape our knowledge of right vs. wrong, or as sociologists refer to it, deviant vs. the norm. Also, they provide guidelines to regulate the actions of its members. Institutions provide a large, if not the largest, part in the functioning of society, which is the reason sociologists tend to focus so much attention on the workings of the institutions themselves. We are faced with the daily product of institutions each day, as we ourselves are one example, but sociologists delve deeper into the mechanics of the institutions to find out what

The criminal justice system provides public safety by utilizing police offers in communities to enforce the laws in the general public. They are available on call for minor situations, such as disputes between neighbors, all the way to crimes involving guns or other serious threats. They set the standards for abiding by the law, and give off an aura of intimidation that tends to keep people from doing wrong. It also imprisons those who break the law, therefore rehabilitating criminals that reside in prisons or

When faced with crimes committed by people with power in the community or celebrities, they tend to get “off the hook” easier than the general public. This is correlated to the opportunities they are provided, as well as the money they have on hand to help protect themselves in court. For this reason, injustice is present due to opportunity, which is not available to all people, and this significantly hinders their ability to move on from the crime and succeed. Pedro Noguera claims “The only way we can really think about reducing disparities in achievement is by addressing social inequality” (Rios and Noguera 2012). Therefore, if we address the problems within the criminal justice system, we can help diminish the injustice within the