Criminal Acts and Choice Theories Response

Criminal Acts and Choice Theories Response

Tony Edward Harbour

Foundations of the Criminal Justice System/CJS200

December 9, 2012

Instructor: Keith Hutchinson

There are two common models for society to determine which acts are considered criminal (consensus model and conflict model). The first model is known as the Consensus Model. The consensus model is the model that assumes that the system’s components worth together harmoniously to achieve the social product we call justice. For example, the consensus model assumes that each of the component parts of the criminal justice system such as the police, courts, and corrections strive towards one common goal. That goal is to help the movement of cases and people move through the system smoothly.

The next common model is the conflict model. This model gives a whole different approach to the study of American Criminal Justice. The conflict model is another model that provides a whole other perspective that assumes that the systems components function primarily to serve the agencies in their own interests. According to this theoretical framework, justice is more a product of conflicts than it is the result of cooperation among component agencies. With this model the goals of individual agencies often conflict causing pressure for things such as success, promotion, pay increases and general accountability fragment the efforts of the system as a whole leading to a criminal justice non-system.

Now, I am going to talk about a choice theory and how it affects society. According to the reading in chapter three rational choice theories is a choice theory which holds the criminality largely the result of conscious choices that people make. In other words offenders choose to violate the law when they believe that the benefits of the crime which would be considered their personal gain outweigh the cost or consequences. The way that choice theories affect society is if a criminal wants to do something wrong (a...