When you think about criminal justice, the first thing that comes to mind is the word, crime. Many people do not understand the actual definition of crime or its relationship to law. Society usually sees criminal justice as an officer making an arrest, when there is a lot more to it. Within criminal justice there is a government structure, choice theories, goals and three components that make up the criminal justice process. Many have posed the question of wanting to know if the criminal justice system is actually a system. Using the three components and the process and goals I do believe that it is a system. What is crime? Crime is when a person has created an act or omission against the law. According to "Merriam-Webster " (2012), "a grave offense especially against morality.” defines crime. How does this relate the law? Have you heard of the old saying, you cannot have one without the other? Law can be defined as the set of regulations determined by a group of people who decide what is right and what is wrong. When those regulations are broken, it creates a crime. There are two models that help society determine what acts are criminal. The consensus model is a diverse group of people, who come together and decide based on their beliefs. The conflict model, leaves it to those with the higher power. There are different theories on why crimes are committed.
One theory would be classical theory, it suggests that crime is committed with individual will. For example; each individual has the will to say they are not going to rob that store or steal that truck. There is a theory that seconds guesses the classical theory and that is the social theory. The social process theory relates to crime being made because those individuals had failure in self direction. For example; if a boy grew up in a home where gang relations were present, that is a failure of self direction because it is leading him to commit the same acts of crime. These