Examine the ways that the criminal justice system interacts with victims of crime, including system biases.
The goal of this module is to familiarize readers with the criminal justice system (CJS). Specifically, attention will be given to how victims and communities have been treated by the CJS. In addition, you will learn how interactions with victims and communities has impacted the ability of the CJS to function. The first part of the module provides a brief overview of the CJS and how it functions, to help you understand how victims fit within the system. The CJS has three main areas: law enforcement, the courts, and corrections. The involvement with, and treatment of, victims by each area of the CJS will be discussed. As described before, criminal justice and crime is complex. Similarly, treatment of victims is also complex and often depends not only on the event, but also the social and cultural, and sometimes political, situations that are occurring within the CJS as well as within society at large.