US Criminal Justice Stakeholders: Social Contract and Control Theory

This essay examines the roles and duties of various stakeholders within the US criminal justice system, including the police, judiciary, lawyers, and prison system, through the lens of social contract theory and social control theory. It emphasizes the importance of law enforcement and fair trials, while also addressing the need for social controls, especially in juvenile cases. The essay argues that the judicial system should aim to strengthen social controls and enforce laws equally, providing opportunities for convicts to reintegrate into society. It also highlights the lawyer community's responsibility to represent vulnerable populations and the prison system's need to focus on rehabilitation rather than simply punishment. The overall goal is to promote justice and reduce deviant behavior by considering the key roles that social controls play in preventing crime and ensuring fair treatment for all members of society. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and past papers for students.

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The various stakeholders of the criminal justice system in US include police, judiciary,
lawyers (prosecution and defense) along with prison system (Peak & Giacommazi, 2019).
The duties of the various stakeholders in the light of social contract theory and social control
theory are discussed below.
With regards to police, it is imperative to enforce the various laws that have been
implemented by the state for the stability of the society and deter crime. Also, while ensuring
implementation of these laws no discrimination or stereotyping against minorities or
vulnerable communities should be observed. However, it is essential that social controls must
be used especially in case of juvenile crimes so as to act as a first line deterrent (Peak &
Giacommazi, 2019).
With regards to courts and judges, the punishments pronounced should aim to strength the
social controls rather than relying solely on laws. Besides, the judicial system should aim to
enforce laws equally for all the sections of the society without any prejudice. Also, the
punishments should be such that these do provide an opportunity to the concerned convict to
integrate with society and family (Peak & Giacommazi, 2019).
The lawyer community should ensure that representation of the vulnerable sections of
population should be higher so as to ensure that any bias against a particular group or section
is minimized. The prosecution while demanding the punishment must consider the key roles
that social controls play and therefore allow them to be relevant in the future to ensure that
instances of deviant behavior are reduced. Also, fair trial should be provided to all (Peak &
Giacommazi, 2019).
The prison system needs to be mindful of their role as there is frequent violation of human
rights especially of minorities and vulnerable communities. It is imperative that the prison
should be a place for deliberation and improvement of the criminals so as to prepare them for
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future integration in society and not turn them into hard criminals who would repeatedly
commit crimes (Peak & Giacommazi, 2019).
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Reference
Peak, K., & Giacommazi, A. L. (2019). Justice Administration: Police, Courts, and
Corrections Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education
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