ABSTRACT

This chapter considers some of the sociological studies of crime and the criminal process which may be roughly described under the heading of criminal justice. The distinction between Criminal Law and Criminal Justice is often related to the apparently contrasting domains of court adjudication as compared to pre-trial and post-conviction processes. These are seen as arenas in which the distinctive ideals and purposes of “due process” and “crime control” compete. The chapter describes three features which help to explain the distinctiveness of legal discourse as compared to that of the contextualising disciplines used in criminal justice scholarship. Criminal law scholars generally see doctrine as growing through the search for coherence, supplemented by deliberate choice by legislatures and judges. Law’s concern to match the public’s viewpoint seems curiously ambivalent and selective. Law is expected simultaneously to reflect the public’s perceptions and yet represent a standard to which they should aspire in their attitudes.