Social Class And Criminal Justice System Essay

“Social Stratification is the hierarchal organization of social statuses.” Where certain people will have more power over themselves and sometimes others. This power can come from different social statuses, which is the position in a social network or relationship. With these statuses come certain behavior expectancy and role. Class is one of the social statuses that one can obtain, whether that class be upper class, middle class, working class, or the poverty level. Depending on which class you are in, can have a great influence on how you are treated within the criminal justice system. These different classes try to differentiate social groups based on economic, social, and political resources. Those that are considered higher class are known to earn large annual income, control a large amount of the country’s wealth such as real estate, stocks and bonds, and live lifestyles that people envy. However, those of lower class are known to earn low annual income, own little to no property, show forms of behavior that is viewed as criminal like. Between the two spectrums the criminal justice puts a label on the crime committed by either side. Where the crimes committed by the higher class will be seen but not punished, whereas the crimes committed by the lower class will be criminalized and

Although research is uncertain as to the relationship between social class and criminal justice system, it seems evident that social class does is a prominent issue. In determining who is responsible for deciding which behaviors are criminalized, the severity of sanctions, the kinds of offense one can commit, and evidence of victimization. Hopefully the effects of social class on crime and its effects within the criminal justice system will be further researched and widen the causes between the two, the one place social class should not be prominent is in the criminal justice