Which term means the structures, functions, and decision-making processes of the agencies that deal with the management and control of crime and criminal offenders?

• A. Counseling
• B. Courtesy
• C. Criminal Justice
• D. Criminal Act

Answer: (C)

Criminal justice refers to the organized system of institutions and processes that handle crime and offenders. It includes the police, courts, and corrections, and encompasses the procedures from investigation and arrest to charging, adjudication, sentencing, and rehabilitation or punishment. The term captures the structures (the agencies), their functions (enforcing laws, resolving disputes, administering punishment and rehabilitation), and the decision-making processes (discretion and rulings by officers, prosecutors, judges, and corrections officials). That broad scope is what makes it the best fit for describing how crime is managed and how offenders are processed. Counseling is simply support or therapy, not the system for managing crime. Courtesy concerns respectful behavior, not a crime-management framework. A criminal act is the wrongdoing itself, not the system that oversees crime control.