Conflict Model

A model of criminal justice that proposes that the main agencies of the criminal justice system—that is, the police, the courts, and the prison system—are competing with one another rather than working in concert to achieve the same goal. For example, judges may impose long sentences without realizing the impact they will have on the prison system, and while the police may want offenders to serve long periods of confinement, prison officials must facilitate early release to ameliorate costs and prison overcrowding. As these agencies compete for prestige, public support, funding, political status, and so forth, they undermine the system as a whole. Many agencies in the criminal justice system do not readily share information. This is apparent in the lack of communication between the county and the state and between the state and the federal system, and insufficient interstate cooperation.