7/27/2019 Integration of Justice System With Other
Institutions
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M. Maturasingh 6S1Explain how the social institution of the
justice system
interacts with other social institutions in Caribbean society
and culture
There is a symbiotic relationship between the justice system and
other social institutions in the
Caribbean, intertwining them together. The justice system is a
social institution used to take
care of deviants of the law. As postulated by Sociologist
Marshall Clinard, the term deviance
should be reserved for behaviour which is so disapproved of,
that the community finds it
impossible to tolerate. Social institutions, such as the family,
education, religion and the justice
system are constructed to perpetuate the culture of the society.
Each institution has a direct
relation and effect on that society and thus all the social
institutions are an integral part of the
other.
In Caribbean countries, many laws set up have been based on the
Bible, such as the declaration
of human rights, as well as the opposition of same sex marriages
and illegality of prostitution.
The social institution of religion can be observed as having
such a large influence on the justice
system as religion is quite prominent in many Caribbean
cultures. Men are seen as the bread-
winners of the family and the courts usually uphold this belief
system by enforcing child
maintenance laws. However, recent public concerns about Hindu
child marriages and the
practice of polygamy by certain Islamic sects reveal discordance
still between these two
institutions.
The family is seen as the primary form of socialization for
children. Norms, morals and values to
survive in society are initially instilled by the family. Some
of these are influenced by the laws of
the land. Children are raised by parents/guardians as law
abiding citizens to conform to the
justice system. . In the past, children born out of wedlock were
classified as illegitimate on
their birth papers. In recent years however, laws have been
amended to give women in
common law arrangement equal status as those in legal marriages
with the concomitant rights
to property whereas before, many women were decapitalised in the
wake of the end of these
relationships. Respect for laws has been enshrined in
religion.
Additionally, the social institution of education, through
organisations of primary and
secondary schools also aids in socializing children and
adolescents to follow the rules of the
school, which would be similar to the laws governing the
country. Through teachers and from
imitating the behaviour of other students, a child learns how he
must behave to follow school
standards. There are also explicit curriculum objectives which
teach certain norms and
behaviours as well as national symbols and practices which
encourage patriotism.
Some laws newly made to deal with modern issues have already
been embedded in the society
and are adopted from the culture of the society, such as laws
with regards to treatment of the
