Which term describes the network of institutions responsible for enforcing laws and maintaining order?

• A. Legal Institutions
• B. Social Institutions
• C. Criminal Justice System
• D. Criminal Investigation

Answer: (C)

The idea being tested is identifying the term for the organized network that enforces laws and keeps order. The Criminal Justice System fits because it refers to the coordinated set of institutions—police, courts, and corrections—that work together from investigation and prosecution to adjudication and punishment or rehabilitation. It’s this whole chain that enforces laws and maintains public order, not just a single activity.

In contrast, legal institutions can include bodies like legislatures or courts but don’t by themselves cover the full enforcement-and-punishment network. Social institutions describe broad societal structures, not the specific system for handling crime. A criminal investigation is only one function within the system, not the entire network.