NCJ Number
198529
Date Published
2001
Length
446 pages
Annotation
After providing an overview of the current criminal justice system in America, together with the measurement and explanation of crime as well as the nature of criminal law, this textbook details the structures and operations of the police, the courts, corrections, and juvenile justice.
Abstract
A chapter on the current American criminal justice system first defines crime and then explains the purpose, structure, and process of the criminal justice system, followed by an overview of the values of the criminal justice system. A chapter on measuring and explaining crime has sections on the Uniform Crime Report, alternative methods for measuring crime, crime trends and patterns, and what causes crime. A chapter on criminal law considers the written sources of American criminal law, the purposes of criminal law, the classification of crimes, the elements of a crime, the legal definition of crime, criminal responsibility and the law, justification criminal defenses and the law, and procedural safeguards. Four chapters on the police focus on the police as agents of law and order, police organization and strategies, police and the rule of law, and challenges to effective policing. The latter chapter has sections on recruitment and training, the police subculture, the physical and mental dangers of police work, authority and the use of force, police corruption, police ethics, and police accountability. One of the three chapters on the courts addresses the basic principles of the American judicial system, State court systems, the Federal court system, judges in the court system, the courtroom work group, and assembly-line justice and American courts. A second chapter on the courts profiles pretrial procedures and the criminal trial. A third chapter on the courts considers punishment and sentencing, with attention to the purpose and structure of sentencing, judicial discretion in sentencing, sentencing reform, and capital punishment. Chapters on corrections focus on probation and community corrections, prisons and jails, and the life of an inmate. The chapter on juvenile justice contains sections on the evolution of American juvenile justice, the current determination of delinquency, pretrial procedures, trial procedures, juvenile corrections, recent trends in juvenile delinquency, factors in juvenile delinquency, and the likelihood of future increases in juvenile delinquency. Various student learning aids and resources accompany each chapter.