NCJ Number
198720
Date Published
2003
Length
654 pages
Annotation
After providing an overview of America's criminal justice system, this textbook has major sections on the police, the criminal courts, corrections, and "special issues" (juvenile justice, "war on drugs," and "cyber crime").
Abstract
One of the three chapters on the criminal justice system considers the nature of crime; the purpose, structure, and process of the criminal justice system; the values of the criminal justice system; and trends and issues in criminal justice. The other chapters on the criminal justice system address the measurement and explanation of crime and issues related to criminal law. The four chapters on the police focus on police as agents of law and order, the organization and strategies of policing, laws that govern various aspects of policing, and issues that can enhance or impede effective policing (recruitment and training, police subculture, police safety, the use of force, and police corruption and accountability). The four chapters on criminal courts consider the organization, functions, and personnel of the courts; the adversarial character of pretrial procedures; the procedures of the criminal trial; and punishment and sentencing. The three chapters on corrections address probation and community corrections, prisons and jails, and the life of an inmate. The concluding section of the book has chapters on the juvenile justice system, an analysis of the ongoing war against illegal drugs, and the nature of and countermeasures for computer-related crime. The book provides various learning tools and aids for the instructor; the latter includes a three-chapter demonstration CD-ROM of instructional aids. Chapter resources, glossary, index of cases, name and subject indexes, and appended copy of the U.S. Constitution and actual court decisions for analysis