NCJ Number
143347
Date Published
1993
Length
491 pages
Annotation
This overview of the criminal justice system focuses on how the various components of the system serve and respond to community needs and problems.
Abstract
The introductory chapter identifies frames of reference for understanding the criminal justice system and community relations. These frames of reference view criminal justice services as public enterprises, the criminal justice system from the perspective of power and power settings, and the criminal justice system set in the context of the community of which it is a part. The second chapter discusses social control through the mechanism of law, followed by a chapter that portrays communities in transition as presenting an evolving environment for criminal justice. Another chapter considers how the various racial minorities in the United States (African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians) impact the nature of community expectations for the criminal justice system. A chapter on community problems considers drug abuse and trafficking, the AIDS epidemic, and the homeless, together with how the police respond to these problems. Other chapters discuss the history of policing; policing in the post-reform era; the police culture into the 21st Century; prosecutors and defense attorneys; court personnel and procedures; juvenile justice; corrections concepts, contexts, and institutions; and the future of criminal justice. Chapter references and discussion question, subject and name indexes, and a table of cases