NCJ Number
198535
Date Published
1999
Length
510 pages
Annotation
In addition to an overview of American criminal justice, crime, and law, this textbook contains major sections on policing, criminal courts, imprisonment and community corrections, and juvenile justice and victims' rights.
Abstract
Part 1 contains three chapters that present an overview of American criminal justice (structure, process, problems, and approaches); crime (definition, measurement, types, and causes); and foundations of the criminal law (concept, theories, history of legal systems, and law and crime). Part 2 has three chapters on the history and structure of policing, police functions and the police officer role, and critical issues in policing. The latter chapter addresses police procedures and the rights of suspects, police misconduct, and the dangers and difficulties of policing. Part 3 contains three chapters that focus on the history and structure of criminal courts, courtroom actors and the criminal trial, and sentencing. Part 4, which features three chapters on imprisonment and community corrections, reviews the history and structure of imprisonment; examines various aspects of the prison environment; and provides an overview of the following manifestations of community corrections: probation, intermediate sanctions, and parole. Part 5 has two chapters that address juvenile justice (juvenile crime and status offenses, history of juvenile justice, process, and issues), as well as victims' rights. Each chapter contains a summary, exercises in critical thinking, key terms, research online, selected readings, and notes. Appended U.S. Constitution, guidance on finding criminal justice information, careers in criminal justice, and a glossary