NCJ Number
175908
Date Published
1997
Length
677 pages
Annotation
Intended for students in an introductory course on the criminal justice system and process, as well as practitioners in the system, this text identifies and discusses the problems facing the American justice system today, so as to explain why the criminal justice system functions as it does.
Abstract
Part I examines crime in America, the measurement of crime, crime control strategies of the past and the present, criminal law, and an overview of the justice system. Parts II through IV examine the subsystems separately, exploring the daily workings of each and how the subsystems impact on each other. The four chapters of Part II discuss the police unit, its history, structure, functions, administrative strategies, constitutional controls, and the effects of the informal system. The three chapters of Part III explain the court unit: varying court structures, administration, role behavior of legal actors, pretrial processes and procedures, the trial itself, and sentencing. Corrections is the focus of Part IV; the history, structure, functions, and administrative strategies of adult corrections agencies are examined in the first three chapters, followed by an investigation of juvenile justice. The Epilogue contains materials on strategies for developing a satisfying career in the criminal justice system. Chapter summaries, discussion questions, references, notes, glossary, court case citations, and subject and name indexes