NCJ Number
182689
Date Published
1999
Length
607 pages
Annotation
This textbook examines the nature of crime and the criminal justice system; explains the operation and management of police, courts, and corrections agencies; and discusses juvenile justice, international criminal justice, and efforts to address sophisticated crimes such as computer-related crime and organized crime.
Abstract
The text begins with a comparison of the fear of crime with fear of other dangerous life events and continues with a discussion of criminal behavior and how society has come to define behavior as criminal. Additional chapters discuss the nature, definition, and extent of crime; crime trends; crime causes; the scope of criminal law; and criminal procedure. Further chapters address the history and organization of police, police discretion, police legal limitations, court organization and operations, the role of prosecutors, the defense of criminal cases, the history and philosophy of sentencing, recent innovations in sentencing, and the role of prisons. Further chapters focus on the concepts of authentic versus restorative justice, alternatives to incarceration, international crimes such as smuggling and terrorism, a typology of sophisticated crimes, and the history, current status, and future directions in juvenile justice. Figures, tables, photographs, chapter reference notes, chapter questions for review and discussion, critical thinking questions and exercises, subject and name indexes, glossary, and appended text of the Constitution and discussion of career opportunities in criminal justice