NCJ Number
177296
Date Published
1999
Length
514 pages
Annotation
This is an introduction to law enforcement, the criminal courts, and correction in America.
Abstract
Four themes are critical to understanding the criminal justice system and how it can be improved: the conflict between society's desire for both personal liberty and community safety; the idea that agencies of criminal justice are all parts of one system of criminal justice; an emphasis on the decision-making of all who work in the criminal justice system; and a reliance on scientifically gathered and evaluated information as the main resource for both decisionmaking in the criminal justice system and the further development of the system itself. The book discusses these four themes as well as: (1) decisions in the criminal justice system (some results of a decision to burgle, the nature of criminal justice decisions, rational decisions); (2) emphasis on science; (3) the appearance of justice; (4) victims; (5) police, prosecutors and courts; (6) sentencing; (7) jails, prisons, probation and parole; and (8) justice with eyes open. Notes, figures, tables, glossary, indexes