NCJ Number
164393
Date Published
1996
Length
139 pages
Annotation
This text recognizes that violence in the United States has two primary faces, the criminal and the victim, and that violence has become a pervasive national problem.
Abstract
No community is immune from the effects of violent crime. State and local law enforcement agencies have recognized this encroachment and have attempted to fight the tide. Some States have placed more police officers on the streets, targeted troubled areas, and reinstituted innovative community policing programs, while other States have implemented "get tough" policies. All States need factual, objective information in order to make knowledge-based decisions and to avoid rhetoric based on opinions and biased assumptions, particularly since violence has multidimensional effects on society. The text builds on the theoretical knowledge of the authors, their experiences in the criminal justice field, and research they collected on crime and crime causes. The text is unique in that allows readers to test their skills through hypothetical cases and exercises. The first chapter overviews the dynamics of violence, with special attention paid to recent legislative mandates to fight violence and its outcomes. The second chapter presents a survey and a history of school violence and examines the extent of school violence, its causes, and possible solutions. Chapters three and four focus on occult-related violence and juvenile violence. The fifth chapter concentrates on correctional violence, court cases related to correctional violence, relationships between inmate drug use and violence, national studies of correctional violence, and futuristic approaches to preventing correctional violence. The final chapter looks at terrorism in America in terms of history, origins of terrorist activities, and the future impact of terrorism on society. Appendixes offer supplemental information on topics covered in each chapter. References and tables