NCJ Number
172851
Date Published
November 1998
Length
132 pages
Annotation
This volume presents the five lectures presented in 1997-98 in the lecture series titled "Perspectives on Crime and Justice" and sponsored by the National Institute of Justice.
Abstract
In the first lecture, George L. Kelling reflected on the 15 years since the broken-windows thesis was first published; this theory suggested that minor problems justify serious attention by the police, because disorderly conditions and behaviors left untended are signs that nobody cares and lead to serious crime, the abandonment of neighborhoods to criminals, and urban decay. The second lecture featured Randall Kennedy, who critically examined the explicit use of a person's race in police determinations of whether someone has committed or is about to commit a crime. In the third lecture, David R. Musto examined the history of drug use and drug abuse in the United States. The fourth lecture featured Joan Petersilia, who assessed 20 years of the movement for alternatives to incarceration. In the fifth lecture, Philip Cook examined the youth gun violence that increased greatly in the United States in recent years. Questions from the audiences, answers from the speakers, and reference notes