Criminal Justice

This is the first book to explore the application of complexity theory to difficult practice issues in criminal justice and social work and is intended to stimulate debate. It brings together experts in this emerging field to address complexity theory from a range of perspectives (positivist, realist, and constructivist), providing a detailed but accessible discussion of the key issues to whole systems approaches. The book argues for the usefulness of applying complexity theory to address significant and intractable social problems and also challenges the reductionist approaches to solving those problems currently favoured by policy makers.

This book recognizes that, while criminal justice studies is a core component of all criminology/criminal justice undergraduate degrees, it can be a confusing, overwhelming and a relatively dry topic despite its importance. Taking an original approach, this book sets out a series of ten key dilemmas - presented as debates - designed to provide students with a clear framework within which to develop their knowledge and analysis in a way that is both effective and an enjoyable learning experience.

This encyclopedia offers a state-of-the-art survey informed by the very latest theory and research. It combines this breadth of coverage with the authority and international perspective of an experienced editorial team, creating a definitive reference resource for students, scholars, and professionals in these interdisciplinary and dynamic fields.

This book combines an introduction to the sources and methods of epidemiological criminology and an application of these methods to some of the most vexing problems now confronting researchers and practitioners in public health and criminology. It describes, explains, and applies the newly formulated practice of epidemiological criminology, an emerging discipline that links methods and statistical models of public health, particularly epidemiological theory, methods, and models, with the corresponding tools of their criminal justice counterparts. The book also applies epidemiological criminology as a practical tool to address population issues of violence and crime on a national and global basis.

This book is designed to provide a comprehensive primer on the existing best practices and emerging developments in the study and design research on crime and criminology. The work as a whole includes chapters on the measurement of criminal typologies, the offenders, offending and victimization, criminal justice organizations, and specialized measurement techniques.

This handbook covers the changing dynamics of race, ethnicity, and immigration, and discusses how it all contributes to variations in crime, policing, and the overall justice system. Through acknowledging that some groups, especially people of color, are disproportionately influenced more than others in the case of criminal justice reactions, the "War on Drugs", and hate crimes, this handbook introduces the importance of studying race and crime so as to better understand it. It does so by recommending that researchers concentrate on ethnic diversity in a national and international context in order to broaden their demographic and expand their understanding of how to attain global change.

This book provides students, scholars, and criminologists with a truly global perspective on the theory and practice of criminology throughout the centuries and around the world. In addition to chapters devoted to the key ideas, thinkers, and moments in the intellectual and philosophical history of criminology, it features in-depth coverage of the organizational structure of criminology as an academic discipline world-wide.

This student-friendly introductory core text describes the criminal justice process in the United States - outlining the decisions, practices, people, and issues involved. It provides a solid introduction to the mechanisms of the criminal justice system, with balanced coverage of the issues presented by each facet of the process, including a thorough review of practices and controversies in law enforcement, the criminal courts, and corrections.

What exactly is criminal justice? How much of it is a system of law and how much is a collection of situational social practices? What roles do the Constitution and the Supreme Court play? How do race and gender shape outcomes? How does change happen, and what changes or adaptations should be pursued? This book addresses the challenges of this historic moment by asking essential theoretical and practical questions about how the criminal system operates. In this thorough and thoughtful volume, scholars from across the disciplines of legal theory, sociology, criminology, Critical Race Theory, and organizational theory offer crucial insights into how the criminal system works in both theory and practice.

This text teaches contemporary research methods using examples of real criminological and criminal justice studies to illustrate concepts and techniques. It familiarizes students with examples of research in the field as they learn fundamental research skills. The text emphasizes sources and resources of classic and contemporary research in the field and helps students and professionals better understand the extensive diversity of research available and in progress in criminal justice.