These original essays introduce students to the complex and influential field of critical criminology. It presents many of the theories of critical criminology — Marxist, Feminist, Left Realist, Postmodern, Constitutive, Peacemaking, and Restorative Justice — and explores how, despite their distinctions, each theory is rooted in radical criminology, and all are critical of mainstream criminology.

Most major crime in this country emanates from two major data sources. The FBI's Uniform Crime Reports has collected information on crimes known to the police and arrests from local and state jurisdictions throughout the country. The National Crime Victimization Survey, a general population survey designed to cover the extent, nature, and consequences of criminal victimization, has been conducted annually since the early1970s. This workshop was designed to consider similarities and differences in the methodological problems encountered by the survey and criminal justice research communities and what might be the best focus for the research community. In addition to comparing and contrasting the methodological issues associated with self-report surveys and official records, the workshop explored methods for obtaining accurate self-reports on sensitive questions about crime events, estimating crime and victimization in rural counties and townships and developing unbiased prevalence and incidence rates for rate events among population subgroups.

This text provides two opposing viewpoints for each of sixteen criminal justice and criminology issues. Each issue contains one article favoring and one article against each issue, plus: An introduction of key concepts; Critical thinking questions; Internet websites for further research.

Designed to assist criminal justice students and practitioners to conduct research on problems and issues facing the criminal justice system. It is based upon the authors' collective experience as researchers and instructors in criminal justice research and policy analysis. The definitions and examples provided in the book will help students and practitioners to both comprehend research articles and reports and to conduct their own research.

This book of original essays presents students with challenging looks at some of the most basic, and sometimes most difficult, decisions faced by criminal justice researchers. Each chapter presents an overview of a foundational question/issue in the conduct of research, and discussions of the options to resolve these controversies.

Controversial Issues in Criminal Justice: An Active Learning Approach presents students with enlightening, thought-provoking articles regarding a variety of complex and emerging issues within the discipline. The readings are complemented by discussion questions, active learning exercises, and suggested readings and websites. These activities and opportunities immerse students within the subject matter, draw connections between the material and real-world applications, and inspir

Controversial Issues in Crime and Justice, the first volume in the Studies in Crime, Law and Justice series, addresses many of the current controversial issues in criminology. The contributors look at various stages of the criminal justice system, beginning with types of crime, then focusing on the police, the courts and finally imprisonment and its alternatives.

Crime and Criminal Justice: Concepts and Controversies (by Stacy L. Mallicoat) introduces students to the key concepts of the criminal justice system and invites them to explore emerging issues. Students will gain a balanced perspective of the criminal justice system through Current Controversy debates at the end of each chapter that motivate students to apply what they learned by critically analyzing and discussing the pros and cons of the issues presented. Examining important, but often overlooked, components, such as the role of victims and policy, Crime and Criminal Justice helps students develop a foundational understanding of the structures, agencies, and functions of the criminal justice system, as well as build the confidence and skills they need to effectively analyze current issues in criminal justice.

Because police are the most visible face of government power for most citizens, they are expected to deal effectively with crime and disorder and to be impartial. Producing justice through the fair, and restrained use of their authority. The standards by which the public judges police success have become more exacting and challenging. Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing explores police work in the new century. It replaces myths with research findings and provides recommendations for updated policy and practices to guide it. The book provides answers to the most basic questions: What do police do? It reviews how police work is organized, explores the expanding responsibilities of police, examines the increasing diversity among police employees, and discusses the complex interactions between officers and citizens. It also addresses such topics as community policing, use of force, racial profiling, and evaluates the success of common police techniques, such as focusing on crime "hot spots." It goes on to look at the issue of legitimacyâ€"how the public gets information about police work, and how police are viewed by different groups, and how police can gain community trust. Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing will be important to anyone concerned about police work: policy makers, administrators, educators, police supervisors and officers, journalists, and interested citizens.

This book shows how to reduce out-of-control criminal justice and create greater public safety, justice, and accountability at less cost.