Growing out of the authors' thirty years of teaching, this new text thoroughly examines crime, crime's effects, and society's reactions to crime. Comprehensive, engaging coverage gives students practical tools for analyzing, demystifying, and finally, understanding the workings of America's criminal justice system. Text coverage of crime victims is stronger than that of other texts in the field; and significant attention is devoted to the status of youthful offenders, when treated in the juvenile system and when treated as adults. Personal perspectives and descriptions of the actual experiences of witnesses, police, defense attorneys, judges, and prison guards...as well as those of victims and offenders...enrich the presentation throughout.
An introductory text on the criminal justice system, integrating the personal perspectives of victims, offenders, police, attorneys, and prison guards. Emphasizes a historical perspective and the role of perceptions held by criminal justice practitioners, featuring material on criminological theory, juvenile offenders, and women and minorities as offenders and as criminal justice professionals. Includes chapter summaries, key terms, discussion questions, and activities, and boxes on critical thinking, the courts, and cross-cultural perspectives. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.