Sixth Edition
by Robert D. Pursley
Introduction to Criminal Justice provides a thorough and up-to-date examination of the operating procedures and agencies involved in the criminal justice system.
Features:
- Utilizes a learning unit format that allows the instructor flexibility without neglecting important material.
- Provides students with an overview of the historical development of the system.
- Includes pedagogical features such as marginal highlights, learning objectives, boxed material, and suggested readings.
- A thorough glossary enables students to quickly reference key terms.
- Contains a complete reference of all journals in the field of criminal justice/criminology adopted from Criminal Justice Abstracts and arranged according to subject matter.
- Covers current and emerging issues such as prison overcrowding, police brutality, alternative sentencing, violent youth crime, and system costs clearly and incorporates these discussions into the text's framework.
- Includes coverage of components of the criminal justice system in other countries to give students a worldwide perspective.
- Chapters in the corrections section and chapters on the functioning of the police, probation, and parole have been refined for greater accessibility.
- Includes current data and statistics to give students an accurate and complete picture.
Contents
Unit I: General Foundations
- An Overview of the Criminal Justice System: Goals, Components, Operations, and Issues
- System Costs, Criminal Law, Crime, and Offense Characteristics
- Crime in America: Issues, Trends, Measurement, and Victimization
Unit II: Law Enforcement
- Local, State, and Federal Law Enforcement Agencies
- The Police Role and Operations
- Law Enforcement: Issues and Trends
Part III: The Court
- The Development, Role, and Structure of America's Courts
- Major Actors in the Courtroom
- Going to Trial: Pretrial, Trial, and Posttrial Process
- Courts: Issues and Trends
Unit IV: Corrections
- Corrections: Historical Perspective
- America's Jail System
- Prison Systems and Programs
- Probation, Intermediate Sanctions, and Parole
- Corrections: Issues and Trends
Unit V: Juvenile Justice
- The Juvenile Justice Systems
Appendices
- The Constitution of the United States
- Glossary of Terms
- Major Criminal Justice Journals and Periodicals
Index
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