Sense and Nonsense About Crime and Drugs: A Policy Guide

by Samuel E. Walker

Beginning with a succinct discussion of the administration of criminal justice in the United States, SENSE AND NONSENSE ABOUT CRIME AND DRUGS, FIFTH EDITION, evaluates conservative and liberal views on crime control proposals, guns and crimes, drug policies, the war on drugs, and the legalization of drugs. This text communicates complex ideas about how the criminal justice system operates and is affected by politics at a level that can be read by almost any student. The book concludes with a summary of the evidence and draws some conclusions about crime policy.

Genres: Textbooks, Crime, Nonfiction, Law

320 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 1988

About the author

Samuel Walker is Professor Emeritus of Criminal Justice at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, where he taught for 31 years before retiring in 2005. He is the author of 13 books on policing, criminal justice history and policy, and civil liberties. His current research involves police accountability, focusing primarily on citizen oversight of the police and police Early Intervention Systems (EIS). Originally trained as a historian, he is completing a book on U.S. presidents and civil liberties. His personal website, with information on police accountability is: http: //samuelwalker.net.

Reviews

[Grace]

How does society defines crime? What criteria and standards are used to classify deviant and acceptable behaviors? Walker does well in exploring the social, cultural and political webs as well as noting the way media often influences our perception of crime, drugs and communities for better or worse.

[Lauren]

too soon to tell...