Criminal Justice Today: An Introductory Text for the 21st Century

by Frank J. Schmalleger

The best-selling introduction to criminal justice book of all time, Criminal Justice Today 9/e , continues to set the standard with its hallmark features of theme, technology, and time. The strengths of the book rest in the application of theoretical perspectives to current real world activities related to criminal justice issues. New technology and cases are also incorporated, bringing the book and reader together in current issues. CJ Ethics & Professionalism Boxes stress the importance of ethical behavior for the criminal justice professional. New Juvenile Justice chart details the flow of events in the juvenile justice system. An added CD provides additional and in-depth coverage of important issues and background material found in book. Also includes full opinions of important U.S. Supreme Court cases covered in the chapters. Criminal justice professionals.

Genres: Textbooks, School, Reference

741 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a required textbook for my Introduction to Criminal Justice college course.

At over 690+ pages, it was rather enjoyable - for a textbook. I enjoyed how the front cover showed the progression from the police involvement, to the court procedures (both misdemeanors and felonies), to the final stages of corrections.

Since this was a subject I've been interested in my entire life, I perhaps enjoyed more so than the average person.

The book is divided into five parts:

#1.) Crime in America
#2.) Policing
#3.) Adjudication
#4.) Corrections
#5.) Special Issues

Starting with "Crime in America", the student is introduced to the history of crime in America, social justice, the system and functions, the process, due process and individual rights. Tee student also learns about the special categories of crime, the search for causes; as well as criminal law - the types, rules, and categories.

In the second part "Policing", the student learns the history and structure of law enforcement; purpose and organization; legal aspects; along with issues and challenges - such as corruption, dangers, use of force, profiling, bias, and civil liabilities.

Part three; "Adjudication"; covers the the court structure and participants, pre-trial activities and the trial, and sentencing. The student gets to know about the role of the courtroom work group, the stages of the trial, as well as sentencing.

Part Four - "Corrections" - covers the various areas comprising the corrections: probation, parole, community corrections, prisons and jails, as well as discovering prison life. The student also learns what the difference is in probation and parole, the role of the probation and parole officers, what intermediate sanctions are, the emergence of prisons, as well as the difference between jail and prison. The chapter on prison life delves into the differences between the male and female prison life, the staff, riots, prisoner rights, and issues that prisons face today.

The final part - "Special Issues" - covers topics that face today's society, particularly in a post 9/11 world. Juvenile justice, drugs and crime, terrorism and multinational criminal justice, and the future of criminal justice are all topics explored here.

The reader will learn about the history of juvenile justice, the legal environment, the process, and what juvenile offenders heading into adulthood face.

The chapter "Drugs and Crime" discusses the history of drug abuse, the common drugs, the types of people abusing/using them, the costs of abuse, as well as the problem of solving the issue.

Terrorism and Multinational Criminal Justice explores International Criminal Justice Organizations, globalization and crime, along with terrorism.

The book's final chapter - "The Future of Criminal Justice" explores more of the technical aspect of the subject - subjects such as biocrime, cybercrime, terrorism and technology, new technologies, along with technology and individual rights are explored.

As I said, since I enjoyed the subject, I find this book quite an invaluable reference for writing as well as understanding the criminal justice system. It isn't comprehensive by any means, but it provides enough for the student to research the topics of interest to them.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview, plus additional detail, on criminal justice. However, some pretty obvious grammatical errors dropped it down for me.

[Jabir Isse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Stacia · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a textbook it's pretty good, but the sheer number of typos and stray hyphens and other issues with punctuation are astounding. It's an ebook, for crying out loud, how have these not been fixed?

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too bad, loaded with information.

[Ciarra Grobe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The textbook is a great introductory read to graduate level courses in criminal justice.