Demystifying Crime and Criminal Justice

by Bohm, Robert M.; Walker, Jeffery T.

• ISBN13: 9780199843831
• ISBN10: 019984383X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-07-12
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Demystifying Crime and Criminal Justice aims to debunk commonly held myths about crime and the criminal justice system--for instance, that punishment reduces crime, or that minimum-security prisons are little worse than country clubs, or that strict rules of evidence allow many criminals to go free. This new edition is composed of an introduction by Bohm and Walker and 29 chapters, each on a particular myth and each written by a leading scholar in that area. Chapters conform to a strict format developed by the editors: Introduction, Kernel of Truth, truth or Facts, Interests Served by the Myth, and Policy Implications of Belief in the Myth. These chapters are organized into four parts, which trace a logical progression through the criminal justice process: Crime, Law Enforcement, Administration of Justice, and Corrections.

Author Biography

Robert M. Bohm is Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Central Florida. Jeffery T. Walker is Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology and Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Table of Contents

About the Editors	p. xi
About the Contributors	p. xiii
Preface	p. xxiii
Introduction	p. xxv
Crime
The Myth of Accurate Crime Measurement	p. 3
The Myth That "Criminals" Are Fundamentally Different from "Non-criminals"	p. 13
The Myth of Rational Choice as an Explanation for Criminal Behavior: A Biosocial Critique	p. 25
The Myth That Violent Juveniles Will Become Adult Criminals	p. 37
The Myth of Black Crime	p. 48
The Myth That Mental Illness Causes Crime	p. 57
Myths about Drug Legalization or Decriminalization	p. 67
The Myth about Drug Use and Violent Offending	p. 81
The Myth That White-Collar Crime Is Only about Financial Loss	p. 93
The Myth That Current Gun Control Policies Reduce Crime	p. 103
The Myth That Sex Offenders Are Beyond Redemption	p. 114
The Myth That Stalking Is Not a Serious Crime	p. 127
Demystifying Terrorism: "Crazy Islamic Terrorists Who Hate Us Because We're Free?"	p. 136
Law Enforcement
The Myth That the Role of the Police Is to Fight Crime	p. 147
The Myth That Science Solves Crimes	p. 157
The Myths Surrounding Policewomen on Patrol	p. 166
The Myth That Police Use of Force Is Widespread	p. 178
The Myths of Racial Profiling	p. 185
The Myth That the Best Police Response to Domestic Violence Is to Arrest the Offender	p. 193
Administration of Justice
The Myth That the Exclusionary Rule Allows Many Criminals to Escape Justice	p. 205
The Myth That Punishment Reduces Crime	p. 215
The Myth That Imprisonment Is the Most Severe Form of Punishment	p. 230
The Myth That the Death Penalty Is Administered Fairly	p. 242
The Myth of Closure and Capital Punishment	p. 254
Corrections
The Myth of Prisons as Country Clubs	p. 267
The Myth That Prisons Can Be Self-Supporting	p. 278
Correctional Privatization and the Myth of Inherent Efficiency	p. 285
The Myth That Correctional Rehabilitation Does Not Work	p. 296
The Myth That Rehabilitation Is the Focus of Community Corrections	p. 311
Index	p. 321
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