Public Policy, Crime, and Criminal Justice

by Hancock, Barry W., Ph.D.; Sharp, Paul M., Ph.D.

• ISBN13: 9780130984098
• ISBN10: 0130984094
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-07
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

This unique anthology exposes readers to a collection of original works that provide a bridge between issues related to public policy. Readers are exposed to a "whole-system" view of policy, crime, and criminal justice.Current, relevant, and fascinating readings provide a window into the state of today's criminal justice system.For professionals in the criminal justice field.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Acknowledgments	ix
Part I Public Policy and Crime	1	(114)
The Public Policy Process in the United States	5	(17)
William P. Hojnacki
Public Policy and Criminology: An Historical and Philosophical Reassessment	22	(13)
James F. Gilsinan
Science, Public Policy, and the Career Paradigm	35	(17)
Michael Gottfredson
Travis Hirschi
Crime, Justice, and the Social Environment	52	(18)
Elliott Currie
At the Roots of Violence: The Progressive Decline and the Dissolution of the Family	70	(10)
George B. Palermo
Douglas Simpson
Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System: A Summary	80	(16)
Joan Petersilia
The Intersection of Drug Use and Criminal Behavior: Results from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse	96	(19)
Lana Harrison
Joseph Gfroerer
Part II Public Policy and Criminal Justice	115	(250)
The Criminal Justice System
Crime Control in America: Nothing Succeeds Like Failure	119	(34)
Jeffery Reiman
Dynamics of Criminal Justice	153	(23)
Alida V. Merlo
Peter J. Benekos
Law Enforcement
Developing Police Policy: An Evaluation of the Control Principle	176	(14)
Geoffrey P. Alpert
William C. Smith
Who Ya Gonna Call? The Police as Problem-Busters	190	(16)
John E. Eck
William Spelman
Transforming the Police	206	(25)
Stephen D. Mastrofski
Craig D. Uchida
The Courts
Priority Prosecution of High-Rate Dangerous Offenders	231	(13)
Marcia R. Chaiken
Jan M. Chaiken
The Capacity of Courts as Policy Making Forums	244	(17)
Christopher E. Smith
Three Strikes and You're Out: The Political Sentencing Game	261	(12)
Peter J. Benekos
Alida V. Merlo
Corrections
Sentencing Reform and Correctional Policy: Some Unanswered Questions	273	(16)
Edward E. Rhine
The Limits of Punishment as Social Policy	289	(15)
Don C. Gibbons
The Myth of a Lenient Criminal Justice System	304	(15)
Victor E. Kappeler
Mark Blumberg
Gary W. Potter
Juvenile Justice
Serious and Violent Juvenile Crime: A Comprehensive Strategy	319	(15)
John J. Wilson
James C. Howell
A Policy Maker's Guide to Controlling Delinquency and Crime through Family Interventions	334	(16)
Kevin N. Wright
Karen E. Wright
Emerging Trends and Issues in Juvenile Justice	350	(15)
Michael F. Aloisi
Part III Trends in Public Policy, Crime, and Criminal Justice	365	(68)
Policy Relevance and the Future of Criminology	367	(14)
Joan Petersilia
Crime Control as Human Rights Enforcement	381	(11)
Robert Elias
Moving into the New Millennium: Toward a Feminist Vision of Justice	392	(14)
M. Kay Harris
Confronting Crime: Looking Toward the Twenty-First Century	406	(16)
Elliott Currie
Beyond the Fear of Crime: Reconciliation as the Basis for Criminal Justice Policy	422	(11)
Russ Immarigeon
Epilogue	433

Excerpts

An anthological work requires careful selection, editing, and a fastidious blending of pedagogical materials and original works into a congruent whole. This synergistic approach helped us achieve our major goals as we produced this third edition of Public Policy, Crime, and Criminal Justice.Certainly, our most important goal was to create, through original sources, a solid foundation of knowledge about public policy and crime in an up-to-date manner. Consequently, we selected articles that represent some of the best ideas, thinkers, and genre within the policy arena regarding crime and criminal justice. We are especially proud of the cohesive style achieved by the selection of not only superb articles, but an organizational format that groups these readings into traditionally recognized categories. A second goal was to fill a void that we feel has existed for far too long; the creation of a text that addresses, with original works, the policy dimensions of crime and criminal justice specifically rather than in supplemental fashion. Original sources allow students to broaden their understanding of a particular area, not through an author''s interpretation of materials, but by reading in an area. We have noticed some movement away from traditional textbook approaches in criminal justice courses and there is little doubt policy concerns have been anything but primary concerns in these formats. Our hope is to be a part of the efforts to broaden students'' knowledge and experience in courses dealing with public policy and crime through this anthology. Of course, this is not to imply that there is no need for textbooks for many courses, but rather-to suggest a trend toward more in-depth understanding of the policy processes that help shape the system of justice in America. Our final goal, the addition of pedagogical materials, was achieved by the development of questions placed at the end of each reading in the anthology. These "Questions for Discussion" integrate the reading materials into major points and weave readings one to another. This provides added consistency and flow to the total work and allows for Public Policy, Crime, and Criminal Justiceto be adopted as a primary or supplemental text. This learning tool is intended to integrate the reading into your thinking through either open class discussion, exercises, or individual assignments. Each reading serves as a beginning point for further enhanced learning or as an overview of a particular policy issue. ORGANIZATION OF THE WORK Public Policy, Crime, and Criminal Justiceis organized into three major parts. Part One, Public Policy and Crime, consists of seven articles that lay the foundation on which the anthology is built. Beginning with the public policy process and covering topics such as family, drugs, race, and science, Part One is essential to understanding historical and political realities as these processes shape and often determine policy regarding crime. This grouping of articles illuminates the often dark background of events and processes that have created and even recreated the system in which justice now presides. Part Two, Public Policy and Criminal justice, is a very large section consisting of fourteen readings divided into five subsections for purposes of organizational and topical clarity Specifying the elements of the system first, we further divide readings into the categories of law enforcement, courts, corrections, and juvenile justice. By organizing in this fashion, the traditional components of the criminal justice system are covered as each relates to policy within that particular component and the system as a whole. Part Three, Trends in Public Policy Crime, and Criminal justice, presents the final five readings in the anthology and presents some leading ideas regarding future crime policy. As a collective, these readings are more provocative and thought provoking as they poignantly argue past mistakes, current circumstances, and future directions in public policy regarding crime and criminal justice.