Introduction to Criminal Justice: Practice and Process

Table of Contents:
PART I. Criminal Justice as a System: The Basics Chapter 1. Fundamentals of Criminal Justice: Essential Themes and Practices Introduction Foundations of Criminal Justice: Legal and Historical Bases Politics and Criminal Justice Crime Control and Due Process: Do Ends Justify Means? Discretion: Making and Applying the Law The Criminal Justice Process: An Overview of Flow and Functions The Wedding Cake Model of Criminal Justice Ethics Throughout the Criminal Justice System Chapter 2. Foundations of Law and Crime: Nature, Elements, and Defenses Introduction Common Law and Its Progeny Modern-Day Sources and Hierarchy of Law Criminal and Civil Law Substantive and Procedural Law Essential Elements: Mens Rea and Actus Reus Felonies and Misdemeanors Offense Definitions and Categories Defenses Chapter 3. Theories of Crime and Measuring Victimization Introduction Classical and Positivist Theories Biological Determinism Psychological Rationales Sociocultural Explanations Women and Crime White-Collar Crime In Their Own Words: Offenders Speak Measuring Crime and Victimization Chapter 4. Ethical Essentials: "Doing Right When No One Is Watching" Introduction Good Examples of Bad Examples Philosophical Foundations Ethics in Policing Ethics in the Courts Ethical Conduct of Federal Employees Ethics in Corrections The Ethical Decision-Making Process Ethics Tests for the Criminal Justice Student PART II. The Police Chapter 5. Police Organizations: Structure and Functions Introduction English and Colonial Roots: An Overview Policing Comes to the United States Federal Law Enforcement State Agencies Local Agencies: Municipal Police and Sheriff’s Departments On Guard: The Private Police Chapter 6. Police at Work: Patrolling and Investigating Introduction From Citizen to Patrol Officer Having the “Right Stuff”: A Working Personality Defining the Role Stressors of Police Work A Study of Patrol Effectiveness The Traffic Function Police Discretion Community Policing and Problem Solving The Work of Forensics and Detectives Chapter 7. Policing Methods and Challenges Introduction Use of Force: A Sacred Trust The Role of Local Police in Homeland Security When Failing the Public Trust: Civil Liability Needed: More Women and Minorities Police Technologies Chapter 8. Expounding the Constitution: Laws of Arrest, Search, and Seizure Introduction Some Caveats The Fourth Amendment The Fifth Amendment The Sixth Amendment PART III. The Courts Chapter 9. Court Organization: Structure, Functions, and the Trial Process Introduction Our Adversarial System The Influence of Courts in Policy Making American Courts: A Dual Court System State Courts Federal Courts Making Preparations: Pretrial Processes The Trial Process Technologies in the Courts Chapter 10. The Bench and The Bar: Those Who Judge, Prosecute, and Defend Introduction Those Who Would Be Judge: Selection Methods and Issues Jurists’ Benefits, Training, and Challenges The Art of Judging, Courtroom Civility, and Judicial Misconduct The Attorneys Chapter 11. Court Methods and Challenges: Sentencing and Punishment Introduction Purposes of Punishment Types of Sentences to Be Served Sentencing Guidelines Victim Impact Statements Capital Punishment Aggravating and Mitigating Circumstances Criminal Appeals PART IV. Corrections Chapter 12. Prisons and Jails: Structure and Function Introduction Correctional Facilities as Organizations State Prisons as Organizations Federal Prisons Supermax Prisons Jails as Organizations Technologies in Prisons: The Good and the Bad Chapter 13. The Inmates' World: The "Keepers" and the "Kept" Introduction The Nature of Incarceration Potentially Hazardous Work Jail Personnel Issues of Prison Governance Preparation for Reentry and Aftercare Prisoners’ Constitutional Rights Chapter 14. Corrections in the Community: Probation, Parole, and Other Alternatives to Incarceration Introduction Why Alternatives to Incarceration Origins of Probation and Parole Probation and Parole Today Do Probation and Parole Work? Functions of Probation and Parole Officers Other Alternatives: Intermediate Sanctions Confronting Recidivists: The Risk-Needs-Responsivity (RNR) Model Restorative Justice PART V. Spanning the System: Methods and Issues Chapter 15. Juvenile Justice: Philosophy, Law, and Practices Introduction History of Juvenile Justice Unique Philosophy, Principles, and Goals Juvenile Offending Today Case Flow of the Juvenile Justice Process The Problem of Labeling Youth Gangs: An Overview Aftercare and Reentry Significant Court Decisions Chapter 16. On the Crime Policy and Prevention Agenda: Terrorism, the Mentally Ill in the Criminal Justice System, and the Changing War on Drugs Introduction Terrorism The “New Asylums”: The Mentally Ill in the Criminal Justice System The Changing War on Drugs Appendix: Constitution of the United States Answers Glossary Notes Index

About the Author :
Kenneth J. Peak is emeritus professor and former chair of the Department of Criminal Justice, University of Nevada, Reno, where he was named “Teacher of the Year” by the university’s Honor Society. Following four years as a municipal police officer in Kansas, he subsequently held positions as a nine-county criminal justice planner for southeast Kansas; director of a four-state technical assistance institute for the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (based at Washburn University in Topeka); director of university police at Pittsburg State University (Kansas); acting director of public safety, University of Nevada, Reno; and assistant professor of criminal justice at Wichita State University. He has authored or coauthored 37 additional textbooks (relating to general policing, community policing, criminal justice administration, police supervision and management, and women in law enforcement), two historical books (on Kansas temperance and bootlegging), and more than 60 journal articles and invited book chapters. He is past chair of the Police Section of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and past president of the Western Association of Criminal Justice. He received two gubernatorial appointments to statewide criminal justice committees while residing in Kansas and holds a doctorate from the University of Kansas. Pamela Everett, J.D. is an attorney, Assistant Teaching Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada, Reno, and the author of Little Shoes: The Sensational Depression-Era Murders That Became My Family’s Secret (2017), a New-York Times Book Review Summer 2017 Must Read, about an historic wrongful convictions case.    She earned her undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada, Reno and her Juris Doctorate from the University of San Diego, where she wrote for the University of San Diego Law Review.  She was a contributing features and opinion columnist on legal and justice system issues for the Omaha World-Herald and the Wayne Stater from 2009-2014.  She was also a Contributing Author and Assistant Editor for SAGE Publications’ Encyclopedia of Criminal Justice (2013).     She has served as a volunteer attorney for the California Innocence Project for the last decade, and among other topics, she teaches a popular course at the University of Nevada, Reno on Wrongful Convictions.  Her other teaching focuses on the mentally ill in the criminal justice system, the courts, and criminal law.    

Review :
 “This textbook provides excellent and relevant information that it is inter-disciplinary.”  “I already like Peak’s style and I like everything that has been added to make this particular book so comprehensive.” “This text provides a clear and interesting format through which students may understand often difficult criminal justice concepts. Peak provides students with an interactive format for learning, complete with up-to-date supplementary information. The text is concise, informative and interesting.” “Clearly and concisely written [and] as up-to-date as possible which helped the students understand the material" “Chapters 1 and 2 are strong – well written foundational materials [and]  E-book a strong addition and useful for students that are technology based (given that most are tech savvy).” “Engaging chapters” “Provides students with many opportunities to further their knowledge and understanding of the area”