Criminal Justice: Realities and Challenges

CJ: Realities and Challenges empowers students to think critically about the daily realities and challenges of the criminal justice system. Using the text's framework of Observe–Investigate–Understand, students learn to recognize the myths of the U.S. criminal justice system and gain a greater comprehension of its complexities.

CJ: Realities and Challenges brings together the insights of an expert author team of practitioners and scholars to present a contemporary and realistic perspective on a vital U.S. institution. With Connect Criminal Justice, a groundbreaking digital program, students study more effectively by using engaging activities to confirm what they know and to learn what they don’t know.

Ruth E. Masters is currently the Chair of the Department of Criminology at California State University, Fresno where she has been teaching since 1972. She received her Ed.D. from the University of Southern California in 1978. A former parole agent, she was the sole author and lead author of two criminology textbooks. She was selected in 1999 for the Author of the Year Award by the National Association of Forensic Counselors for her book Counseling Criminal Justice Offenders. Her special interests include corrections, addiction, criminological theory, and cross-cultural administration of justice. She has conducted criminal justice programs in Amsterdam, France, Italy, Scotland, Greece, Belgium, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Brazil, Hong Kong, The Czech Republic, Peru, China, Turkey, Ireland, New Zealand, and Thailand.