Oxford Handbook of Crime and Criminal Justice (Oxford Handbooks) - Tapa dura

"[The Handbook] provides an invaluable resource for beginning to understand criminology and criminal justice's history in order to better understand its present. It also illuminates avenues into the future-paths criminologists can take to avoid the pitfalls of the past and learn from its lessons Finally, the authors of the chapters almost always bring their discussion back to the present. This is important, as it connects the past to the present. In this way, criminology and criminal justice can proceed with a strong foundation of what has happened in the field, why it might have happened the way it did, and what we can do better moving forward."-- Contemporary Sociology

This handbook provides an accessible, high-quality, and comprehensive introduction to and overview of the operation of the American criminal justice system. It is divided into five sections covering the purposes and functions of the system, its problems and priorities, and its main institutions-police and policing, prosecution and sentencing, and community and institutional corrections. Highly regarded in the field, Michael Tonry brings together a mix of established, senior scholars and up-and-coming writers to provide authoritative and cutting-edge contributions on hot-button topics, from the justice system's handling of immigration and terrorism to racial profiling, parole, and re-entry, as well as bread-and-butter issues like incapacitation, jails, drugs, and police strategy. As countries vary substantially in the detailed operation of some agencies and few scholars have detailed knowledge of the operation of two or more countries' systems, the focus is principally, though not exclusively, on the American justice system.