Criminal Justice Policy - Paperback

by Stacy L. Mallicoat (Editor), Christine L. Gardiner (Editor)

Criminal Justice Policy provides a thematic overview of criminal justice policy and its relationship to the American criminal justice system. Scholars, practitioners, and politicians continually debate the value of these policies in their evaluations of the current system. As the nature of this subject involves a host of issues (including politics, public sentiment, research, and practice), the authors expertly highlight these concerns on criminal justice policy and address the implications for the overall system and society at large.

This text is organized into three parts: Foundations of criminal justice policy focuses on the role of politics, best practices, and street level bureaucracy in criminal justice policy. Criminal justice policy in action provides an analysis of fifteen different policy issues in criminal justice, such as immigration, drugs, mental health and capital punishment. Each section begins with a basic summary of the policy, accompanied by a brief synopsis of the framing issues. This brief, but informative summary, draws students' attention to essential concepts and ideas, provides a roadmap for what they can expect to learn, and ensures continuity throughout the text. The text concludes with a discussion about the future directions of criminal justice policy.

Author Biography

Stacy L. Mallicoat is a professor of criminal justice and Director of the University Honors program at California State University, Fullerton. She earned her BA in legal studies and sociology from Pacific Lutheran University and her PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in sociology. She is the author of several Sage textbooks, including Crime and Criminal Justice: Concepts and Controversies, Women and Crime: Core Concepts, and Criminal Justice Policy. Her work also appears in a number of peer--reviewed journals and edited volumes. She is an active member of the American Society of Criminology, the Western Society of Criminology, and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

Christine L. Gardiner is an assistant professor of Criminal Justice at California State University, Fullerton. She received her PhD in Criminology, Law and Society from the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Gardiner was awarded a prestigious National Institute of Justice Dissertation Fellowship to support her research on the effects of Proposition 36 on Orange County practitioners. Her areas of expertise include crime policy, policing, and juvenile delinquency. Her research has been published in Criminal Justice Policy Review and Journal of Drug Issues. Prior to her work at Cal State Fullerton, Dr. Gardiner worked as a police explorer, dispatcher, crime analyst, and intern-probation officer.