"Counseling Criminal Justice Offenders is designed as a workbook, each chapter beginning with a precis and list of key terms, and ending with a summary, exercises on the key terms, and discussion questions. The language used is simple and jargon-free and the book is easy to read. It is an ideal handbook for anyone who is starting to work with offenders and is as applicable to British as well as American readers. The book is a practical volume, based on sound experience and I would recommend it to anyone who is beginning to counsel offenders as it gives very practical advice and a thorough bibliography on where to look for more information on specific counseling models."
--Christina Vincent in LCCJ Newsletter
Designed to provide students and criminal justice workers with a practical preparation for interfacing with offenders, Counseling Criminal Justice Offenders is a unique contribution to the field of offender counseling. It provides counselors with the most comprehensive coverage to date on the laws they must be familiar with when working with offenders. Ruth Masters does an outstanding job of providing deep insight into the problems of the criminal justice offender, the laws offender counselors must know, the counseling process, proven modalities in American corrections, and appropriate and effective counselor attitudes. Counseling Criminal Justice Offenders provides the counselor with an excellent opportunity for growth in the skills necessary for successful treatment of criminal offenders. Written in an easy-to-understand format, each chapter begins with chapter highlights and key terms and concludes with matching exercises and discussion questions. An instructor′s manual that includes test items and exercises for skill building is available.
Professor Ruth Masters has been teaching criminal justice counseling courses at California State University, Fresno since 1970. In addition, she has had hands-on, practical counseling experience in both adult and juvenile criminal justice systems. She has worked as a parole agent for the California Department of Corrections and the California Youth Authority. Her research can be described as a unique blending of theoretical and practical, which includes work in both corrections and law enforcement. Her textbook, Counseling Criminal Justice Offenders (1994), is published by Sage Publications.
Dr. Masters is a member of American Society of Criminology; Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences; Western Society of Criminology; Women′s Criminal Justice Association; California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association; and California State Juvenile Officers′ Association. She received her master′s degree in criminology from California State University, Fresno; and her bachelor′s degree in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.
