Critical Issues in Crime and Justice : Thought, Policy, and Practice

A comprehensive, provocative overview of the origins and present state of issues and perspectives in criminal justice and criminology from leading scholars in the field.

In this important book, essays explore the gamut of topics in criminal justice and criminology, examining both historical and contemporary material to illustrate the past and present of each topic covered. Drawing on a wide range of sources, the book illustrates the breadth of research, policy, and practice implications in key areas of the field, such as crime theory, law enforcement, jurisprudence, corrections, and organizations. The coverage of concepts, insights, voices, and perspectives is geared toward students with a background in criminal justice or criminology courses to challenge them to synthesize what they have learned, to question standard interpretations, and to begin to create new directions and visions for their future careers as professionals in the field.

Mary Maguire is the associate dean of the College of Health and Human Services at California State University Sacramento where she previously served as a Professor and the Chair of the Division of Criminal Justice and the Director of the Center for Justice and Policy Research. Her research interests include moral panic and public policy, as well as issues related to the incarceration movement in the United States, including drugs, race, class and programs for those at risk for offending. Selected publications include: A False Sense of Security: Moral Panic Driven Sex Offender Legislation, Corrections in California: The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and The Prevalence of Mental Illness in California Sex Offenders on Parole:  A comparison of Those Who Recidivated with a New Sex Crime Versus Those Who Did Not. In addition to Critical Issues in Crime and Justice, she has three editions of Annual Editions: Drugs, Society, and Behavior. She served as the Book Review Editor for Contemporary Justice Review and is the past President of the Western Society of Criminology. In addition to numerous student programs, Dr. Maguire started a Project Rebound site, a prison to university pipeline, at Sacramento State and continues to advance issues of justice and equity.

Dan Okada is a professor in the Division of Criminal Justice at California State University Sacramento.  He has professed criminal justice at Long Beach State University and Marist College (in Poughkeepsie New York).  He is past editor-in-chief of Contemporary Justice Review and is a past president of Justice Studies Association.  Both efforts promoting social, transformative, and restorative justice and peacemaking criminology.  His work revolves around juvenile and restorative justice, while his play centers on doing as little damage to others as possible.