Understanding Criminal Justice: A Critical Introduction

This book is perfectly designed to meet the needs of the undergraduate student and lecturer of criminal justice providing a one-stop guide to criminal justice policy and practices. The authors offer a comprehensive overview of current debates and key issues in the delivery of criminal justice and examines how it operates in context and in practice.Offering a critical introduction to the issues, institutions and agencies which shape the operation of the criminal justice system, new areas such as 'Developing your 'criminological imagination', 'Planning for a Career in Criminal Justice', 'Abolition' and 'Crime across the life-course' are also covered. Key features include:End of chapter questions which could be used as the starting point for seminar/training discussions,Case studies of both offenders and practitioners intended to make the subject 'come alive',Sources of further reading presented in the form of an annotated bibliography, End of chapter summaries,Boxed features to include real-life cases, step-by-step procedures, and key concepts and debates.