A Closer Look at Criminal Justice is a collection of daring chapters on the state of the discipline. Each chapter considers a specific criminal justice or criminological problem— new or persistent—with fresh eyes. The contributors pull no punches: their insights are novel, salient, and sometimes controversial. The book is thematically divided into three parts. Part 1: Criminal Justice and Criminology in Education, discusses how we teach our undergraduate students about race, the way we treat our graduate students, and inmate education. We wanted to highlight criminal justice education at the university level in the first part of the book in large part because this book is best suited in the classroom, but especially because as educators, we live and breathe the importance of education. The book progresses in Part 2, Theory and Praxis, with a discussion of applicable criminological theory and research methodology in criminal justice where the goal is to highlight the importance of using theory and research as the foundation for policy positions, support, and understanding. The remaining part of the book, Persistent Issues in Criminal Justice, provides fresh insights on “old” subjects and problems in the administration of justice, such as community policing, the aging prison population, and marijuana use in the United States of America. This book is best suited in senior seminars, capstone, or contemporary issues courses; master’s level classes on the criminal justice system; and is also important for faculty members and doctoral students with a vested interest in the current tempo of criminal justice practice, research, education, and thought. Reading this book, students and scholars should have a better idea of the current issues facing our discipline, particularly those issues that do not get as much exposure as others.
