A History of Crime and Criminal Justice in America

About this book

This updated second edition provides an overview of the origin and development of the American criminal justice system from the founding of Jamestown the first English settlement and tracing history to the events of September 11 2001. Each chapter begins with an overview of the social political and economic forces that shaped society during a given era in American history. What follows then is an overview of the ordinary and extraordinary crimes of each era and how the criminal justice system (police courts corrections and juvenile justice) responded to these crimes thereby conveying how the system developed over time. "I know of no better text that offers with such breadth depth and clarity a major survey of Americas history seen through the lens of Americas most defining of features crime and justice. The course I teach is a two-semester Honors seminar for undergraduates called US Institutions & Values one from US origins to 1900 and the other from 1900 to the present both of which focus on punishment and the prison as essential to understanding American values and institutions. This book does it all and is a steady staple in helping my students understand and grapple with their America and its history." Jason S. Sexton California State University Fullerton "A History of Crime and Criminal Justice in America provides a window into the past and a cure for our collective historical ignorance and amnesia. The authors have done a masterful job of synthesizing and presenting this enormously complex topic. This book will not provide a cure for crime or a magic bullet to reform the criminal justice system but readers who make this fascinating journey through time with Willard Oliver and James Hilgenberg will . . . gain a heightened sense of the complexities of American criminal justice and hopefully learn to avoid the mistakes of the past." Dr. Alexander W. Pisciotta Kutztown University of Pennsylvania (From the Foreword) The Teachers Manual (w/Test Bank) is available electronically on a CD or via email. Please contact Beth Hall at bhall@cap-press.com to request a copy.