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Criminal Justice: A Brief Introduction, 13th edition

Published by Pearson (January 31, 2019) © 2020

  • Frank Schmalleger Emeritus, University of North Carolina

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For introductory courses in criminal justice.

The gold standard for criminal justice texts

Criminal Justice: A Brief Introduction examines crime in the US, with a focus on police, courts and corrections. Students contemplate the fine line separating freedom from security and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the US justice system. A wealth of internet resources along with author tweets (@schmalleger) build on ideas in the text, while keeping pace with changes in the field.

The 13th Edition emphasizes the need for systemic change. It includes revised coverage of large-scale crimes pervasive in the US, as well as policing issues and challenges, sentencing guidelines, and state laws redefining the age of criminal responsibility.

Hallmark features of this title

Themes in criminal justice today

  • Freedom or Safety? You Decide boxes in each chapter draw on the theme of individual rights vs. public order. Each box includes critical-thinking questions.
  • Multiculturalism and Diversity boxes weigh the impact of US multiculturalism on the justice system.
  • Ethics and Professionalism boxes consider moral and ethical standards that criminal justice professionals are held to.

A focus on current events

  • CJ News boxes in each chapter present media stories illustrating concepts.
  • CJ Issues boxes address critical issues facing the justice system, such as mass imprisonment and excessive use of force by the police.
  • Full-color diagrams, illustrations, timelines and photographs throughout the text provide an inviting, highly visual experience.

New and updated features of this title

Expansion on a wide range of issues

  • UPDATED: Discussions of crimes pervasive in the US have been updated or revised. Topics include white-collar and corporate crime, cybercrimes, mass shootings and terrorism cases.
  • UPDATED: New incidents or developments with repercussions for the US justice system have been added, including the Equifax® data breach, the national opioid crisis, the new National Consensus Policy on the Use of Force, New Jersey's new racial impact law, and the status of prison overcrowding.
  • NEW: New diagrams show inmates with and without serious mental illness (Ch. 12) and the locations of juvenile detention facilities across the US (Ch. 13).

Practical guidance

  • EXPANDED: Evidence-Based Justice Reinvestment boxes in many chapters highlight effective evidence-based practices for the wise use of criminal justice resources. A new box is in Chapter 4.
  • EXPANDED: CJ Careers boxes describe a variety of criminal justice careers in a Q&A format. A new box is in Chapter 5.

Features of Revel for the 13th Edition

  • Criminal Justice Simulations in 13 chapters ask students to evaluate scenarios and make decisions. Topics include crime elements, policing styles, search and seizure, warrants and arrest documentation, sentencing options, and determining conditions for parole.
  • In author explanatory videos, the text's author clarifies and expands upon critical topics. The videos are integrated into the narrative of each chapter.
  • Point/counterpoint videos present two opposing evidence-based arguments to help students analyze criminal justice issues such as privacy, search and seizure, and the 4th amendment.
  • NEW: Social Explorer maps integrated into the narrative correlate crime and corrections data with socioeconomic and other criminal justice data across the US.
  • NEW: Student survey questions address controversial topics and important concepts. Students can review a bar chart comparing their responses to those of their classmates.
  • Application exercises and short quizzes engage students and enhance their understanding of core topics as they progress through the content.

PART 1: CRIME IN AMERICA
1. What Is Criminal Justice?
2. The Crime Picture
3. Criminal Law

PART 2: POLICING
4. Policing: Purpose and Organization
5. Policing: Legal Aspects
6. Policing: Issues and Challenges

PART 3: ADJUDICATION
7. The Courts
8. The Courtroom Work Group and the Criminal Trial
9. Sentencing

PART 4: CORRECTIONS
10. Probation, Parole, and Reentry
11. Prisons and Jails
12. Prison Life

PART 5: THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM
13. Juvenile Justice

About our author

Frank Schmalleger, PhD, is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, where he taught criminal justice courses for 20 years and chaired the university's Department of Sociology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice for 16 of those years. In 1991 the university awarded him the title of Distinguished Professor, and the university named him Professor Emeritus in 2001.

Dr. Schmalleger holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame and Ohio State University, having earned both a master's degree (1970) and a doctorate in sociology (1974) with a special emphasis in criminology from Ohio State University.

As an adjunct professor at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, Schmalleger helped develop the university's graduate program in security administration and loss prevention. He taught courses in that curriculum for over a decade. Schmalleger has also taught in the online graduate program of the New School for Social Research, helping to build the world's first electronic classrooms. Schmalleger is the creator of a number of award-winning websites, including one that supports this textbook.

Frank Schmalleger is the author of numerous articles and many books, including the widely used Criminal Justice Today (Pearson, 2019); Criminology Today (Pearson, 2019); Criminal Law Today (Pearson, 2016); and The Definitive Guide to Criminal Justice and Criminology on the World Wide Web (Pearson, 2009).

Schmalleger is also the founding editor of the journal Criminal Justice Studies. He has served as editor of the Pearson series Criminal Justice in the Twenty-First Century and as imprint adviser for Greenwood Publishing Group's criminal justice reference series.

Schmalleger's philosophy of both teaching and writing can be summed up in these words: “In order to communicate knowledge, we must first catch, then hold, a person's interest - be it student, colleague, or policymaker. Our writing, our speaking, and our teaching must be relevant to the problems facing people today, and they must in some way help solve those problems.”

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