This authoritative set provides a comprehensive overview of issues and trends in crime, law enforcement, courts, and corrections that encompass the field of criminal justice studies in the United States. This work offers a thorough introduction to the field of criminal justice, including types of crime; policing; courts and sentencing; landmark legal decisions; and local, state, and federal corrections systems—and the key topics and issues within each of these important areas. It provides a complete overview and understanding of the many terms, jobs, procedures, and issues surrounding this growing field of study. Another major focus of the work is to examine ethical questions related to policing and courts, trial procedures, law enforcement and corrections agencies and responsibilities, and the complexion of criminal justice in the United States in the 21st century. Finally, this title emphasizes coverage of such politically charged topics as drug trafficking and substance abuse, immigration, environmental protection, government surveillance and civil rights, deadly force, mass incarceration, police militarization, organized crime, gangs, wrongful convictions, racial disparities in sentencing, and privatization of the U.S. prison system.

American Constitutional Law provides a comprehensive account of the nation's defining document. Based on the premise that the study of the Constitution and constitutional law is of fundamental importance to understanding the principles, prospects, and problems of America, the volumes in this set put current events in terms of what those who initially drafted and ratified the Constitution sought to accomplish. The authors examine the constitutional thought of the founders, as well as interpretations of the Constitution by the Supreme Court, Congress, the President, lower federal courts, and state judiciaries. Volume I focuses on federal rights and powers, and volume II focuses on individuals' rights and responsibilities. Available individually or as a two-volume set, they are perfect for a one- or two-semester course on constitutional law and civil liberties.

This essential reference work enables a deeper understanding of contemporary challenges in the lives of American Indians and Alaskan Natives today, carefully reviewing their unique problems and proposing potential solutions. American Indians face problems in their lives on a daily basis that most other Americans never contend with, and their challenges—which in some cases are similar to those of other minority groups in the United States—are still qualitatively unique. American Indians at Risk gives readers a broad overview of what life in Indian country is like, addressing specific contemporary social issues such as alcoholism, unemployment, and suicide. The author goes beyond detailed descriptions of the problems of American Indians to also present solutions, some of which have been effective in addressing these challenges. Each chapter includes a "Further Investigations" section that presents helpful ideas for additional research.

This is a provocative collection exploring the different types of violence and how they relate to one another, examined through the integration of several disciplines, including forensic psychotherapy, psychiatry, sociology, psychosocial studies and political science. By examining the 'violent states' of mind behind specific forms of violence and the social and societal contexts in which an individual act of human violence takes place, the contributors reveal the dynamic forces and reasoning behind specific forms of violence including structural violence, and conceptualise the societal structures themselves as 'violent states'. Other research often stops short at examining the causes and risk factors for violence, without considering the opposite states that may not only mitigate, but allow for a different unfolding of individual and societal evolution. As a potential antidote to violence, the authors prescribe an understanding of these 'creative states' with their psychological origins, and their importance in human behaviour and meaning-seeking. Making a call to move beyond merely mitigating violence to the opposite direction of fostering creative potential, this book is foundational in its capacity to cultivate social consciousness and effect positive change in areas of governance, policy-making, and collective responsibility. This two-volume set includes: Volume 1: Structural Violence and Creative Structures ISBN 9781785925641 Volume 2: Human Violence and Creative Humanity ISBN 9781785925658