Crime and Public Policy

by James Q. Wilson (Editor), Joan Petersilia (Editor)

Overview

Crime in the United States has fluctuated considerably over the past thirty years, as have the policy approaches to deal with it. During this time criminologists and other scholars have helped to shed light on the role of incarceration, prevention, drugs, guns, policing, and numerous other aspects to crime control. Yet the latest research is rarely heard in public discussions and is often missing from the desks of policymakers. This book accessibly summarizes the latest scientific information on the causes of crime and evidence about what does and does not work to control it. Thoroughly revised and updated, this new version of Crime and Public Policy will include twenty chapters and five new substantial entries. As with previous editions, each essay reviews the existing literature, discusses the methodological rigor of the studies, identifies what policies and programs the studies suggest, and then points to policies now implemented that fail to reflect the evidence. The chapters cover the principle institutions of the criminal justice system (juvenile justice, police, prisons, probation and parole, sentencing), how broader aspects of social life inhibit or encourage crime (biology, schools, families, communities), and topics currently generating a great deal of attention (criminal activities of gangs, sex offenders, prisoner reentry, changing crime rates). With contributions from trusted, leading scholars, Crime and Public Policy offers the most comprehensive and balanced guide to how the latest and best social science research informs the understanding of crime and its control for policymakers, community leaders, and students of crime and criminal justice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199315048
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	01/25/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

James Q. Wilson, an emeritus professor at UCLA, is now Ronald Reagan Professor of Public Policy at Pepperdine University and a distinguished fellow at the Clough Center at Boston College. Joan Petersilia is Adelbert H. Sweet Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and co-director for the Stanford Criminal Justice Center.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction, James Q. Wilson and Joan Petersilia 2. Crime in International Perspective, James P. Lynch and William Alex Pridemore 3. Crime and Biology, Terrie E. Moffitt, Stephen Ross, and Adrian Raine 4. Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice, Peter W. Greenwood and Susan Turner 5. Families and Crime, David P. Farrington 6. Street Gangs: How Research Can Inform Policy, Cheryl Maxson 7. Labor Markets and Crime, Shawn D. Bushway 8. The Community, Robert J. Sampson 9. Race and the Administration of Criminal Justice in the United States, Randall Kennedy 10. Gun Control, Philip J. Cook, Anthony A. Braga, and Mark H. Moore 11. Rehabilitation and Treatment Programs, Francis T. Cullen and Cheryl Lero Jonson 12. Sex Offenders and Sex Offender Policy, Eric Beauregard and Roxanne Lieb 13. Drugs, Crime, and Public Policy, David A. Boyum, Jonathan P. Caulkins, and Mark A. R. Kleiman 14. General Deterrence: A Review of Recent Evidence, Robert Apel and Daniel S. Nagin 15. Prosecution, Brian Forst 16. Sentencing, Kevin R. Reitz 17. Community Corrections: Probation, Parole, and Prisoner Reentry, Joan Petersilia 18. Prisons, Anne Morrison Piehl and Bert Useem 19. Changing Crime Rates, Richard Rosenfeld 20. Democratic Policing on the Evidence, Lawrence W. Sherman 21. Crime and Public Policy, James Q. Wilson

Editorial Reviews

"Wilson and Petersilia have done it again with their latest book, Crime and Public Policy. They continue to inform the debate about crime, its causes, and potential solutions, leaving it to readers to draw their own conclusions, because there is no consensus, uniformity, or 'silver bullet.' The great crime reduction debate remains unresolved but better understood because of this must-read analysis."—William Bratton, former Chief, Los Angeles Police Department and former Commissioner, New York Police Department

"Once again, Wilson and Petersilia have produced THE indispensable volume on crime and public policy. Taken together, these chapters underscore the rapid growth in our knowledge base about crime and the effectiveness of our response to crime. Yet the book also serves as an insistent reminder of the great divide between knowledge and practice. In the right hands, this book can help us bridge that divide."—Jeremy Travis, President, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

"Wilson and Petersilia, outstanding scholars on their own, have outdone themselves. The fourth version of their series on crime and public policy brings together twenty-one very strong chapters on current knowledge and recent developments about crime and about the responses of the criminal justice system, each written by acknowledged experts who are at the top of their field."—Alfred Blumstein, J. Erik Jonsson University Professor of Urban Systems and Operations Research, Carnegie Mellon University

"This edition of Crime and Public Policy is the latest and best in the series. There is something worth reading in each chapter, most especially those on policing and prisons, and the concluding summary by Wilson. For any crime scholar, policymaker, criminal justice practitioner, or interested citizen to miss this volume would be a crime."—John DiIulio, Professor, University of Pennsylvania

"...A worthwhile purchase for any sociologist interested in summaries of work in other disciplines on the current state of criminal justice policy." —Contemporary Sociology

From the Publisher