Criminal Justice Research

We live in an era of mass mobility where governments remain committed to closing borders, engaging with securitisation discourses and restrictive immigration policies, which in turn nurture xenophobia and racism. It is within this wider context of social and political unrest that the contributors of this collection reflect on their experiences of conducting criminological research. This collection focuses on the challenges of doing research on the intersections between criminal justice and immigration control, choosing and changing methodologies while juggling the disciplinary and interdisciplinary requirements of the work’s audience. From research design, to fieldwork to writing-up, this book captures every part of the research process, drawing on a range of topics such as migration control, immigrant detention and border policing. It also reflects on more neglected areas such as the interpersonal and institutional contexts of research and the ontological and epistemological assumptions embedded within data analysis methods. It makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the major developments in current research in this field, how and why they occur and with what consequences. This book seeks to shake off the phantom of undisturbed research settings by bringing to the fore the researchers' involvement in the research process and its products. An interdisciplinary collection, it can be used as a reference not just for those interested in the criminology of mobility but also as a learning tool for anyone conducting research on a highly charged topic in contemporary policy and politics.

Designed to assist criminal justice students and practitioners to conduct research on problems and issues facing the criminal justice system. It is based upon the authors' collective experience as researchers and instructors in criminal justice research and policy analysis. The definitions and examples provided in the book will help students and practitioners to both comprehend research articles and reports and to conduct their own research.

These original essays introduce students to the complex and influential field of critical criminology. It presents many of the theories of critical criminology — Marxist, Feminist, Left Realist, Postmodern, Constitutive, Peacemaking, and Restorative Justice — and explores how, despite their distinctions, each theory is rooted in radical criminology, and all are critical of mainstream criminology.

Criminal Justice Research Methods provides students with an accessible, easy-to-understand guide to all aspects of social scientific research methods. It features a comprehensive discussion of qualitative and quantitative data gathering strategies and a plethora of current examples to help readers understand the process of doing research and investigating issues that are relevant to criminal justice and criminology. The opening chapter differentiates between pure and applied research, explains the relationship between theory, and method, identifies different types of research, and clarifies why research is necessary. Additional chapters cover ethical adherence, experimental designs, and crime data and sampling techniques. Students explore survey research designs and learn effective skillsets for interviewing and observing. The final chapters examine unobtrusive measures and secondary analysis; validity, reliability, and triangulated methods; and scaling and index construction. Throughout, learning objectives, summaries, discussion questions, and key terms support student engagement and retention. Concise and highly contemporary, Criminal Justice Research Methods is ideal for courses with emphasis on research in criminal justice and criminology.

As scholarly work on crime, deviance, criminal justice, and social control advances and sophisticated methods of investigation develop, chapter authors demonstrate the methodological maturity and diversity of current empirical research in criminology and criminal justice.

Each semester, thousands of students choose introductory courses in criminology, criminal justice, and sociology. Many are motivated to do so by a strong desire to help others and to make a positive contribution to society. But turning these feelings into postgraduate careers remains a challenge. Some students choose law school, while others become police officers, but there are many other options. This book offers guidance to students interested in working in the broad field of criminal justice, but who are unclear as to what direction to take. Further, it posits that understanding differences between people—race/ethnicity, gender, social class, sexual orientation—is a critical component of any fulfilling career in criminal justice. Essays by leading scholars, practitioners, and advocates delineate the latest feminist and methodological approaches in criminological research and offer a hands-on look at how lawyers, public sociologists, academics, and federal researchers grapple with issues of race, class, and gender in their work. This book exposes students to a greater understanding of the range of career opportunities available in criminal justice and criminology: as researchers, professionals, activists, teachers, and practitioners. Examining diversity across these three dimensions, this anthology will become a standard text for introductory criminal justice, criminology, and sociology courses, as well as an invaluable guide for students and ordinary people interested in a career in the criminal justice field.

This reader, organized by type of methodology -- experimental, survey and field research, analysis of records, and secondary data analysis -- offers case studies and commentary about research design, varying research approaches, the process of measurement, and the concepts of reliability and validity. The book includes 20 articles drawn from major scholarly journals, each accompanied by a Commentaries section written by the original author. The commentaries provide a behind-the-scenes perspective, discussions of why a particular methodology was chosen, problems that occurred, and how the research results differed from expectations. Each article also has an original introduction and conclusion section, meant to help readers understand the nature, issues and conduct of the study.

This title was first published in 2002: A collection of criminal justice researchers select a number of books, documents, papers and such like, that they believe to be important and influential in the field of criminal justice research. Each author has written a description and critique of the selected item and have discussed the impact of each of them with regards to formulating or developing their own research. The authors also speculate onb the direction they believe the area in question might be expected to develop in the first 10-15 years of the 21st century. The definition of crimnal justice, in this book, is a broad one, and that is reflected in the combination of criminologists, psychologists, sociologists and experts on social and public administration. In all the book attempts to examine the inspirations, influences and thought processes which underpin criminal justice research efforts.