For courses in Criminal Justice

Brief. Affordable. Visual.
CJ 2017 provides an affordable, thought-provoking look at the criminal justice system that uses clear writing and eye-catching visuals to get your students straight to the important concepts. By focusing on these core concepts, students will gain true understanding of the material, without becoming overwhelmed with unnecessary information. The book's conversation-starting pedagogy encourages active participation in learning, moving students beyond memorization by engaging them in the latest research findings and current events shaping the field.

Over 500 changes and updates in CJ 2017 –including new U.S. Supreme Court cases, new debate about the police and its relationship with the minority community, and new developments in homeland security–reflect the changes in the field of criminal justice in 2015 and 2016.

CJ 2017 is also available via Revel™, an interactive learning environment that enables students to read, practice, and study in one continuous experience.

Dr. James A. Fagin has taught in the criminal justice field since 1973. He has taught undergraduate and graduate classes and has taught criminal justice classes for military officers at Command and General Staff College. Dr. Fagin has authored over a dozen criminal justice texts. One of the things that has helped Dr. Fagin in producing an introductory textbook is the fact that he has had the opportunity to be associated with the entire spectrum of the criminal justice system during his career. In addition to his academic career, Dr. Fagin has been a professional consultant to local and federal law enforcement agencies, the state courts, and local, state, and federal correctional facilities. In additional to teaching university classes, Dr. Fagin has taught at police and correctional academies. During his career he has been a professor of criminal justice studies and Program Director at Lincoln College—Normal (LCN), located in Normal, Illinois; professor and Chair of the Criminal Justice Department at Chaminade University of Honolulu, the oldest and largest criminal justice program in Hawaii; and assistant professor and Director of Outreach Programs at Wichita State University. In addition to his experience in criminal justice, Jim served as Graduate School Dean at East Stroudsburg University and was Acting President of Kima International Theological College, a three-year college in Kenya, East Africa. Dr. James Fagin is a pioneer in criminal justice education and has been involved in innovative criminal justice education programs for over four decades. He developed one of the early models of statewide delivery of criminal justice undergraduate and graduate degrees for Kansas. During the developing years of criminal justice education, Jim worked as a consultant and instructor for the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration (LEAA) to develop model criminal justice curriculum in research, administration, and planning to promote quality nationwide education in criminal justice. Under the oversight of LEAA these model curriculums were developed by an elite team of practitioners and educators and were field-tested throughout the United States. Dr. Fagin wrote some of the classical literature on computer crime, police bargaining and unions, presidential candidate security, domestic disturbance resolution, and hostage negotiations. His articles on international terrorism have been translated and published in major criminal justice journals in Japan. He received the American Society of Criminal Justice Hawai’i chapter’s award for outstanding contributions to Public Administration for his achievement in establishing a master’s degree in public administration at Chaminade University of Honolulu. He has received numerous other awards for contributions to hotel security, forensic investigations, and excellence in teaching. These works emerged from active involvement with federal, state, and local criminal justice agencies. Jim was a commissioned deputy sheriff training officer and polygraph examiner for the Wyandotte County (Kansas) Sheriff’s Department and a Commissioned Reserve Police Officer in the Kansas City (Kansas) Police Department. He served on the Kansas Victims’ Rights Commission to help establish the charter victims’ rights legislation for the state. He assisted in implementing the first domestic disturbance response policy for the Wichita, Kansas Police Department. He received his B.A. degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and his M.S. and Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University—Carbondale, Illinois. Textbooks such as this are an ongoing work in progress, and the author welcomes communication and correspondence about his work. Dr. Fagin can be contacted at jamesfagin@gmail.com

1. Introduction to Criminal Justice
2. Crime: The Search for Understanding
3. Measuring Crime and Victimization
4. Criminal Law: Crimes and the Limits of Law
5. An Overview of Law Enforcement: History, Agencies, Personnel, and Strategies
6. Oversight and Professionalism of Law Enforcement
7. The Court System Courtroom Participants and the Trial
8. Sentencing Jails and Prisons
9. Probation and Parole
10. Corrections in the Community
11. The Juvenile Justice System
12. Homeland Security