How and why did you choose the themes that structure the textbook? How do you feel they distinguish your textbook from competing titles in this area?

This textbook approaches the criminal justice system with a problem orientation and a historical perspective, carried across the three traditional sections in an introductory text—police, courts, and corrections—and always posing questions to students. This historical, problem-based, thematic approach is unique to this book in that while it is descriptive and well grounded at the introductory level, it also allows students to understand how the criminal justice system is integrated with social values, needs and philosophy, and how public opinion often is in transition. Students also will be able to see how criminal justice is tied to other fields of study such as political science, sociology, psychology, ethics, and other sciences, and how developments in these fields have brought about changes in the criminal justice system.

Each chapter has a variety of pedagogical features such as direct-from-the-headlines news stories in the chapter-openers, the "Think About This" decision-making activities in the chapter-enders, web annotations, and the five different box types that appear throughout the chapters. Can you describe which features you are most excited about and why?

My favorite feature is the boxes, which look at specific ethical issues, diversity issues, careers in the system, cross-cultural comparisons, and media impacts. For each chapter’s boxes I developed short, in-depth presentations or interviews about some aspect of the criminal justice system. The information in these boxes comes from people working in the system or describes the specific details of a particular operation of the criminal justice system. Many student reviewers commented, "Wow, that’s neat." My goals for the boxed features are to present information that will stimulate, interest, and entertain students; motivate them to share the information; and provoke them to think about the questions raised.

What did you enjoy most about writing this text?

I enjoyed the feedback from reviewers and students as the book was being developed. I tried to include a "surprise" in each chapter—an interesting item unique to my textbook. I was encouraged when reviewers and students indicated that they had indeed been surprised by one of these items, especially when such comments came from experienced criminal justice professors.

Also, I enjoyed writing a textbook because it allowed me to stay even more on top of contemporary developments in a field that changes daily, whether by a new U.S. Supreme Court decision, a new presidential executive order, a new piece of legislation, a new example of abuse of power or corruption, a new research study, or a new event such as 9/11. Teaching is learning, and in the process of writing this book, I have learned quite a bit myself.

What do you hope students will get out of Criminal Justice: Inside the System?

I want students to appreciate the fact that the criminal justice system is a complex, interactive, and changing system. Criminal laws and punishments depend on social values. If we believe that people commit crime because they are weak willed, influenced by the devil, or motivated by pleasure, we will treat the problem of crime and criminals one way. If we believe that drug abuse is a physical-mental condition, we will respond to drug addiction differently than if we believe it is a moral or character defect.

The criminal justice system affects everyone and casts a wide net. It has included everything from women accused of being witches by the courts of Salem to people stripped of constitutional protections because they are accused of terrorism to people who receive traffic tickets getting their names posted on an Internet site.

I want students to understand that the criminal justice system is one of the most important frameworks of democracy and freedom. I want them to appreciate the work being done by those in the system, to understand what challenges they will face if they choose to enter this field, and to understand when it is important to defend and protect personal liberties and rights.

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