A History of Crime and Criminal Justice in America

New in the third edition is a historically updated chapter on the 1980s/1990s era of criminal justice history — the Reagan era. Still further, an entirely new chapter covering the Era of Security from September 11, 2001, to the present time has been added to the new edition, bringing A History of Crime and Criminal Justice in America up-to-date with contemporary times. Each chapter begins with an overview of the social, political, and economic forces that shaped society during each of America's historical eras, then follows with a more specific review of both the ordinary and extraordinary crimes of that time period. Each chapter then covers how the criminal justice system (police, courts, corrections, and juvenile justice) responded to these crimes, thereby conveying how the American criminal justice system developed over time.

A History of Crime and Criminal Justice in America provides a window into the past and a cure for our collective historical ignorance and amnesia. The authors have done a masterful job of synthesizing and presenting this enormously complex topic. This book will not provide a cure for crime or a magic bullet to reform the criminal justice system, [but] readers who make this fascinating journey through time with Willard Oliver and James Hilgenberg will . . . gain a heightened sense of the complexities of American criminal justice— and, hopefully, learn to avoid the mistakes of the past."
— Dr. Alexander W. Pisciotta, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania (From the Foreword)