Out-of-Control Criminal Justice
The Systems Improvement Solution for More Safety, Justice, Accountability, and Efficiency

This book shows how to reduce out-of-control criminal justice and create greater public safety, justice, and accountability at less cost.

Daniel P. Mears (Author)

9781316614044, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 September 2017

320 pages
22.8 x 15.3 x 1.8 cm, 0.46 kg

'It is Mears's emphatic call for more openness and cooperation among practitioners, researchers, and everyone else impacted by the criminal justice system that makes this book an invaluable resource for criminal justice reform and the SIS a viable approach to consider when addressing current system failures.' Doris Schartmueller, Rutgers

Out-of-Control Criminal Justice shows that our system of criminal justice is broken; it is out of control. The author writes that a research-based strategy is needed that builds on the insights of those who work within criminal justice or are affected by it. Such a strategy must entail continuous evaluation and improvement, so that what works can be expanded and what does not can be eliminated. Out-of-Control Criminal Justice identifies how systems problems plague our criminal justice systems. It then presents a comprehensive strategy for bringing these systems under control to reduce crime, to increase justice and accountability, and to do so at less cost. The strategy can be used, too, to create greater responsiveness to victims and communities, effectiveness in reducing racial and ethnic disparities, and understanding of the causes and consequences of crime. After describing this new approach, the book identifies the tools needed to implement a systems solution to create a safer and more just society.

1. Introduction: out-of-control criminal justice
2. Systems problems are not specific to crime and justice
3. What is a system?
4. The criminal justice system
5. The systems improvement solution for safety, justice, accountability, and efficiency
6. Benefits of the systems improvement solution and pitfalls to avoid in implementing it
7. Conclusion: criminal justice under control.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Crime & criminology [JKV], Social work [JKSN]