Social Science : Criminology

The first major study of the history of British 'bad girls', this book uses a wide range of professional, popular and personal texts to explore the experiences of girls in the twentieth century juvenile justice system. It examines the processes leading to their definition as variously delinquent, defective or neglected and analyses the different possibilities for public and private reform made available to them. It shows how 'bad girls', though few in number, posed a recurring challenge to established generational and gender orders, and questions the popular contemporary belief that 'rising' delinquency among girls has been the product of late-twentieth century social changes. more...

Price: $85.50

Juvenile arrest rates in the United States have declined over the past decade, yet the percentage of girls in trouble with the law increased. Girls now enter the juvenile legal system for violent offenses in addition to minor violations for which previous generations of young women have always been detained. In Girls in Trouble with the Law, sociologist Laurie Schaffner takes us inside female detention centers and explores the worlds of those who are incarcerated. Across the country, she finds that an overwhelming majority of court-involved young women are from ethnic or racial minority groups, and most have experienced some sort of sexual and physical assault. Focusing on the girls’ experiences of early adolescent sexualization, increased social violence, and the inequities of the juvenile court system, Schaffner explores three central questions: How have changing social norms of sexuality and emotional expression influenced the way that society sees adolescent girls’ transgressions? How do young women experience and understand their involvement in the juvenile legal system? What role do gender and race play in the increasing reliance on arrests to solve social problems?. Offering a critical assessment of what she describes as a gender-insensitive juvenile legal system, Schaffner makes a compelling argument that current policies do not go far enough to empower disadvantaged girls so that they can overcome the social limitations and gender, sexual, and racial/ethnic discrimination that continue to plague young women growing up in contemporary United States. more...

Price: $17.00

In the generation that followed Frederick Douglass, no African American was more prominent, or more outspoken, than Ida B. Wells. Seriously considered as a rival to W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington for race leadership, Wells' career began amidst controversy when she sued a Tennessee railroad company for ousting her from a first class car, a legal battle which launched her lifelong commitment to journalism and activism. In the 1890s, Wells focused her eloquence on the horrors of lynching, exposing it as a widespread form of racial terrorism. Backing strong words with strong actions, she lectured in the States and abroad, arranged legal representation for black prisoners, hired investigators, founded anti-lynching leagues, sought recourse from Congress, and more. Wells was an equally forceful advocate for women's rights, but parted ways with feminist allies who would subordinate racial justice to their cause. Using diary entries, letters, and published writings, McMurry illuminates Wells's fiery personality, and the uncompromising approach that sometimes lost her friendships even as it won great victories. To Keep the Waters Troubled is an unforgettable account of a remarkable woman and the and the times she helped to change.  more...

Price: $40.00

Written by Mark Umbreit, internationally known for his work in restorative justice, this indispensable resource offers an empirically grounded, state-of-the-art analysis of the application and impact of victim offender mediation, a movement that has spread throughout North America and abroad. The Handbook of Victim Offender Mediation provides practical guidance and resources for offering victim meditation in property crimes, in minor assaults, and, more recently, with crimes of severe violence, including with family members of murder victims who request to meet the offender. more...

Price: $75.00

Whether one believes hate crimes represent acts committed against entire communities, thus justifying penalty enhancement, or that the law should make no distinction between bias crimes and ordinary crimes, Hate Crimes is a useful guide through the various issues related to this complex topic. Striving to be as objective as possible, this volume provides students and general readers with the resources necessary to define, understand, and research one of the most contentious topics in the United States today. more...

Price: $45.00