Race, Gender, and Criminal Justice

Book excerpt: The anthology Race, Gender, and Criminal Justice: Equality & Justice for All?, examines the ways in which race, ethnicity, class, and gender impact offenders as they move through the criminal justice system, and integrate back into the community. While many books in the field address race or gender in the criminal justice system, this book offers a detailed exploration of both. The book also looks at the unintended consequences of criminal justice policies on women and minorities, and considers what, if anything, is being done to address disparities. Written in an accessible manner, the book is divided into five main sections: - Understanding Race and Gender - The Police - The Courts - Corrections - Issues of Re-entry and Disenfranchisement The individual chapters of the book cover topics that are of high interest to students in the fields of Sociology and Criminology, including the difference between race and ethnicity, racial profiling, the role of specialized courts, prosecutorial discretion, and recidivism. Issues such as the death penalty, imprisonment rates, and drug policy are examined from both domestic and international perspectives. Each chapter includes information on accessing relevant YouTube videos, websites, non-profits, government agencies, and journal articles, giving students the opportunity for additional examination. There are also critical thinking questions to encourage class discussions. Race, Gender, and Criminal Justice: Equality & Justice for All? can be used in both lower and upper-division courses in Criminal Justice, Criminology, and Sociology. It is also an excellent supplementary text for courses in the areas of Political Science, Women's Studies, and Race/Black Studies. Adopting professors will receive PowerPoint slides to assist with lectures and test questions. Danielle McDonald received her Ph.D. in Criminology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2006. Currently, Dr. McDonald is an assistant professor of criminal justice at Northern Kentucky University. She teaches and conducts research in the areas of gender and crime, alternatives to incarceration, re-entry programming and service learning. Alexis Miller is an associate professor of criminal justice at Northern Kentucky University, where she teaches and conducts research in the areas of race and crime, college students and faculty perceptions of crime, and criminal justice and the media. Dr. Miller received her Ph.D. from the University of Louisville, in 1999.