Search
for books by Author,
Title or Subject



Complete List of Publications

View Shopping Cart

Print the Order Form (pdf)


Criminal Justice Press
PO Box 249
Monsey, NY 10952 USA
Fax: 603-357-2073
Phone: 800-345-6665
E-mail: cjpress109@aol.com


Examination Copy Policy

How to Submit
Book Proposals

Books On:

Crime Prevention Studies

Crime and Delinquency

Criminal and Juvenile Justice

Restorative Justice

Book Info


Racial Divide: Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Criminal Justice System
Michael Lynch, E. Britt Patterson and Christina Childs, eds.
(paperback)
2008, 310 pages
ISBN: 978-1-881798-86-6
$37.00

This anthology provides a balanced assessment of the research evidence on whether the American criminal justice system is guilty of bias in its treatment of racial and ethnic minorities.
The editors’ introduction views criminal justice system practices within the context of racial and ethnic bias in American society as a whole. Michael J. Leiber surveys a diverse array of theories used in research on biases in the criminal justice process. Lorie A. Fridell evaluates evidence of racial prejudice in policing, with particular emphasis on unconscious patterns of bias. Perceptions of bias-based policing held by African-American citizens and police officers are described by Brian N. Williams and Billy R. Close. The voluminous scholarly literature on racial and ethnic bias in sentencing is analyzed by Amy Farrell and Donna M. Bishop. E. Britt Patterson presents original research findings on racial and ethnic differences in the sentencing of juveniles for drug offenses. Michael J. Lynch explores whether minority overrepresentation in the prison population can be attributed to justice system processing biases. Judith Kavanaugh-Earl and colleagues provide a wide-ranging overview of the effects of race in application of the death penalty. Findings from a study of the racial profiling of white customers in retail stores are reported by Shaun L. Gabbidon and George E. Higgins. Tom Mieczkowski reviews how race and racial identification have been misused in the forensic sciences. Paul Stretesky explores racial disparity in residents’ proximity to environmental hazards and in the enforcement of environmental regulations.

"...these authors are balanced, thorough, and creative in their treatments of the subject matter... this volume is, overall, a useful contribution to the literature exploring one of the most central questions to the criminal justice field: Is the system biased against non-whites?" Suzanne Goodney Lea, Social Problems Forum: The SSSP Newsletter.

"I would be happy to assign a number of the articles in this collection to a class of upper level undergraduates or graduate students. They would be exposed to useful reviews of the literature, excellent current scholarship, and provocative ideas for bridging racial divides in the criminal justice systme." Mary W. Atwell, in Law and Politics Book Review

Criminal Justice Press Home

Copyright 2009 Criminal Justice Press