Uncover the whole story of U.S. crime in SAGE Reference's The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia

Los Angeles (August 2, 2012) The current American criminal justice system can only be truly understood if the crimes and punishments are studied in tandem with the social history that goes along with them, and social history encompasses both the content and the approach to that history. SAGE Reference’s new five-volume The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America: An Encyclopedia surveys the history along with the philosophy of crime, punishment, and criminal justice institutions in the United States, from colonial times to the present.

Covering the full criminal justice system in the first four volumes, this important resource also explores its philosophical foundations and the major developments and changing patterns in criminal activity and legal responses. The fifth volume tells the story of crime and punishment in the United States through a selection of approximately 170 annotated primary source documents (speeches, letters, reports, legislation, court decisions) excerpted for key points.

Providing the historical context for students to better understand contemporary American criminological picture, the approximately 700 signed A-to-Z entries, written by a variety of respected scholars in the field, are helpfully organized in a Reader’s Guide within the following key topics:

• Biographies
• Courts, Corrections, Punishments
• Crime and Punishment in Media
• Crimes in America
• Criminals
• Documents and Acts Shaping the American System of Criminal Justice
• Historical Cities in Crime and Punishment
• History of Crime and Punishment by State
• History of the American Criminal Justice System
• Juvenile Crime and Justice
• Most Dangerous Cities
• Organizations and Commissions
• Police and Law Enforcement
• Presidential Administrations and Crime and Punishment
• Socioeconomic, Political, and Religious Issues
• State and Federal Court Cases

Additional helpful features, such as cross-references, further readings, a chronology, and a resource guide are also included, making the unique and comprehensive The Social History of Crime and Punishment in America an encyclopedia that belongs on the shelves of all academic and public libraries serving historians, social scientists, educators, students, lawyers, and general readers. A FREE 30-day online trial to this title is available at www.sagepub.com/freetrial.