First published in 1972, this classic text helped define how research affects policy in the criminal justice system. The new Ninth Edition provides a unique balance of the enduring classics in the development of criminal justice policy, with the most current research from the field and debates from the halls of Congress. This 28-article reader allows students to see research-framed debates discussed in our administration of justice. Flexible in its design, this work promotes a more critical understanding of the structure and function of the criminal justice system, but it also invites attention to critical cross cutting themes, such as discretion, occupational role conception, the sources of power and authority inside institutions, and how the public may impact our choices of laws and the way laws are written.