Criminal Justice
From Library Wiki
Criminal Justice Resources at the Sealy Library
Reference Books
Encyclopedias not only provide an overview of a topic, but their articles will often focus on the important milestones in that particular subject's development, such as Community-Oriented Policing. The following is a list of reference works on the subjects of Criminal Justice and Criminology in both print and electronic format. Most print reference books can be found on the Library's reference shelves around the call numbers HV6017.
Reference Books to be Used in the Library
Brotherton, D., Kontos, L. (Eds.). (2008). Encyclopedia of Gangs. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Ref HV 6439. U5 E43 2008
Bryant, C.D. (Ed.). (2001). Encyclopedia of criminology and deviant behavior (Vols. 1-4). Philadelphia, PA: Brunner-Routledge.
Ref HV 6017 .E53 2001
Clark, R.E. (2001). Encyclopedia of Child Abuse. New York: Facts on File.
Ref HV 6626.5 .C57 2001
Dressler J. (Ed.). (2002). Encyclopedia of crime & justice (2nd ed., Vols. 1-4). New York: Macmillan Reference.
Ref HV 6017 .E52 2002
Grossman, M. (1998). Encyclopedia of capital punishment. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Ref HV8694 G76 1998
Levinson, D. (Ed.). (2002). Encyclopedia of crime and punishment (Vols. 1-4). Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage Publications.
Ref HV 6017 .E524 2002
Newton, M. (2007). Encyclopedia of American Law Enforcement. New York: Facts on File.
Ref HV 8133 N49x 2007
Palmer, L.J. (2004). Encyclopedia of DNA and the American criminal justice system. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co.
Ref RA 1057.55 .P34 2004
Sifakis, C. (2003). Encyclopedia of American Prisoners. New York: Facts on File.
Ref HV 9471 S54 2003
Sullivan. L. (Ed.). (2005). Encyclopedia of law enforcement (Vols. 1-3). Thousand Oaks, CA.: Sage Publications.
Ref HV 7921 .E53 2005
Wright, R.A. & Miller, J.M. (Eds.). (2005). Encyclopedia of criminology (Vols. 1-3). New York: Routledge.
Ref HV 6017 .E5295
Electronic Encyclopedias
These encyclopedia on many of the subjects that comprise the field of criminal justice can be accessed through a URL link. When you find the title of an encyclopedia in CUNY+, look to see if it is in an electronic format. If so, click on the title. You will see the URL link at the bottom of the next screen that appears.
Encyclopedia of Crime & Justice
Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment
Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence and Security
Encyclopedia of Forensic Science
Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity
Encyclopedia of Juvenile Justice
Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
Encyclopedia of Murder and Violent Crime
Encyclopedia of Prisons & Correctional Facilities
Encyclopedia of White Collar & Corporate Crime
Finding Books Using CUNY+
The field of criminal justice contains components from many different academic disciplines, including sociology, criminology, anthropology, biology, chemistry, public administration and computer information, among others. Given its multidisciplinary nature, subjects considered to fall under the criminal justice label include terrorism, domestic violence, law enforcement, organized crime, corrections, the judiciary, forensic science, forensic psychology, gangs, narcotics and human trafficking.
CUNY+ is the electronic catalog of the CUNY system. It contains records for all of the materials available within CUNY's 19 libraries. You may choose to search only the holdings of John Jay's library, or that of any library within CUNY. Clicking on the CUNY+ tab on the library's home page will bring up the system's basic search screen. You can choose to search for a book by its title, author, subject, by keyword in any of these selections, or keywords in the All Fields category. For example, if you wanted to find if an encyclopedia on a specific topic existed, such as gangs, you would select All Fields, then enter encyclopedia and gangs into the search box. Then click on Search.
When conducting a basic search in CUNY+ to find books on terrorism, for example, try these keywords/phrases joined by AND or OR in All Fields:
| Counter terrorism | Prevention |
| Bioterrorism | Warfare |
Clicking on the Guided Search tab will allow you to use a more sophisticated search strategy. Using Guided Search will also let you search in CUNY+ to find materials in different mediums, such as DVDs and videocassettes.
Finding Articles on Your Topic
Scholarly articles from peer-reviewed journals and non-scholarly articles from newspapers, newsletters and trade publications can be accessed through John Jay library's various online databases. These databases can also be accessed from your home, all you need to do is enter your John Jay email user name and password when prompted.
Articles on criminal justice can be found in databases that access items from a cross-section of different social sciences, so when considering databases to search, don't rule out those based on subjects such as anthropology, sociology, public management or other disciplines, like public affairs or communications, which might contain relevant materials.
When looking for articles on police and deadly force in the Criminal Justice Periodicals Index, for example, you may want to begin your search by entering those keywords in the search box.
By looking in the Suggested Topics box that will appear on your results page, you will find additional terms to use in a search strategy.
You can all narrow your search to articles that are only scholarly or from peer-reviewed journals; are full-text articles; or are from a particular time period.
Below is a list of databases that contain newspaper and periodical articles, book reviews, conference papers and other materials on criminal justice issues.
Academic Search Complete - Large database with articles from many different criminal justice publications.
Criminal Justice Abstracts - Index to scholarly articles in criminal justice with links to full text, 1968-
Criminal Justice Periodicals Index - Database with both scholarly articles and newsletter type articles from professional organizations within the criminal justice field. Publications such as Police Chief are included with interviews of law enforcement officers, etc.
Statistical Databases
The following is a list of statistical databases. Figures and statistics are key elements in research papers, helping to support your hypotheses. They are also necessary for creating graphs and other illustrations you may want to include in your project. You can access these databases from the John Jay library's homepage.
Bureau of Criminal Justice Statistics Website - Full-text statistical reports on all aspects of criminal justice in the US.
Crimes and Victims Statistics - Full-text reports on the courts and sentencing of criminals in the US; from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Law Enforcement Statistics - Full-text statistical reports on federal, state, local and campus law enforcement; from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Polling the Nations - A compilation of more than 14,000 surveys conducted by over 1,000 polling organizations in the US and 100 other countries from 1986 to the present time; includes polls from Harris, Pew, New York Times; CBS, Fox, CNN, universities and interest groups.
Statistics on Drugs and Crime - Full-text statistical reports on drugs and crime from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Uniform Crime Reports - Full text, with statistics, of the FBI's compendium of crime statistics, since 1995; includes preliminary reports; the print version is available at the reference desk.
Vital Statistics on American Politics - Provides summary data on political behavior such as: voter turnout, election results, public opinion, media trends, campaign financing, etc. Some charts provide data since the 1790s, but most focus on the 1940s until 2006. Data can be downloaded.
Finding Reports from Government Agencies and NGOs
NCJRS - National Criminal Justice Reference Service - a web based service from the U.S. Department of Justice which lists reports on Criminal Justice topics from governmental agencies and private foundations on the Federal, State, and Local level. Go here to find a report about programs to change local police departments, etc. The full text is available for many of the reports. Journal articles are also listed by topic; but the fulltext of journal articles will be available from the library databases or by going to the library home page to use the List of e-Journals, Magazines & Newspapers.
Sealy Library Guides
John Jay's library home page has subject guides on a variety of criminal justice topics:
International criminal justice: A research guide
Prisoner reentry: A pathfinder
Police and the mentally ill: A pathfinder
Dissertations and Theses
The Dissertation Abstracts database provides access to the full text for most dissertations published from 1997 and forward. An abstract is provided for earlier dissertations and theses (1980 - ). The database also includes listings for dissertations as early as 1861. More than 1,000 institutions list their PhD dissertations with this service.
Dissertations can be immensely helpful for a number of reasons:
- They are a valid source for scholarly research
- They cover an enormous variety of subjects in the criminal justice field
- They provide bibliographies that may contain works relevant to your own research
- They provide examples of the structure and language necessary for an in-depth research project
Bound copies:
Search CUNY+, the library catalog, to locate dissertations from CUNY and other institutions which have been added to the library book collection. If you know the particular dissertation you want, you may search by author or title. Or you may use a subject keyword and add the word thesis to list only the books that were written as a thesis.
Websites
The following websites have been selected by librarians at the Lloyd Sealy Library and are considered particularly useful for anyone studying criminal justice or related topics.
Criminal Justice selected links - Links to web sites with authoritative information within the Criminal Justice fields of interest.
Police selected links - Links to web sites, including local Police Departments and national organizations. Some of the web sites provide statistics and research reports about Police work.
Criminal Justice Resources at the Sealy Library
Reference Books
