Key Issues in Criminal Justice
Edited by Rick Sarre and John Tomaino

Year of publication: 2004
ISBN: 9585962 6 3

RRP: $60.00

This book has been designed to stimulate thinking about the processes of criminal justice in Australia and to challenge policy-makers who work in justice-allied fields. Readers are given a general introduction to the structure and operation of the various systems of justice in Australian society, as well as an opportunity to consider current issues such as national developments in support for victims of crime, the emerging concept of therapeutic jurisprudence, the experimental adult 'conferencing' model developed by the Centre for Restorative Justice in South Australia, the phenomenon of privatisation in criminal justice, and the idea of specialist sentencing courts such as the Aboriginal Court that has attracted much interest in legal circles. By contrasting research findings with popular beliefs and myths, each of the authors has attempted to question a range of widely held views about contemporary criminal justice. A number of contributors offer policy choices across areas such as policing and social control, sentencing, corrections, victimology, the treatment of Indigenous Australians at the hands of justice processes, and crime prevention and crime reduction.

Rick Sarre is Associate Professor of Law and Criminology at the University of South Australia.

John Tomaino is Principal Policy Officer for the Justice Strategy Division of the South Australian Attorney-General's Department.