Subject Librarian
Welcome
Welcome to the criminology and criminal justice research guide! This guide will connect you to resources available through the IU Libraries and open access resources on the web.
As a field of research, criminology and criminal justice seeks to understand crime and the criminal justice system in all its complexity. It’s an interdisciplinary field that bridges the study of crime with the study of law, culture, race, and gender, as well as major components of the police, judicial, and carceral systems.
Quick Start Library Research in Criminal Justice
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Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text
Criminal Justice Abstracts with Full Text contains nearly 500,000 records selected from important sources within the discipline. This resource includes full text for over 315 magazines and journals.
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Family Studies Abstracts
Bibliographic records covering essential areas related to family studies, including marriage, divorce, family therapy, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline.
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Sociological Abstracts
Abstracts to journal articles and citations to book reviews in the international literature of sociology, social work, and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Includes abstracting and indexing of articles and book reviews drawn from thousands of serials publications, plus books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers, and working papers.
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Social Services Abstracts
Bibliographic coverage of current research focused on social work, human services and related areas, including social welfare, social policy and community development. Abstracts and indexes serials publications and includes abstracts of journal articles and dissertations and citations to book reviews.
Encyclopedias can be a good place to start researching a new topic. They offer short guides to the current research and often include lists of other recommended sources. Below are a few criminal justice encyclopedias. Click here to see the full list of criminal justice encyclopedias in IUCAT.
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Crime and Punishment in the U. S
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This book offers a clear examination of the hard topics relating to types of crimes and types of punishment.This set offers clear, comprehensible, and authoritative treatment of the core aspects of criminal justice that should prove both accessible and engaging to nonspecialist readers. Essays focus on types of crimes, apprehension of wrongdoers, criminal trials, and types of punishment.Like the ""Criminal Justice"" set from which it is extracted, this new Magill's Choice set is designed to meet the needs of lay readers and students from middle school level and up. Its 266 alphabetically arranged articles address the types of questions that readers are most likely to bring. It retains many of the illustrative sidebars on media topics that enhanced Criminal Justice. Most of these sidebars explain relationships between the realities of criminal justice and depictions of the subject in films, television, fiction, and the news media.The set gives special attention to criminals: Who they are, what types of crimes they commit, what motivates them, the impact of their criminal activities on society, and the cost to them of their criminal activities.The set includes 40 core articles on specific categories of crime - ranging from animal abuse and arson to vandalism and white-collar crime. Each of these articles includes profiles of perpetrators of these crimes and summarizes what typically becomes of them.Nearly 100 articles pertain to issues on criminal defendants and about 45 articles on attorneys, judges, and trial procedures. A third thrust of the set is on corrections - sentencing, punishment, prison systems, prison conditions, and parole and pardons - subjects to which it devotes about 47 essays.Finally, the set contains 20 articles on municipal, state, and federal law-enforcement agencies, including specific agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Coast Guard.The essays in this three volume set range from 300 to 3,000 words, and are arranged alphabetically to enable readers to go directly to the topics in which they are most interested. Each article begins with ready reference top matter that highlights the most important aspects of the topic. Descriptive subheads break up the text in longer articles, and all the articles have Further Reading notes.Volume 3 contains a detailed general subject index and a list of topics by subject categories. Lists of cross-references to other articles follow every essay to guide readers to the most closely related articles. An extensive Glossary complements the essays.
ISBN: 9781587654275Publication Date: 2008 -
Criminal Justice in America: the Encyclopedia of Crime, Law Enforcement, Courts, and Corrections [2 Volumes]
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This work offers a thorough introduction to the field of criminal justice, including types of crime; policing; courts and sentencing; landmark legal decisions; and local, state, and federal corrections systems--and the key topics and issues within each of these important areas. It provides a complete overview and understanding of the many terms, jobs, procedures, and issues surrounding this growing field of study. Another major focus of the work is to examine ethical questions related to policing and courts, trial procedures, law enforcement and corrections agencies and responsibilities, and the complexion of criminal justice in the United States in the 21st century. Finally, this title emphasizes coverage of such politically charged topics as drug trafficking and substance abuse, immigration, environmental protection, government surveillance and civil rights, deadly force, mass incarceration, police militarization, organized crime, gangs, wrongful convictions, racial disparities in sentencing, and privatization of the U.S. prison system.
ISBN: 9781440862632Publication Date: 2020 -
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Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement
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This three-volume Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement provides a comprehensive, critical, and descriptive examination of all facets of law enforcement on the state and local, federal and national, and international stages. This work is a unique reference source that provides readers with informed discussions on the practice and theory of policing in an historical and contemporary framework.nbsp;The volumes treat subjects that are particular to the area of state and local, federal and national, and international policing. Many of the themes and issues of policing cut across disciplinary borders, however, and several entries provide comparative information that places the subject in context.
ISBN: 0761926496Publication Date: 2004 -
Encyclopedia of Street Crime in America
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Anyone living or working in a city has feared or experienced street crime at one time or another; whether it be a mugging, purse snatching, or a more violent crime. In the U.S., street crime has recently hovered near historic lows; hence, the declaration of certain analysts that street life in America has never been safer. But is it really? Street crime has changed over past decades, especially with the advent of surveillance cameras in public places--the territory of the street criminal--but at the same time, criminals have found ways to adapt. This encyclopedic reference focuses primarily on urban lifestyle and its associated crimes, ranging from burglary to drug peddling to murder to new, more sophisticated forms of street crime and scams. This traditional A-to-Z reference has significant coverage of police and courts and other criminal justice sub-disciplines while also featuring thematic articles on the sociology of street crime. Features & Benefits: 175 signed entries within a single volume in print and electronic formats provide in-depth coverage to the topic of street crime in America. Cross-References and Suggestions for Further Readings guide readers to additional resources. Entries are supported by vivid photos and illustrations to better bring the material alive. A thematic Reader's Guide groups related entries by broad topic areas and, within the electronic version, combines with Cross-References and a detailed Index for convenient search-and-browse capabilities. A Chronology provides readers with a historical perspective of street crime in America. Appendices provide sources of data and statistics, annotated to highlight their relevance.
ISBN: 9781412999571Publication Date: 2013
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Sage Research Methods
Tool intended to help researchers, faculty and students with their research projects. Users can explore methods concepts to help them design research projects, understand particular methods or identify a new method, conduct their research, and write up their findings.
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Sage Research Methods: Doing Research Online
Research tool aimed at supporting social science researchers. Covers a variety of digital methods, such as: online surveys, interviews, digital ethnography, social media, and text analysis. Also includes multimedia content, videos, case studies, practice datasets, as well as practical how-to-guides on the main research steps. Privacy and other ethical considerations specific to conducting research online are also covered.
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Sage Research Methods: Foundations
Introductions to research concepts and methods used in the social sciences. Each entry begins with the basics, and moves into specialist literature. Also includes biographical entries on pioneers of social science methods, covering the history of research methods, techniques, and underlying epistemological and philosophical issues. Includes access to content through 2023.
Accessing Library Resources Off Campus
When you are not on the IU Network or using a computer on campus in Bloomington, you can still access online resources subscribed to by IU Bloomington Libraries. This page has instructions for how to access library resources off campus.
Need Help?
For in-depth research support, contact the subject librarian. Students, faculty, and staff can schedule an in-person or virtual research consultation or get answers to their questions via email.
During the spring and fall semesters, Research Assistants are available on a drop-in basis or by appointment in the Learning Commons (Wells Library, West Tower, 1st floor). Research Assistants provide one-on-one consultations at any stage of the research process, including identifying a research topic, creating a search strategy, navigating library resources, and evaluating information and resources.
Schedule an appointment with a Learning Commons Research Assistant
For general questions and inquiries, visit our reference desk in the Scholars' Commons (Wells Library, East Tower, 1st floor) or reach out through chat, email or phone.