RED-PENCILED: THE NEGLECT OF CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES IN INTRODUCTORY CRIMINAL JUSTICE TEXTBOOKS

ABSTRACT

Several commentators have complained that critical criminology is neglected in mainstream publications in criminology and criminal justice. We examined this criticism through an empirical analysis of the coverage of critical criminology in 27 introductory criminal justice textbooks published from 1990 to 1999. Our data show that criminal justice textbooks devoted less coverage to critical perspectives than recent introductory criminology textbooks. The theoretical orientations of criminal justice textbooks (critical or mainstream) strongly affected the extent of coverage in the books. Among the areas associated with critical criminology, the textbooks devoted the most attention to peacemaking topics and the relationship between class, race, and/or gender oppression and criminal behavior and criminal justice practice; anarchist criminology, critical feminism, left realism, and postmodern/constitutive criminology received little or no attention. Our analysis indicates that textbook authors recognized that class, race, and gender inequalities exist in the justice system, but largely ignored the theoretical explanations for these problems.