In the field of criminal justice, public policy is designed to address the problems brought on by criminal behavior and the response to that behavior. However, too often, the theories carefully developed in the academy fail to make their way into programs and policy. The editors and contributors to this second edition of Criminology and Public Policy highlight the recent development of “translational criminology” to address the growing movement in criminology to use the results of criminological research and theory to better inform policy and practice.  

The essays in Criminology and Public Policy propose an in-depth look at both theory and practice and how they are integrated across a number of key criminal justice problems—from racial and environmental concerns to gun control and recidivism rates as well as police use of force and mass incarceration. The end result is an essential volume that blends both theory and practice in an effort to address the critical problems in explaining, preventing, responding to, and correcting criminal behavior.    

Contributors include: Robert K. Ax, Michelle N. Block, Anthony A. Braga, Rod K. Brunson, Jennifer Carlson, Ronald V. Clarke, Shea Cronin, Megan Denver, Kevin M. Drakulich, Grant Duwe, Amy Farrell, Cheryl Jonson, Charis E. Kubrin, Justin Kurland, Megan Kurlychek, Shannon Magnuson, Daniel P. Mears, Robert D. Morgan, Kathleen Powell, Danielle Rudes, Cassia Spohn, Cody Telep, Natalie Todak, Glenn Trager, Jillian J. Turanovic, Sara Wakefield, Patricia Warren, David Weisburd, Michael D. White, Rob White, Lauren Wilson and the editors

In Imprisoned Minds, Erik Maloney tells the stories of men in prison that few people ever hear. Six gripping, first-person narratives of incarcerated men form his imprisoned mind concept: the men’s unimaginable childhood trauma and neglect set them on a pathway for prison or death. Maloney interviews his fellow prisoners with candor and savviness. He can do this because he is in prison alongside them—incarcerated for life at the age of 21. Joined by a correctional scholar, Maloney presents a unique and informed perspective that blends lived experience with academic knowledge. A trauma-informed corrections can empower men to acknowledge and repair the harms of their past to regain control over their minds and their futures. Maloney has broken free from the mindset—and others can, too. Imprisoned Minds reminds us of the humanity of the nearly two million people behind bars in the United States, and encourages solutions from within that can break the cycle of intergenerational incarceration.