Michael J. Coyle is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science at California State University, USA.

This book studies the language used in criminal justice discourse as causal and inherently political, examining the ideology that underlines such topics as 'innocent victim', 'tough on crime' and 'evil.'

Introduction 1. The Sociology of the Language of Justice 2. A History of Language of Justice Research 3. The Meaning of "Tough on Crime" 4. An Ethnography of "Innocent Victim" language 5. Delineating the "Evil" "Criminal" Other 6. Talking Justice: Interviews with Justice Workers 7. Language of Justice as Critical Criminology.