This student-friendly text offers a comprehensive overview of current debates and key issues in the delivery of criminal justice and examines how it operates in context and in practice with a wealth of features such as case studies and questions.

1. What is crime? 2. What is the criminal justice system? 3. Police and policing 4. Prosecution and the court process 5. Probation and community justice 6. Prisons and the abolitionist debate 7.Youth justice: Context, systems and practices 8. Restorative justice: An alternative mode of justice? 9. Conclusion: Beyond criminal justice?

Azrini Wahidin is a Reader in Criminology and Criminal Justice in the School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queen's University Belfast, where she teaches criminology and criminal justice. She has written extensively in the field of older offenders in the criminal justice system and women in prison. Her books include: Older Women in the Criminal Justice System: Running Out of Time (Jessica Kingsley, 2004), Foucault and Ageing (Nova Press, 2005), Understanding Prison Staff (Willan, 2007) and Ageing, Crime and Society (Willan, 2006). Her current research interests include the resettlement needs of young offenders and the experiences of Republican political prisoners.

Nicola Carr is a lecturer in the School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queen's University Belfast, where she teaches social work law and practice in the criminal justice system. She is a qualified probation officer and has worked with both adults and young people in this context. Her research interests include community sentences, crime and criminal justice in the media, and narrative approaches in the study of offending behaviour.