Jones & Bartlett Learning Criminal Justice Blog

SARs, H1N1, Ebola, COVID-19… The list goes on, as does the necessity of conducting crime scene investigations during the middle of them. When society shuts its doors and hunkers down to avoid spreading whatever the latest pandemic virus is, law enforcement must continue to find ways to remain operationally effective. This includes conducting criminal investigations.

When coronavirus swept across the country, U.S. courts began to shut down. Hearings, trials by juries, and other court procedures were stalled to ensure the safety of all involved parties (e.g. defendants, witnesses, prosecutors, judges, etc.). This created a backlog of cases and raised concerns for court systems and accused individuals across the country. Although many types of hearings moved to teleconferences, the one type of trial that could not move is the jury trial.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Prison Tours: Tips and tricks for taking your students to prison and not leaving them there (even if you want to).

Table of Contents:

• Part I: An Introduction to Prison Trips
• Part II: How to Plan a Prison Trip
• Part III: History & Highlights

Part I: An Introduction to Prison Trips

Anyone interested in corrections, or even criminal justice, is aware of the issues concerning mass incarceration, institutionalization, the prison-industrial complex and all the arguments and concerns that surround these items. Therefore, waxing philosophical about theories of corrections or providing overwhelming statistics about incarceration would be redundant as you probably know them already. Similarly, if you are interested in education and pedagogy, you are also aware of the benefits of experiential learning and hands-on experiences, making discussion of those items redundant as well. 

An internationally recognized pioneer in the assessment and treatment of victims of trauma and abuse, and named 2016 Living Legend by the American Academy of Nursing, Ann Wolbert Burgess, RN, DNSc, FAAN, has dedicated her career to the study of victims, offenders, and the impact of crime on society. We are  honored to have worked with Dr. Burgess again on the updated third edition of Victimology: Theories and Applications as she continues to offer her years of research and real-world experiences working with victims, offenders, FBI, and law enforcement from the courtroom to the classroom.