Exploring Criminal Justice: The Essentials provides an extensive overview of the American criminal justice system in a concise and accessible format. This engaging text examines the people and processes that make up the system and how they interact. It also covers the historic context and modern features of the criminal justice system and encourages students to think about how current events in crime affect their everyday lives. The Essentials includes contemporary data, case studies, and references for all topics and helps students understand the relationships between the police, the courts, and corrections.