Summary
Contents
A new approach to making everyday criminal justice terms accessible A useful reference work for faculty and students, criminal justice professionals, writers, and anyone else interested in criminal justice and criminology, The Concise Dictionary of Crime and Justice, Second Edition, is an excellent, wide-ranging resource with clear definitions for over 3,000 key criminal justice terms. Often going beyond simply definitions, the dictionary places the entries in a meaningful context, connecting the definitions with other concepts. The dictionary uniquely presents common misperceptions for selected terms, along with additional relevant information to clarify a term’s use or derivation.
A
abduction the unlawful taking of a person by force, fraud, or persuasion. Abduction is similar to kidnapping except that no demand for ransom is involved. An example of abduction is when a parent who does not have legal custody takes their child and hides the child’s location from the custodial parent.
abet to encourage or assist an offender in the commission of a crime. See aiding and abetting.
abeyance the state of a criminal sentence when it is suspended. When legal consequences are held in abeyance, the convicted offender generally must abide by certain conditions.
abolitionism the movement to abolish the death penalty as a form of punishment. Abolitionism gained momentum in the late 20th century with the advent of DNA testing and its ability to exonerate ...