Reference materials are a good way to begin your research:
Our Library has access to a wide variety of criminal justice and social science encyclopedias as well as other reference sources which provide a broad overview of criminal justice topics.
Enter your key words (s) or phrase(s) in the search box OR browse the List of Entries or Subject Index of a particular encyclopedia to find information on your topic. For example:
women offenders
hate crimes
workplace violence
General Encyclopedias and Reference Sources:
Gale eBooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library)
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences
Criminal Justice Encyclopedias and Reference Sources:
21st Century Criminology: A Reference Handbook, 2009
Crime and Punishment Around the World, 2010
Crime and Punishment in the United States, 2008
Crime, Prisons, and Jails, 2015
Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice, 2002
Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment (Vols. 1-4), 2002
Encyclopedia of Criminal Justice Ethics. 2014
Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory, 2010
Encyclopedia of Criminology, 1949
Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2014
Encyclopedia of Juvenile Justice, 2003
Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement (Vols. 1-3), 2004
Encyclopedia of Prisons & Correctional Facilities, (Vols. 1-2), 2005
Encyclopedia of Race and Crime, 2009
Encyclopedia of Rural Crime, 2022
Encyclopedia of Terrorism, 2012
Encyclopedia of White-Collar & Corporate Crime, (Vols. 1-2), 2013
Oxford Bibliographies--Criminology
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminal Justice
Routledge Handbook of Deviant Behavior, 2011
The SAGE Encyclopedia of Criminal Psychology, 2019
The SAGE Handbook of Criminological Theory, 2010
West's Encyclopedia of American Law, 2nd edition, (Vols. 1-13), 2004
World Encyclopedia of Police Forces and Correctional Systems, 2nd edition, 2006
These subject specific print encyclopedias are available in the Reference section of the Lloyd Sealy Library (on the 2nd Floor of the Library either in the reference stacks or behind the Reference Desk):
Albanese, J.S. (Ed.). (2014). The encyclopedia of criminology and criminal justice. Wiley.
Reference HV 6017 .E5297 2014 Vols. 1-5
Bryant, C.D. (Ed.). (2001). Encyclopedia of criminology and deviant behavior. Brunner-Routledge.
Reference HV 6017 .E53 2001 Vols. 1-4
Das, D.K., & Palmiotto, M. (Eds.). (2006). World police encyclopedia. Routledge.
Reference Desk HV7901 .W64 2006 Vols. 1-2
Liebling, A., Maruna, S., & McAra, L. (2017). The Oxford handbook of criminology. Oxford University Press. Stacks HV6025 .O87 2017
Sullivan. L. (Ed.). (2005). Encyclopedia of law enforcement. Sage Publications.
Reference HV 7921 .E53 2005 Vols. 1-3