Crime and Criminal Justice: Web
In searching the Web you may find research and policy recommendations published by "think tanks," many of which have political/ideological affiliations. An organization called SourceWatch can help you identify such ties and alert you to any political agenda the research was intended to serve.
If you wish to see how your topic is discussed at conservative and liberal think tanks, here are some online sites that discuss a wide range of social issues.
Conservative:
Liberal:
If you wish to see how your topic is discussed at conservative and liberal think tanks, here are some online sites that discuss a wide range of social issues.
Conservative:
- National Center for Public Policy Research
- Heritage Foundation
- Cato Institute
- American Conservative Union
- Federalist Society
Liberal:
- Institute for Policy Studies
- People for the American Way
- PublicEye: Political Research Associates
- American Civil Liberties Union:
- Amnesty International
Crime:
Criminal Justice Resources: From Michigan State University Libraries, the best issues-based gateway site to crime and punishment resources on the Web. Comprehensive.
Public Policy Issues and Groups: From Vanderbilt University, a good gateway to online resources across a wide spectrum of public policy issues, including many crime and punishment topics.
Crime, Law, and related Links: A good gateway from the Department of Criminal Justice Studies at Sonoma State University. Use the topic categories along the left margin.
Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College of Public Policy: Working Papers: Criminal justice, with a special emphasis on drug-related crime. Scroll down for the links.
National White Collar Crime Center: Look under "Research" for "Papers, Publications, Reports." Free registration required for full text.
Think Tanks:
Pew Research Center: The Pew Research Center conducts nonpartisan public opinion polling and social science research and is an outstanding resource for social issues and public policy information. Use the “Topic Index"--see "Legal"--and the “Projects of the Center” to navigate--as well as the “Site Search.”
Brookings Institute: Topics: Another leading think tank, sometimes characterized as liberal, with information on a wide range of social/political issues. You might begin with "Courts," "Crime," or "Justice and Law."
Cato Institute: Law and Civil Liberties: Libertarian/conservative think tank.
Rand Corporation: Core Research Areas: A gateway to the topics Rand designates as vital to public policy debate, including "Civil Justice," "Public Safety," and "Substance Abuse.". Also note the “Hot Topics” links at the lower left of the page, including "Policing."
Statistics:
Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics: Well-organized statistics.
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data: See especially the "Reports & Publications" section.
National Criminal Justice Reference Service: Topical Index: Very handy A-Z arrangement of data and related publications.
FBI Uniform Crime Reports: Scroll down, and don't miss the "Reports & Publications" section.
FedStats: The United States government provides the raw data and statistics used in much social science research and public policy debate, so why not sample it yourself. FedStats is a good gateway and the “Topic Links A-Z” is a particularly helpful means of accessing this information--for instance "Crime" and "Law Enforcement."
Mandatory Sentencing:
Sentencing Project: An advocacy group for the reform of sentencing, look at the Issues, Statistics, and Publications sections.
Facts (Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes): Look at the About 3 Strikes and the Resources sections.
Three Strikes: The Impact after more than a Decade: Again from California, a thorough review of the state’s three strikes law after 10 years.
Megan’s Law:
KlassKids Foundation: Megan’s Law by State: Good state-by-state information.
National Sex Offender Public Website: The Department of Justice site.
U.S. Sex Offenders Registries: A state-by-state approach, and be sure to scroll down to Other Important Sites.
Gun Control:
Gun Laws, Gun Control & Gun Rights: Use the linked table of contents at the top or just scroll through the wide range of resources.
Open Directory Project: Gun Control: Useful for the pro and con grouping of relevant Web resources.
Criminal Justice Resources: From Michigan State University Libraries, the best issues-based gateway site to crime and punishment resources on the Web. Comprehensive.
Public Policy Issues and Groups: From Vanderbilt University, a good gateway to online resources across a wide spectrum of public policy issues, including many crime and punishment topics.
Crime, Law, and related Links: A good gateway from the Department of Criminal Justice Studies at Sonoma State University. Use the topic categories along the left margin.
Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College of Public Policy: Working Papers: Criminal justice, with a special emphasis on drug-related crime. Scroll down for the links.
National White Collar Crime Center: Look under "Research" for "Papers, Publications, Reports." Free registration required for full text.
Think Tanks:
Pew Research Center: The Pew Research Center conducts nonpartisan public opinion polling and social science research and is an outstanding resource for social issues and public policy information. Use the “Topic Index"--see "Legal"--and the “Projects of the Center” to navigate--as well as the “Site Search.”
Brookings Institute: Topics: Another leading think tank, sometimes characterized as liberal, with information on a wide range of social/political issues. You might begin with "Courts," "Crime," or "Justice and Law."
Cato Institute: Law and Civil Liberties: Libertarian/conservative think tank.
Rand Corporation: Core Research Areas: A gateway to the topics Rand designates as vital to public policy debate, including "Civil Justice," "Public Safety," and "Substance Abuse.". Also note the “Hot Topics” links at the lower left of the page, including "Policing."
Statistics:
Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics: Well-organized statistics.
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data: See especially the "Reports & Publications" section.
National Criminal Justice Reference Service: Topical Index: Very handy A-Z arrangement of data and related publications.
FBI Uniform Crime Reports: Scroll down, and don't miss the "Reports & Publications" section.
FedStats: The United States government provides the raw data and statistics used in much social science research and public policy debate, so why not sample it yourself. FedStats is a good gateway and the “Topic Links A-Z” is a particularly helpful means of accessing this information--for instance "Crime" and "Law Enforcement."
Mandatory Sentencing:
Sentencing Project: An advocacy group for the reform of sentencing, look at the Issues, Statistics, and Publications sections.
Facts (Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes): Look at the About 3 Strikes and the Resources sections.
Three Strikes: The Impact after more than a Decade: Again from California, a thorough review of the state’s three strikes law after 10 years.
Megan’s Law:
KlassKids Foundation: Megan’s Law by State: Good state-by-state information.
National Sex Offender Public Website: The Department of Justice site.
U.S. Sex Offenders Registries: A state-by-state approach, and be sure to scroll down to Other Important Sites.
Gun Control:
Gun Laws, Gun Control & Gun Rights: Use the linked table of contents at the top or just scroll through the wide range of resources.
Open Directory Project: Gun Control: Useful for the pro and con grouping of relevant Web resources.
Web Directories differ from search engines like Google in that all the online resources have been selected and annotated by editors, thereby promising a much higher degree of quality control.
- Open Directory Project: See especially Crime, Justice Issues,and Prisons.
- IPL2: Law & Law Enforcement & Crime.
Think Tanks & Research Institutes: A short collection of resources that can access these often influential contributions to public policy debate.
Google Advanced Search: When doing research on the Web, always use the Adanced Search version of Google. This not only provides more flexibility in entering search terms, but more importantly it allows you to target the Web domains that are likely to provide the most authoritative information.
Under "Need More Tools?" you will find the "Search within a site or domain" slot. You may enter only one domain at a time, but it's worth targeting each of the three domains likely to supply the best information: colleges and universities (enter the "edu" tag), nonprofit organizations (enter the "org" tag), and the United States government (enter the "gov" tag).
Ask.com: As you type your search, Ask.com may display a selection of searches related to your terms, any of which you may choose. Within retrieval sets there may also be a helpful display of "Related Searches," often including Pro and Con categories for controversial topics. And a new feature called "Ask Q&A;" can connect you to sites that answer specific questions on your topic.
Under "Need More Tools?" you will find the "Search within a site or domain" slot. You may enter only one domain at a time, but it's worth targeting each of the three domains likely to supply the best information: colleges and universities (enter the "edu" tag), nonprofit organizations (enter the "org" tag), and the United States government (enter the "gov" tag).
Ask.com: As you type your search, Ask.com may display a selection of searches related to your terms, any of which you may choose. Within retrieval sets there may also be a helpful display of "Related Searches," often including Pro and Con categories for controversial topics. And a new feature called "Ask Q&A;" can connect you to sites that answer specific questions on your topic.
MLA is the citation style used by most disciplines in the Humanities. The guides below use the most recent 2008/9 standards.
