Counseling Criminal Justice Offenders

Counseling Criminal Justice Offenders, Second Edition takes a practical view of offenders, their problems, and the difficulties counselors face working with them in criminal justice settings. Author Ruth E. Masters examines criminal justice counseling on an individual and group basis and in a variety of settings such as prisons, probation and parole agencies, diversion programs, group homes, halfway houses, prerelease facilities, and U.S. jails. The book also explores the many faces of offenders — young, old, male, female, and across many cultures.

The Second Edition of Counseling Criminal Justice Offenders recognizes that individuals who counsel offenders in the criminal justice system often have not had the extensive training of a licensed psychologist and this text is designed to provide readers with an understanding of the counseling process. The book explores practical knowledge of legal principles, appropriate and effective counselor attitudes, and the past and present protocols of American corrections.

Primarily designed for criminal justice students taking correctional counseling courses, Counseling Criminal Justice Offenders, Second Edition is also a vital resource for any Criminal Justice, Social Work, Psychology, or Counseling practitioner interfacing with offenders.

In this text for criminal justice students, Masters (criminology, California State University) examines criminal justice counseling on an individual and group basis and in a variety of settings. This second edition contains new chapters on counseling criminal psychopaths, counseling male and female offenders, and the relationship between trauma, addiction, and human behavior. There is updated material on multicultural perspectives, cognitive-behavioral counseling, and counseling victims. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Professor Ruth Masters has been teaching criminal justice counseling courses at California State University, Fresno since 1970. In addition, she has had hands-on, practical counseling experience in both adult and juvenile criminal justice systems. She has worked as a parole agent for the California Department of Corrections and the California Youth Authority. Her research can be described as a unique blending of theoretical and practical, which includes work in both corrections and law enforcement. Her textbook, Counseling Criminal Justice Offenders (1994), is published by Sage Publications.

Dr. Masters is a member of American Society of Criminology; Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences; Western Society of Criminology; Women's Criminal Justice Association; California Probation, Parole and Correctional Association; and California State Juvenile Officers' Association. She received her master's degree in criminology from California State University, Fresno; and her bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.