About this item
Today, we know that crime is often not just a matter of making bad decisions. Rather, there are a variety of factors that are implicated in much criminal offending, some fairly obvious like poverty, mental illness, and drug abuse and others less so, such as neurocognitive problems. Today, we have the tools for effective criminal behavioral change, but this cannot be an excuse for criminal offending. In The Future of Crime and Punishment, William R. Kelly identifies the need to educate the public on how these tools can be used to most effectively and cost efficiently reduce crime, recidivism, victimization and cost. The justice system of the future needs to be much more collaborative, utilizing the expertise of a variety of disciplines such as psychology, psychiatry, addiction, and neuroscience.
About the Author
William R. Kelly is a Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Criminology and Criminal Justice Research at the University of Texas at Austin. He has taught and conducted research in criminology and criminal justice for over twenty-five years and has published extensively on a variety of justice matters. Dr. Kelly has considerable experience developing, implementing and evaluating a wide variety of criminal justice programs and policies. His consulting work spans local, state and federal governments including law enforcement, probation departments, prisons and jails, state and federal prosecutors, judges, the defense bar, the court system, problem solving courts, and parole agencies, among others. He has provided expert advice and counsel on big picture justice policy issues as well as the design, implementation, operation and evaluation of very specific justice programs and initiatives.He has recently completed five books on criminal justice reform. These include Criminal Justice at the Crossroads (Columbia University Press, 2015) , The Future of Crime and Punishment: Smart Policies for Reducing Crime and Saving Money (Rpwman and Littlefield, 2016 and revised in 2019) , From Retribution to Public Safety (Rowman and Littlefield, 2017) , Confronting Underground Justice (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018) , and The Crisis in the American Criminal Courts, Rowman and Littlefield, 2021) .
