The Criminal Justice Network : An Introduction (4th ed)

Cox and Wade provide a brief, straightforward, practical overview of the complexities of the U.S. criminal justice system seen as a network of interacting individuals whose everyday decisions have consequences not only for others in their agencies, but for criminal justice practitioners in all components of the network.

The text emphasizes that the system can best be understood by showing its relationship with the public, the necessary role of discretion throughout the system, and the effects of politics on the day-to-day operations of the system.