Book Review: Carney, T. P. (2004). Practical Investigation of Sex Crimes: A Strategic and Operational Approach. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. pp. xix, 221

• Published date: 01 March 2008
• Date: 01 March 2008
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0734016808314565
• Subject Matter: Articles

128
Criminal Justice Review
Given that the majority of women are incarcerated for nonviolent property offenses and
drug crimes, Golden calls for social reform to keep women and their families out of prison.
She asserts that the state contributes to the growing number of incarcerated women through its
failure to address the needs of marginalized populations. A number of concrete strategies
are recommended by the author (e.g., removing bans on welfare benefits, making public
housing available to formerly incarcerated offenders, and making parole supervision require-
ments more sensitive to family demands for parents). She recommends transforming the
whole system to eradicate racial inequality. If these suggestions are not taken, according to
her, the incarceration rates of women will continue to skyrocket, relational ties between
incarcerated women and their children will be severed or weakened, and many children of
incarcerated parents will also be imprisoned in the future. In sum, War on the Family:
Mothers in Prison and the Families They Leave Behind offers insight to the consequences
of mass incarceration on women, especially poor women of color, and its effect on their
children. The author’s emphasis on structural inequality as the prime reason for female
criminality is certain to spark debate, as well as future research on how children structure
their lives after experiencing the trauma of a mother’s incarceration.
Jennifer Cobbina
University of Missouri–St. Louis
Carney, T. P. (2004). Practical Investigation of Sex Crimes:
A Strategic and Operational Approach. Boca Raton,
FL: CRC Press. pp. xix, 221.
DOI: 10.1177/0734016808314565
Students and practitioners of criminal justice will benefit from this detailed presentation of
how to conduct sex crime investigation (or, more accurately, sexual assault, because the book
largely excludes noncontact offenses). The author provides a good manual made readable by
the use of short descriptive cases and displays the benefits...