Finnish Criminal Justice: An American Perspective

With soaring crime rates in the United States, it makes sense to examine how other countries cope with crime. L. Craig Parker, Jr. provides an overview of the Finnish criminal justice system and compares it to the American systemothe first comparative study of its kind. The Scandinavian countries have long been known for their liberal or progressive approach to managing criminal offenders, and the author conducts an on-site investigation of how the Finnish system successfully operates. Parker, a prominent American comparative criminal justice scholar, conducted his field study on various research fellowships which afforded him the opportunity to utilize primary resources: his book includes interviews with Finnish criminal justice practitioners, scholars, police officers, probation officers, and criminal offenders themselves.