Kenneth W. Mentor, J.D., Ph.D.

Web Sites

The CRITCRIM.ORG web site, the official web site of the ASC Division on Critical Criminology, was completely rebuilt in 2003. The site is structured around Boyer’s classification of scholarship and demonstrates the power of the internet as a tool for discovery, integration, interpretation, and application. Unlike my other sites, I am the editor of this site and am not the sole content provider.

I built the site, outlined a vision for the future of this site, and continue to add content as provided by Division members.The CRITCRIM.ORG site includes several of my presentations as well as presentations by respected scholars such as Richard Quinney, Hal Pepinsky. Ray Michalowski, Bruce Arrigo, Gregg Barak, Meda Chesney-Lind, and Dragon Milovanovic. The ASC Division on Critical Criminology has made a strong endorsement of the site, and commitment to the future of the site, by formally naming an editorial board for this site. The Division is also increasing the effort to encourage the contribution of site content and many new pages will be published over the next year. The CRITCRIM.ORG site currently includes more that 125 pages and 2000 links. In addition to topically organized links, the site includes many full text essays, information about the division, and areas for discussion and mentoring. This site averages over 8000 page views per month.

The CJENCYCLOPEDIA.COM site is being built by students in all of my classes. This site, also known as "The Online Encyclopedia of Criminal Justice," includes several hundred essays written by students in several of my courses. Students enjoy these online writing assignments, which help them learn about plagiarism, the importance of writing, and the benefits of providing a learning tool for others.

I have presented several papers associated with this project and have invited criminal justice faculty from around the country to join us in this project. This site uses MediaWiki software, originally eveloped for Wikipedia, and has adopted a similar open access philosophy.

The CJSTUDENTS.COM web site was first published in June 2001. At the end of 2001 this web site included over 40 pages and over 1500 links. The site was totally redesigned in 2002 and again in 2003. The site now includes over 180 pages and over 7000 links. The web site includes sections related to criminology and deviance, law and society, and alternative dispute resolution.

Daily news updates, links to criminal justice degree programs, and “homework help” pages are also included in the site. The CJSTUDENTS.COM site is listed on all major search engines and is linked to by many faculty and other academic pages. The site currently receives over 10,000 page views per month and is visited by residents of all 50 states and many countries every week.

The CJCAMPUS site was developed as a portal for students enrolled in my classes. This site demonstrates an innovative tool for communicating with a diverse group of students who are taking these courses from around the world. This portal also provides a place for community that has not been available to these students.

The JUSTICEPOLICY.COM site was published on October 2003. Among other things, justicepolicy.com includes two death penalty sites. The justicepolicy site will be revised to include a focus on "What Works?" in our system of justice. Much of the content on the current site will be moved to JUSTICEADVOCACY.ORG, currently under construction, that will provide information about web-based advocacy efforts.

The first death penalty site is a shared learning object that is available for use in a variety of criminal justice courses. This site includes text, links, and reflection questions for students and others who use the site. Although only a few months old, this page has been adopted by several faculty and is being included in the course outlines. The second death penalty page is built around blogging software that allows me to quickly add links to pages that provide opportunities to learn about, and advocate against, the death penalty. My personal blog is also hosted at this site.