This on-going study is examining widely used college level introductory juvenile and criminal justice textbooks to determine the extent to which disability related issues are covered.

Methodology
Fourteen textbooks were provided by six major companies: Thomas Learning Publishing, Harcourt, Brace & World Publishing, Aspen Publishing, Addison-Wesley Publishing, and Allen & Bacon. Five of these texts were published in 1999, and nine were published in 2000.

Research assistants at the University of Maryland developed a protocol to complete the analysis of each textbook. Initially, we reviewed subject indexes and conducted content analyses; texts without an index and/or content section were reviewed in their entirety. Each textbook was also examined for a variety of information concerning individuals with learning, behavioral, and developmental disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and related conditions. Analysis focused on whether the texts addressed how disabilities might effect the behavior of individuals in correctional settings.

Each text was also evaluated for coverage of legislation - such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act - and relevant litigation. The protocol designed for the textbook survey included documentation categories such as frequency and context of words/phrases referencing disability issues, and descriptive information about the text. Each of the fourteen books were examined one time and six of the fourteen textbooks were examined twice to gauge inter-reviewer reliability.