An Introduction to Crime and Crime Causation is a student-friendly textbook that defines and explains the concepts of crime, criminal law, and criminology. Ideal for a one-semester course, the book compares and contrasts early criminal behavior and today‘s modern forms of crime. It also explores society‘s responses to criminal behavior in the past
This text offers a novel contribution to the literature on core criminological theory by introducing the complex issues relating to the structuring and analysing of causation. This text traces the paradigm shift, or drift, that has occurred in the history of criminology and shows how the problem of causation has been a leading factor in these theoretical developments. This short book is the first of its kind and is an introductory text designed to introduce both seasoned criminologists as well as students of criminology to the interesting intersections between the fields of criminology and the philosophy of the social sciences. The problem of causation is notoriously difficult and has plagued philosophers and scientists for centuries. Warr highlights the importance of grappling with this problem and demonstrates how it can lead to unsuccessful theorising and can prevent students from fully appreciating the development of thinking in criminology. This accessible account will prove to be a must-read for scholars of criminal justice, penology and philosophy of social science.
An Introduction to Crime and Crime Causation is a student-friendly textbook that defines and explains the concepts of crime, criminal law, and criminology. Ideal for a one-semester course, the book compares and contrasts early criminal behavior and today’s modern forms of crime. It also explores society’s responses to criminal behavior in the past and in the present day. It covers both major and lesser-known crime causation theories and their impact on society. Topics covered include: The importance of understanding crime data The goals of punishment The history of criminology, including the influence of social Darwinism on early trait theorists Crime causation theories, including a comparison of mainstream and critical theories The relationship between crime and biology, including the influence of genetics, substance use, and mental illness The social structural approach to crime, including a consideration of the changing contexts of urban criminality The nature and function of the justice system at the local, state, and federal levels, and basic categories of crimes Drug trafficking crimes, drug court efforts, and perceived weaknesses in current antidrug efforts Each chapter begins with a set of objectives and concludes with a summary. Interactive questions promote classroom discussion and practicum sections facilitate contextual learning. Drawn from different and distinct backgrounds, the authors each have unique perspectives on crime, making for a particularly well-rounded text that explores crime from several angles. The book attempts to educate readers in the development of new insights on crime and crime causation and provides a greater understanding of the steps that need to be taken before a significant reduction in crime can occur.
The second edition of this popular introductory text presents complex ideas and information in a comprehensive and readable format. The book starts with the basic learning tools of definitions, research methods, statistics, typologies, and ideologies relating to crime and justice. Subsequent chapters cover the evolution, history, and contemporary operation of the components of the criminal justice system, namely law enforcement, courts, and corrections. Crime and Justice features expanded coverage of the research tools for analyzing crime, theories of crime causation, and jails in America. In addition, the issue of juvenile justice has been integrated into the entire text. Based on the latest research data, trends in the field, and relevant legal changes, it is the most comprehensive examination of criminal justice available.
This book provides an analysis of the two concepts of power and crime and posits that criminologists can learn more about these concepts by incorporating ideas from disciplines outside of criminology. Although arguably a 'rendezvous' discipline, Vincenzo Ruggiero argues that criminology can gain much insight from other fields such as the political sciences, ethics, social theory, critical legal studies, economic theory, and classical literature. In this book Ruggiero offers an authoritative synthesis of a range of intellectual conceptions of crime and power, drawing on the works and theories of classical, as well as contemporary thinkers, in the above fields of knowledge, arguing that criminology can ‘humbly’ renounce claims to intellectual independence and adopt notions and perspectives from other disciplines. The theories presented locate the crimes of the powerful in different disciplinary contexts and make the book essential reading for academics and students involved in the study of criminology, sociology, law, politics and philosophy.
Crime and Behavior combines theories of crime causation with their implications for key policy questions relevant to today's world. The anthology integrates theory and contemporary issues, and provides encyclopedic readings by leading theorists of crime. The introductory chapter provides an overview of theories that link criminal acts and crime events to individual, social, cultural and structural causes. Each section of Crime and Behavior includes an introduction to the ideas that are presented in the readings that follow. The first section of the text examines micro-level theories of crime and behavior, specifically individual and social process theories including classical and rational choice theory, and social learning. In the second part of the text, students consider macro-level theories such as social ecology, anomie and strain, and a variety of critical criminological theory from Marxist to anarchist and from feminist to postmodernist explanations. The interesting, student-friendly articles lay the foundation for a systematic and more profound understanding of the roots of crime in the 21st century. Crime and Behavior can be used in courses on criminology, sociology of crime and deviance, public affairs, and criminal justice. Sylvia Valenzuela holds a Ph.D. in criminology, law and society from the University of California, Irvine, and is a lecturer in the Department of Criminal Justice at San Diego State University. Paul Kaplan has a Ph.D. in criminology, law and society from the University of California, Irvine, and is an associate professor of criminal justice in the School of Public Affairs at San Diego State University. Stuart Henry earned his Ph.D. at the University of Kent, United Kingdom. Dr. Henry is a professor of criminal justice and Director of the School of Public Affairs at San Diego State University. He is the author or editor of 28 books, and over 100 professional journal articles on topics ranging from criminological theory and deviant behavior, to law and society, and occupational crime. His books include The Hidden Economy, Criminological Theory, Constitutive Criminology, What is Crime?, Essential Criminology, The Politics of Interdisciplinary Studies, and Social Deviance. Dr. Henry is the current co-editor of Western Criminology Review.
This book presents reviews of the literature and reports of new findings from research into biological correlates of criminal behavior. The chapters are revised versions of talks given by participants in an Advanced Study Institute sponsored by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and held inCastelvecchio Pascoli in September, 1986. It is our second edited volume on biology and crime. The first book, The Causes of Cdme; New Biological Apwoaches, was published in 1987. In the preface to that book we described the regrettable hi. tory of the paeudobiological research into social problem. conducted by the Social Darwinists at the turn of the century. We requested that that unfortunate legacy not inhibit responsible and scientifically sound investigations of biological and psychological variables in criminology today. Evidence is mounting that showl that research limited to social and environmental vadables cannot explain the behavior of the minority of criminal offenders whose criminal careen begin in adolescence and develop into recidivistic and violent . . saults on society. Certainly these offenders are few, but epidemiological studies have found them to be responsible for an amount of crimes disproportionate to their small numbers. As few . . 5 % of males commit over 50% of criminal offenses. Intervention directed at these relatively few individuals could, if succes. ful, dramatically reduce our growing violent crime rate. The chapters in our earlier book showed that some biological variables do relate to this type of chronic offending.
Integration of disciplines, theories and research orientations has assumed a central role in criminological discourse yet it remains difficult to identify any concrete discoveries or significant breakthroughs for which integration has been responsible. Concentrating on three key concepts: context, mechanisms, and development, this volume aims to advance integrated scientific knowledge on crime causation by bringing together different scholarly approaches. Through an analysis of the roles of behavioural contexts and individual differences in crime causation, The Explanation of Crime seeks to provide a unified and focused approach to the integration of knowledge. Chapter topics range from individual genetics to family environments and from ecological behaviour settings to the macro-level context of communities and social systems. This is a comprehensive treatment of the problem of crime causation that will appeal to graduate students and researchers in criminology and be of great interest to policy-makers and practitioners in crime policy and prevention.
