CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY

• NCJ Number: 37497
• Author(s): S T REID
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 757 pages
• Sale Source: Dryden Press
• Publication Type: Instructional Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THIS COLLEGE TEXTBOOK DEALS WITH THE SUBJECTS OF CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY FROM THE COMBINED VIEWPOINTS OF SOCIOLOGY AND THE LAW.

Abstract

THE TEXT CONSISTS OF FOUR PARTS. PART I SERVES AS AN INTRODUCTION AND CONSIDERS PROBLEMS OF DEFINING CRIME, THE CRIMINAL, AND CRIMINOLOGY. IT DISCUSSES GATHERING AND ANALYZING STATISTICS AND ILLUSTRATES THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES IN THE STUDY OF CRIME. IT EXPLORES THE LAW GENERALLY AND THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW OF CRIMES SPECIFICALLY. IT FORMULATES THE LEGAL DEFINITION OF CRIME IN THE CONTEXT OF SIMPLE CASES REQUIRING NO LEGAL BACKGROUND FOR UNDERSTANDING. THE FINAL CHAPTER OF PART ONE ANALYZES THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD AND ESTABLISHES A FRAME OF REFERENCE FOR THE ANALYSIS IN LATER CHAPTERS OF PARTICULAR SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES AND SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH. PART TWO IS DEVOTED TO A DISCUSSION OF THE ETIOLOGY OF CRIME. SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES ARE EMPHASIZED BUT NOT TO THE EXCLUSION OF CLASSICAL, NEO-CLASSICAL, POSITIVE, PHYSIOLOGICAL, PSYCHIATRIC, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES. BOTH CLASSIC WORKS AND MODERN THEORIES ARE SUMMARIZED AND CRITIQUED ACCORDING TO THE FRAMEWORK ESTABLISHED IN CHAPTER 4. PART THREE COMBINES LEGAL MATERIALS WITH SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND ATTEMPTS TO COMPARE THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AS IT IS SEEN IN LEGAL THEORY WITH THE WAY, ACCORDING TO SOCIAL SCIENTISTS' RESEARCH, IT REALLY WORKS. PART FOUR CONTAINS SEVEN CHAPTERS DEALING WITH PENOLOGY AND ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE THE STUDENT WITH AN INTEGRATED PICTURE OF HOW LAW AND SOCIOLOGY RESPOND TO PERSONS FOUND GUILTY OF CRIMES. THE CHAPTER ON THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF PRISONERS IS UNIQUE AMONG CRIMINOLOGY TESTS. IT DEALS, AMONG OTHER THINGS, WITH PRISONERS' RIGHT TO THE MAILS, TO VISITATION, TO TREATMENT AND ACCESS TO THE COURTS AS WELL AS PROSCRIPTIONS AGAINST CORPORAL PUNISHMENT AND SOLITARY CONFINEMENT. IT FOCUSES FROM TIME TO TIME ON THE ROLE OF COURTS IN IMPROVING THE CONDITIONS OF PRISONERS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)