NCJ Number
188427
Date Published
2002
Length
237 pages
Annotation
This brief but thorough text on crime and criminality is intended for undergraduates in sociology, criminology, or criminal justice who are taking introductory courses in criminology, criminal behavior, juvenile delinquency, deviancy, or theories of crime causation.
Abstract
The introductory chapter defines crime and criminal behavior, followed by a chapter that defines criminology, describes the five models of criminology, and discusses the classical and positive schools of criminology and their impacts on both the study of crime and the administration of criminal justice. The third chapter presents an historical assessment of the major biological explanations for human and criminal behavior (genetic, physical abnormalities, neurological disorders, environmental pollution, etc.) and their incorporation into modern biosocial explanations that encompass both nature and nurture. Chapter 4 reviews the major psychological explanations for human and criminal behavior, along with the development of social-psychological and psychosocial explanations of crime and criminality. Chapter 5 introduces the major class-based sociological theories that emphasize the effects of poverty and the individual's location within the lower class as explanations for crime and criminality. This is followed by a chapter that investigates the major social-psychological and sociological theories for crime and criminal behavior. A chapter then presents those theories that explain crime as the product of political and economic struggles between those in power and those who are without power or are seeking power. Remaining chapters address the following topics: integrated theories of crime causation, holistic theories of crime causation, theories of victimization, dealing with lawbreakers, dealing with victims, and dealing with the law-abiding. Each chapter contains sections on key concepts, learning objectives, and discussion questions. A subject index