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Criminological Theories
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Criminological Theories
Bridging the Past to the Future

Edited by:


March 2002 | 440 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

This anthology is a superb collection of 36 articles covering the major theories, past and present, that inform criminology today. What truly sets this volume apart is the inclusion of many articles discussing novel and often overlooked perspectives in criminological theory. In fact, many of these articles have never before been included in a reader. Such articles include an examination of topics such as white-collar crime and developmental criminology, as well as discussions of integrated theories that consider genetics, psychology, and environmental approaches. As most journal articles are typically written for a professional audience, the original articles have been substantially edited and abridged to make them more accessible to students. Each article is framed by an introductory overview (discussing the article's importance and the context for its development) and concludes with discussion questions. The resulting reader will prove to be an invaluable resource for any undergraduate or graduate course where criminological theory plays a central role.

 


 
PART I: CRIME, CRIMINOLOGY, AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Thomas J. Bernard
1. Twenty Years of Testing Theories: What Have We Learned and Why?
Ineke Haen Marshall
2. The Criminological Enterprise in Europe and the United States
Thomas J. Bernard & Robin Shepard Engel
3. Conceptualizing Criminal Justice Theory
 
PART II: BIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME
Diana H. Fishbein
4. Biological Perspectives in Criminology
Augustine Brannigan
5. Criminology and The Holocaust: Xenophobia, Evolution, and Genocide
 
PART III: SOCIAL STRUCTURAL THEORIES OF CRIME
Clifford R. Shaw & Henry D. McKay
6. Delinquency Rates and Community Characteristics
Dina R. Rose & Todd R. Clear
7. Incarceration, Social Capital, and Crime: Implications for Social Disorganization Theory
Marvin E. Wolfgang & Franco Ferracuti
8. The Subculture of Violence
Robert K. Merton
9. Social Structure and Anomie
Steven F. Messner & Richard Rosenfeld
10. Crime and the American Dream
Robert Agnew
11. Foundation for a General Strain Theory of Crime and Delinquency
 
PART IV: SOCIAL PROCESS THEORIES OF CRIME
Edwin H. Sutherland
12. A Sociological Theory of Criminal Behavior
Ronald L. Akers
13. A Social Learning Theory of Crime
Gresham M. Sykes and David Matza
14. Techniques of Neutralization: A Theory of Delinquency
John Hagan, John Simpson, & A. R. Gillis
15. Class in the Household: A Power-Control Theory of Gender and Delinquency
John Braithwaite
16. Charles Tittle's Control Balance and Criminological Theory
Charles R. Tittle
17.Thoughts Stimulated by Braithwaite's Analysis of Control Balance Theory
John Curra
18. The Dynamic Nature of Deviance
Leslie Margolin
19. Deviance on the Record: Techniques for Labeling Child Abusers in Official Documents
Carter Hay
20. Parental Sanctions and Delinquent Behavior: Toward Clarification of Braithwaite's Theory of Reintegration
Edwin H. Sutherland
21. Is "White Collar Crime" Crime?
Michael R. Gottfredson & Travis Hirschi
22. The Nature of Criminality: Low-Self Control
Gary E. Reed & Peter Cleary Yeager
23. Organizational Offending and Neoclassical Criminology: Challenging the Reach of a General Theory of Crime
 
PART V. CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES IN CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY
Ian Taylor, Paul Walton, & Jock Young
24. Marx, Engels, and Bonger on Crime and Social Control
Stuart Henry & Dragan Milovanovic
25. Constitutive Criminology: The Maturation of Critical Theory
Bruce A. Arrigo and Thomas J. Bernard
26. Postmodern Criminology in Relation to Radical and Conflict Criminology
David Shichor
27. "Three Strikes" as Public Policy: The Convergence of the New Penology and the McDonaldization of Punishment
Kathleen Daly and Meda Chesney-Lind
28. Feminism and Criminology
Kathleen Daly
29. Different Ways of Conceptualizing Sex/Gender in Feminist Theory and Their Implications for Criminology
 
PART VI: INTEGRATED THEORIES AND UNIQUE APPROACHES
Derek B. Cornish and Ronald V. Clarke
30. Crime as a Rational Choice
Marcus Felson
31. Routine Activities and Crime Prevention in the Developing Metropolis
Terrie E. Moffitt
32. Adolescent-Limited and Life Course Persistent Anti-Social Behavior
Rolf Loeber and Magda Stouthamer-Loeber
33. The Development of Offending
Delbert S. Elliott, Suzanne S. Ageton, & Rachelle J. Canter
34. Integrated Theoretical Perspective on Delinquent Behavior
Terence P. Thornberry
35. Toward an Interactional Theory of Delinquency
Anthony Walsh
36. Behavior Genetics and Anomie/Strain Theory
 
Selected References
 
Index
 
About the Editor

This is a great collection of journals and articles for the criminology student and others alike.

Extremely helpful for our policing degree students at the moment when trying to link criminological theories to CJS practise

Ms Lorna Harris
Hillsborough College, Sheffield College
October 21, 2015

A valuable collection of articles discussing varying perspectives in criminological theory.

Mrs Sarah Watson
Criminology, Coventry University
November 4, 2013

Well written, excellent read for my level 4,5 Policing students.

Mr Peter Norton
Uniformed public services, Sheffield College
September 11, 2013

This book places emphasis on some of the novel, newer theories, and some of the often overlooked theoretical perspectives - particularly the newer integrative perspectives. An innovative section early in the book contains articles looking at the points where theory and research in the fields of criminology and criminal justice merge and diverge.

Miss Frances Jackson
Public Services, Peterborough Regional College
September 14, 2011
Key features
  • Some new perspectives not often seen in theory readers – see articles in Part I by Bernard and by Marshall – that gives students some unique views of criminological theory.
  • There is a greater emphasis on issues of gender, race, and class within criminological theories and criminality giving the book a more contemporary feel.
  • The anthology includes and expands on topics typically neglected in other texts, namely white-collar crime; developmental criminology; new penology; postmodern and constitutive theories; and integrated theories that consider genetics, psychology, and environmental approaches.
  • Brief overviews introducing each article discuss the author, the article's important points, and a context for its development and value.
  • Discussion questions at the end of each theory section.