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Crime in a Psychological Context
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Crime in a Psychological Context
From Career Criminals to Criminal Careers

March 2013 | 288 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
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This engaging book presents a contextual psychological interpretation of crime. It covers essential topics including psychopathy, antisocial personality disorder, and criminal lifestyle. The author's compelling analysis explains criminal behavior, by showing how the criminal lifestyle is capable of integrating two seemingly incompatible crime paradigms: the career criminal paradigm and the criminal career paradigm. Starting with a context for criminality, and then moving from particular conceptions of crime to more evidence-based theories, this volume challenges students to think in a different way about crime and criminal behavior.

 
1. Understanding Crime: The Prime Context
Predator

 
Crime

 
In Context

 
The Organization of this Book

 
Conclusion

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
 
2. Latent Structure: The Criminal Lifestyle in a Dimensional Context
The Self Mutilator

 
What is Latent Structure?

 
The Taxometric Method

 
Identifying the Number of Dimensions

 
Behavioral Dimensions of a Criminal Lifestyle

 
Cognitive Dimensions of a Criminal Lifestyle

 
Why Should We Care About Latent Structure?

 
Conclusion

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
 
3. Classification: The Criminal Lifestyle in a Diagnostic Context
Mr. Consistency

 
Diagnostic Functions

 
Essentials of Categorical Diagnosis

 
Essentials of Dimensional Diagnosis

 
Constructing a Dimensional Diagnosis for the Criminal Lifestyle

 
Analyzing Trends and Identifying Patterns

 
Conclusion

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
 
4. Assessment: The Criminal Lifestyle in an Appraisal Context
Tuesday’s Child

 
Clinical Forensic Psychology

 
Construct Assessment

 
Risk Assessment

 
Broad-Band Clinical Forensic Assessment Instruments

 
Narrow-Band Clinical Forensic Assessment Instruments

 
Clinical Forensic Evaluation of Grace

 
Conclusion

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
 
5. Development or Propensity: The Criminal Lifestyle in an Etiological Context
Born Under a Bad Sign

 
Development versus Propensity in Explaining Crime

 
A Lifestyle Theory of Crime

 
Jerry Revisited: A Developmental Analysis

 
Conclusion

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
 
6: Phenomenology: The Criminal Lifestyle in a Subjective Context
Married to the Mob

 
Phenomenology

 
Responses to the Ten Questions

 
Conclusion

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
 
7. Intervention: The Criminal Lifestyle in a Programmatic Context
The Boxer

 
Programmed Intervention

 
Unassisted Change

 
The “Nothing Works” Controversy

 
Finding a Philosophy

 
Implementing the Program

 
Evaluating the Outcome

 
Conclusion

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
 
8. Prevention: The Criminal Lifestyle in a High Risk Youth Context
Dennis the Menace

 
Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Prevention

 
The Lifestyle Approach to Secondary Prevention

 
Conclusion

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
 
9. Mental Illness and Malingering: The Criminal Lifestyle in an Application Context
Tattoo

 
Mental Illness

 
Malingering

 
Conclusion

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 
 
10. Future Contexts and Distance Horizons
The Second Story Man

 
Understanding Crime: The Prime Context

 
Future Dimensional Contexts

 
Future Diagnostic Contexts

 
Future Appraisal Contexts

 
Future Etiological Contexts

 
Future Subjective Contexts

 
Future Programmatic Contexts

 
Future Preventive Contexts

 
Future Application Contexts

 
Conclusion

 
Key Terms and Concepts

 

An excellent resource

Dr Elle Boag
Department of Psychology, Birmingham City University
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I personally felt that this book attempted to cover too much ground, and as a result was lacking in depth and clarity on a lot of the topics covered. As a result, I felt that it was limited as a text for a post-graduate level course. I would suggest that it may be more appropriate for readers wishing to obtain a general overview of the area...

Dr Laura Hammond
School of Human & Health Sciences, Huddersfield University
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An overall excellent book, and a perfect complement for this course. In-depth and comprehensive, yet accessible for undergraduate students, it allows for a better understanding of criminal careers, and criminal behavior in general.

Dr Maria Francisca Rebocho
Department of Political and Behavioral Science, Fernando Pessoa University
drupal

An excellent book, in-depth and comprehensive, yet accessible for undergraduate students. It allows for a better understanding of criminal careers, and criminal behavior in general, without restricting its focus to crime types and, therefore, offering students a broader perspective.

Dr Maria Francisca Rebocho
Department of Political and Behavioral Science, Fernando Pessoa University
drupal

A bit too narrow for my course.

Dr Richard Wiebe
Behavioral Sciences Dept, Fitchburg State University
drupal

A challenging book for criminology students which explores and uses evidence-based interventions to assist students in their understanding of the nature of crime.

Miss Frances Jackson
Public Services, Peterborough Regional College
drupal

This is a very easy to read book and the students all found it useful.

Mr Alan Searle
Psychology , Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education
drupal

The book is well structured to provide the reader with illustrative examples of the application of psychological theory to the field of psychology and law and clear intersects the two disciplines.

Mr Gwatirera Javangwe
Psychology, University of Zimbabwe
drupal

The sub-title of this book really sums up its underlying aim, which is to examine the possibility of a rapprochement of the two constructs of a career criminal and a criminal career.

Each chapter builds on those preceding and leads us from the layman's condemnation of the criminal as 'crazy' or 'evil' towards an understanding of criminal behaviour, within the important context of understanding being entirely separate from acceptance or forgiveness.

Each of the ten chapters opens with a case study that informs and contextualises the theories that follow, which lead us to question the response that we have almost invariably had to the reading of the case-study.
This challenges the reader's judgmental stance and makes for a powerful learning experience.

Mr Paul Matthews
Business Administration , University College Birmingham
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Excellent text providing a logical structure and a wide range of topics.

Mr Stuart Agnew
Social Science , University Campus Suffolk Ltd
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Key features

Key Features

  • Chapter-opening clinical case studies: These real-life examples are included at the beginning of each chapter to help enhance understanding of the theoretical models and research results presented and to offer accessible and relatable ways to apply those models.
  • Examines the underlying structure of crime-related constructs: This book helps students break away from the common view that offenders are best understood as types or categories. In place of typologies, this book introduces the notion of correlated dimensions that help us understand how criminal behavior develops, operates, and, in many cases, eventually stops.
  • Offers a view of crime from the offender's perspective: This view is presented to help students gain an appreciation of how the criminal views him- or herself, the surrounding environment, and his or her future which is invaluable in helping students understand the nature of crime.
  • Explores evidence-based interventions: This approach helps students understand the concepts behind intervention and prevention strategies with a focus on "what works", and illustrates how to evaluate one's results through research.