This book sets an agenda for the development of historical approaches to criminology. It defines ‘historical criminology’, explores its characteristic strengths and limitations, and considers its potential to enhance, revise and fundamentally challenge dominant modes of thinking about crime and social responses to crime. It considers the following questions: What is historical criminology? What does thinking historically about crime and justice entail? How is historical criminology currently practised? What are the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to historical criminology? How can historical criminology reshape understandings of crime and social responses to crime? How does thinking historically bear upon major theoretical, conceptual and methodological questions in criminological research? What does thinking historically have to offer criminological scholarship more broadly, and the uses of criminology in the public realm? In this book, Churchill, Yeomans and Channing situate ‘historical thinking’ at the heart of historical criminology, reveal the value of historical research to criminology and argue that criminologists across the field have much to gain from engaging in historical thinking in a more regular and sustained way. This book is essential reading for all criminologists, as well as students taking courses on theories, concepts and methods in criminology.

This edited collection captures the expertise of scholars from the US, the UK, Australia, and Canada to catalog the rise in visual approaches in criminology. It presents examples of visual methods, uses, and approaches in criminology; assesses the potential for new graphic approaches to collect, analyze, and present data; and provides some analysis of the use of images in teaching, to spur social critique, and guide policy translation. The collection visually connects theory and practice by highlighting the work of criminologists who have embraced the visual turn. Contributors explore the use of cognitive maps, concept and mind maps, life history calendars, CCTV, life plots, GIS and hot spot research, policy graphs, visual abstracts and research summaries,and other visual tools in the context of criminology. Approaches building on visual sociology are also featured, including a discussion of developments in documentary photography and film, visual ethnography, and sensory phenomenology. The book is organized thematically, with each chapter following logically upon the last, introducing readers to a variety of visual approaches and their application in criminology. The goals of this collected volume are three-fold. The first is to highlight how the visual has been used in criminology historically to present data, contest meaning and complicate social control, and make more transparent the research process. The second is to work toward some sort of definitional consistency. While a worthy endeavor, this remains elusive given the assortment of uses and varying traditions from which visual criminology has emerged. The third is to try to think clearly about the role of humility. This means a willingness to acknowledge an epistemological framework and note the variety of limitations associated with trying to understand in deep and meaningful ways. For visual criminology specifically, it involves the recognition that part of the power of images (whatever their construction), comes from whether we think they are beautiful or whether and/or to what extent they disrupt our understanding in one way or another. This interdisciplinary book will be of interest to criminologists, sociologists, visual ethnographers, historians and those engaged with media studies. It is a valuable supplementary text for courses in introductory criminology and criminal justice, criminological theory, research methods, and other upper-level and senior capstone courses.

Scholarly interest in the history of crime has grown dramatically in recent years and, because scholars associated with this work have relied on a broad social definition of crime which includes acts that are against the law as well as acts of social banditry and political rebellion, crime history has become a major aspect not only of social history, but also of cultural as well as legal studies. This collection explores how the history of crime provides a way to study time, place and culture. Adopting an international and interdisciplinary perspective to investigate the historical discourses of crime in Europe and the United States from the sixteenth to the late twentieth century, these original works provide new approaches to understanding the meaning of crime in modern western culture and underscore the new importance given to crime and criminal events in historical studies. Written by both well-known historians and younger scholars from across the globe, the essays reveal that there are important continuities in the history of crime and its representations in modern culture, despite particularities of time and place.

Featuring contributions by distinguished scholars from ten countries, The Wiley Handbook of the History and Philosophy of Criminology provides students, scholars, and criminologists with a truly a global perspective on the theory and practice of criminology throughout the centuries and around the world. In addition to chapters devoted to the key ideas, thinkers, and moments in the intellectual and philosophical history of criminology, it features in-depth coverage of the organizational structure of criminology as an academic discipline world-wide. The first section focuses on key ideas that have shaped the field in the past, are shaping it in the present, and are likely to influence its evolution in the foreseeable future. Beginning with early precursors to criminology’s emergence as a unique discipline, the authors trace the evolution of the field, from the pioneering work of 17th century Italian jurist/philosopher, Cesare Beccaria, up through the latest sociological and biosocial trends. In the second section authors address the structure of criminology as an academic discipline in countries around the globe, including in North America, South America, Europe, East Asia, and Australia. With contributions by leading thinkers whose work has been instrumental in the development of criminology and emerging voices on the cutting edge The Wiley Handbook of the History and Philosophy of Criminology provides valuable insights in the latest research trends in the field world-wide - the ideal reference for criminologists as well as those studying in the field and related social science and humanities disciplines.

Recent years have witnessed a resurgence of biological research into the causes of crime, but the origins of this kind of research date back to the late nineteenth century. Here, Richard Wetzell presents the first history of German criminology from Imperial Germany through the Weimar Republic to the end of the Third Reich, a period that provided a unique test case for the perils associated with biological explanations of crime. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources from criminological, legal, and psychiatric literature, Wetzell shows that German biomedical research on crime predominated over sociological research and thus contributed to the rise of the eugenics movement and the eventual targeting of criminals for eugenic measures by the Nazi regime. However, he also demonstrates that the development of German criminology was characterized by a constant tension between the criminologists' hereditarian biases and an increasing methodological sophistication that prevented many of them from endorsing the crude genetic determinism and racism that characterized so much of Hitler's regime. As a result, proposals for the sterilization of criminals remained highly controversial during the Nazi years, suggesting that Nazi biological politics left more room for contention than has often been assumed.

Criminology Throughout History: Critical Readings provides students with a carefully selected set of readings that help them develop a strong knowledge base in the history of criminology. This historical perspective supports a holistic understanding of criminological thought and theory, and helps students situate themselves within the production of knowledge in the discipline. The anthology is divided into three parts. Part I focuses on the historical development of criminological thought, beginning with an overview of the impact of liberal philosophy. Part II takes a closer look at the early theories of causation. Part III provides new directions in criminology, embracing the ideals set by the liberal philosophers: equality, freedom, and justice. For each part, students are provided with a timeline that clearly outlines historical events and demonstrates how the discipline has been influenced and shaped over time. Criminology Throughout History is an ideal textbook to use in undergraduate and graduate criminology and criminal justice programs.

Comprehensive and accessible, Tim Newburn’s bestselling Criminology provides an introduction to the fundamental themes, concepts, theories, methods and events that underpin the subject and form the basis for all undergraduate degree courses and modules in Criminology and Criminal Justice. This third edition includes: A new chapter on politics, reflecting the ever increasing coverage of political influence and decision making on criminology courses New and updated crime data and analysis of trends, plus new content on recent events such as the Volkswagen scandal, the latest developments on historic child abuse, as well as extended coverage throughout of the English riots A fully revised and updated companion website, including exam, review and multiple choice questions, a live Twitter feed from the author providing links to media and academic coverage of events related to the concepts covered in the book, together with links to a dedicated textbook Facebook page Fully updated to reflect recent developments in the field and extensively illustrated, this authoritative text, written by a leading criminologist and experienced lecturer, is essential reading for all students of Criminology and related fields.