Beyond Criminology is an innovative, groundbreaking critique of the narrow focus of conventional criminology. The authors argue that crime forms only a small and often insignificant amount of the harm experienced by people. They show that, while custom and tradition play an important role in the perpetuation of some types of harm, many forms of harm are rooted in the inequalities and social divisions systematically produced in -- and by -- contemporary states. Exploring a range of topics including violence, indifference, corporate and state harms, murder, children, asylum and immigration policies, sexuality and poverty, the contributions raise a number of theoretical and methodological issues associated with a social harm approach. Only once we have identified the origins, scale and consequences of social harms, they argue, can we begin to formulate possible responses -- and these are more likely to be located in public and social policy than in the criminal justice system. The book provides an original and challenging new perspective that goes beyond criminology -- one which will be of interest to students, teachers and policy makers.

Beyond Empiricism expands the discourse on theories of criminal behavior. It considers institutional, social, and individual issues related to criminal behavior, while individually each raises questions about the adequacy of current theoretical claims. The topics have significant implications both for policy and research in criminology. Per-Olof Wikstrom introduces a cross-level action theory of crime. He suggests that better understanding of causal mechanisms can lead to a situational theory of action based on perception of alternatives and the process of choice. David Wolcott and Steven Schlossman provide new perspectives on the issues of racial disparity and the incarceration of adolescents in adult prisons. These authors highlight gaps in our understanding of early twentieth-century juvenile justice and negate some popular claims about recent changes in the criminal law. Peter Grabosky spotlights privatization policies in the criminal justice system, suggesting a framework for analyzing the balance of advantage resulting from three basic forms of institutional relationships in policing. Steven Messner and Richard Rosenfeld discuss why institutional analysis has been seriously underdeveloped in etiological analyses of crime. Jordan Pederson and Matthew Shane scrutinize the concept of aggression. Their descriptions of aggressive behavior among non-human animals provide a fascinating backdrop for understanding human actions. Joan McCord emphasizes the intentionality of crimes as she argues that to understand what causes crime, one must have a theory about what it means to act intentionally. After critically appraising prior theories, McCord introduces and defends a new theory of motivation based on a post-empiricist theory of language. This latest volume in the distinguished Advances in Criminological Theory series continues to add to the theoretical underpinnings of the field, and will be important to all collections of social science research on criminology.

In this comprehensive exploration of the core issues surrounding offender reentry, Elaine Gunnison and Jacqueline Helfgott highlight the constant tension between policies meant to ensure smooth reintegration and the social forces¿especially the stigma of a criminal record¿that can prevent it from happening. Gunnison and Helfgott focus on the factors that enhance reentry success as they address challenges related to race, class, and gender. Drawing on accounts from corrections professionals and former inmates to illustrate the real-life consequences of reentry policy, they shed light on one of the key criminal justice issues of our time.

How do criminologists engage with politics and public policy? This book is a sociological account of how criminologists have understood their craft, the positions they have taken on the controversies of their day, and an analysis of the dilemmas that confront those who work in the field today.

Criminology: Explaining Crime and Its Context, Eleventh Edition, offers a broad perspective on criminological theory. It provides students of criminology, criminal justice, and sociology with a thorough exposure to a range of theories about crime, contrasting their logic and assumptions, but also highlighting efforts to integrate and blend these frameworks. In this new edition, the authors have incorporated new directions that have gained traction in the field, while remaining faithful to their criminological heritage. Among the themes in this work are the relativity of crime (its changing definition) with abundant examples, historical roots of criminology and the lessons they have provided, and the strength and challenges of applying the scientific method. This revision offers new chapters on critical theory and on life-course criminology. It is updated throughout to reflect current trends in criminological theory and data. With chapters both updated to reflect recent developments in the field and made easier to digest, this text is essential reading for students of criminology, criminal justice, sociology, and related fields.

This book introduces the ‘Southern criminology’ movement; explores its theoretical, methodological, and philosophical tools; offers analytical accounts on the development of criminological thoughts in marginalised regions; and showcases the cutting edge of criminological research from Southern settings. Southernising Criminology is structured into three parts. The first part provides theoretical and methodological insights into how criminology can be Southernised, including renowned social scientists who share concerns for the need to reconceptualise the centre, the periphery, and their relations. The second part brings the reader up-to-date with the state of criminological research in different parts of the world and how far this landscape has changed when introducing Southern perspectives. The third part shows first-hand examples of how Southern criminology is done, with its challenges and transformative potential for criminological knowledge. Bringing together contributions from leading scholars working across the five continents and drawing on issues such as state criminality, violent crime, criminal justice practices, and state and non-state punishment, this book offers a critical account of the problems of metropolitan thinking, colonial and imperial power relations, and Western ethnocentric approaches to criminology. It offers a nuanced and grounded reflection on how things are being done differently and why that is important. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of criminology, sociology, politics, and policy makers from around the world who are interested in the field of criminology and are aware of the urgent need for it to be decolonised and democratised.

This book challenges the given dichotomies between crime and harm, and criminology and zemiology. The main aim of the volume is to highlight the inexorable interconnectedness between systemically induced social harm and the corrosive flows of everyday crime both perpetrated and endured by those victimised by the capitalist system and its hegemonic vicissitudes. Drawing attention not only to various structurally imbedded harms, the chapters also outline the wider consequences of such harms, as they extend beyond immediate victims and contribute towards the further perpetuation of criminogenic and zemiogenic conditions. Comprising two parts, the first explores the relationship between crime and harm and criminology and zemiology, and the second explores the intersections of crime and harm through various lenses, including those trained on probation; global mobility; sexuality and gender; war and gendered violence; fashion counterfeiting; and the harms of the service economy. An exciting and wide-reaching volume written by world-renowned scholars, this collection is a must-read for students, academics, and policy makers in the fields of law, criminology, sociology, social policy, criminal justice, and social justice.