New Directions in Criminological Theory


Book Description

Steve Hall is Professor of Criminology at the Social Futures Institute, Teesside University, UK. He is the co-author of Violent Night (Berg, 2006), his recent co-authored book Criminal Identities and Consumer Culture (Willan/Routledge, 2008) has been described as ' an important landmark in criminology' and he is also the author of Theorizing Crime and Deviance: A New Perspective (Sage, 2012).




New Directions in Criminological Theory


Book Description

New Directions in Criminological Theory focuses on new approaches to theory construction, with particular emphasis on reformulations and new applications of existing paradigms. It includes an assessment of labeling theory, demonstrating how the approach could become part of a more comprehensive explanation of crime. A case is made for studying crime in terms of the social context in which crimes are conceived, interpreted, and negotiated. The debate between crime-general and crime-specific approaches is further amplified. A rethinking of Hirschi's control theory is presented. The volume includes theoretical discussions of spouse abuse, of punishment, and of power-control models. Additional chapters examine theoretical advances in corporate illegality, employee theft, and the alcohol/crime syndrome.These original contributions include: Charles F. Wellford and Ruth A. Triplett, 'The Future of Labeling Theory'; Austin T. Turk, 'A Proposed Resolution of Key Issues in the Political Sociology of Law'; David Weisburd and Lisa Maher, 'Contrasting Crime-General and Crime-Specific Theory'; Sally Simpson, 'Strategy, Structure, and Corporate Crime'; Edward W. Sieh, 'Employee theft'; Robert Nash Parker, 'Alcohol and Theories of Homicide'; Kimberly L. Kemph, 'The Empirical Status of Hirschi's Control Theory'; Jeffrey Fagan, 'The Social Control of Spouse Assualt'; Marc Le Blanc and Aaron Caplan, 'Theoretical Formalization, A Necessity'; Michael J. Lynch, 'Control Theory and Punishment'; Gary F. Jensen, 'Power-Control vs. Social-Control Theories of Common Delinquency'; John Hagan, A.R. Gillis, and John Simpson, 'The Power of Control in Sociological Theories of Delinquency.'




New Directions in Crime and Deviancy


Book Description

Criminology is at a crossroads. In the last two decades it has largely failed to produce the kind of new intellectual frameworks and empirical data that might help us to explain the high levels of crime and interpersonal violence that beset inner city areas and corrode community life. Similarly, it has failed to adequately explain forms of antisocial behaviour that are just as much a part of life in corporate boardrooms as they are in the ghettos of north America and the sink estates of Britain. Criminology needs to rethink the problem of crime and re-engage its audience with strident theoretical analysis and powerful empirical data. In New Directions in Crime and Deviancy some of the world’s most talented and polemical critical criminologists come together to offer new ideas and new avenues for analysis. The book contains chapters that address a broad range of issues central to 21st century critical criminology: ecological issues and the new green criminology; the broad impact of neoliberalism upon our cultural and economic life; recent signs of political resistance and opposition; systemic and interpersonal forms of violence; growing fear and enmity in cities; the backlash against the women’s movement; the subjective pathology of the serial killer; computer hacking and so on. Based on key papers presented at the historic York Deviancy Conferences, this cutting-edge volume also contains important critical essays that address criminological research methods and the production of criminological knowledge. It is key reading material for those with an academic interest in critical, cultural and theoretical criminology, and crime and deviance more generally.




New Directions for Criminology


Book Description

Criminology, by its very nature as a non-disciplinary field of research and scholarship, has always relied on theoretical perspectives, derived from external disciplines and bodies of literature, for its constant renewal. The editors of New Directions for Criminology chose to consult scholars from outside the criminological community to demonstrate how the latest theoretical work in their field can be made fruitful for criminology. All contributors are familiar with the fundamentals of criminological theories and research, and all are well placed to clearly make the connections between the cutting edge of their field of research and its potential for criminology. New Directions for Criminology makes a distinction between papers that elaborate on the usefulness of particular theories and perspectives for criminology, and papers that outline particular research themes which will be of interest to those working within the broader criminological community. Contents include: Why Criminal Law? Why Break It? If Broken, Then What?' - Criminology and Assemblage Theory - Criminology and Deleuzoguattarism - Criminology and Lacan's Psychoanalytical Approach - Criminology and Forms of Life - Foundations and Origins as Criminological Objects - Criminological Conversations - Criminological Tribes.




Offender Supervision


Book Description

This major new book brings together leading researchers in the field in order to describe and analyse internationally significant theoretical and empirical work on offender supervision, and to address the policy and practice implications of this work within and across jurisdictions. Arising out of the work of the international Collaboration of Researchers for the Effective Development of Offender Supervision (CREDOS), this book examines questions and issues that have arisen both within effectiveness research, and from research on desistance from offending. The book draws out the lessons that can be learned not just about ‘what works?’, but about how and why particular practices support desistance in specific jurisdictional, cultural and local contexts. Key themes addressed in this book include: New directions in theory and paradigms for practice Staff skills and effective offender supervision Different issues and challenges in improving offender supervision The role of families, ‘significant others’ and social networks Understanding and supporting compliance within supervision Exploring the social, political, organisational and historical contexts of offender supervision Offender Supervision will be essential reading for academics, undergraduate and postgraduate students, policy makers, managers and practitioners interested in offender supervision.




The Routledge Companion to Criminological Theory and Concepts


Book Description

A comprehensive one-stop reference text, The Routledge Companion to Criminological Theory and Concepts (the ‘Companion’) will find a place on every bookshelf, whether it be that of a budding scholar or a seasoned academic. Comprising over a hundred concise and authoritative essays written by leading scholars in the field, this volume explains in a clear and inviting way the emergence, context, evolution and current status of key criminological theories and conceptual themes. The Companion is divided into six historical and thematic parts, each introduced by the editors and containing a selection of accessible and engaging short essays written specifically for this text: Foundations of criminological thought and contemporary revitalizations The emergence and growth of American criminology From appreciation to critique Late critical criminologies and new directions Punishment and security Geographies of crime Comprehensive cross-referencing between entries will provide the reader with signposts to later developments, to critiques and to associated theoretical developments explored within the book, and lists of further reading in every entry will encourage independent thinking and study. This book is an essential reference work for criminology students at all levels and is the perfect companion for courses on criminological theory.




Rural Criminology


Book Description

Rural crime is a fast growing area of interest among scholars in criminology. From studies of agricultural crime in Australia, to violence against women in Appalachia America, to poaching in Uganda, to land theft in Brazil -- the criminology community has come to recognize that crime manifests itself in rural localities in ways that both conform to and challenge conventional theory and research. For the first time, Rural Criminology brings together contemporary research and conceptual considerations to synthesize rural crime studies from a critical perspective. This book dispels four rural crime myths, challenging conventional criminological theories about crime in general. It also examines both the historical development of rural crime scholarship, recent research and conceptual developments. The third chapter recreates the critical in the rural criminology literature through discussions of three important topics: community characteristics and rural crime, drug use, production and trafficking in the rural context, and agricultural crime. Never before has rural crime been examined comprehensively, using any kind of theoretical approach, whether critical or otherwise. Rural Criminology does both, pulling together in one short volume the diverse array of empirical research under the theoretical umbrella of a critical perspective. This book will be of interest to those studying or researching in the fields of rural crime, critical criminology and sociology.




Biosocial Criminology


Book Description

Ideal for use, either as a second text in a standard criminology course, or for a discrete course on biosocial perspectives, this book of original chapters breaks new and important ground for ways today's criminologists need to think more broadly about the crime problem.




Revitalizing Victimization Theory


Book Description

Revitalizing Victimization Theory: Revisions, Applications, and New Directions revises some of the major perspectives in victimization theory, applies theoretical perspectives to the victimization of vulnerable populations, and carves out new theoretical territory that is clearly needed but has yet to be developed. With the exception of a handful of isolated works in the mid-twentieth century, theory and research on victimization did not come into its own until the late 1970s with the articulation of lifestyle and routine activity theories. Research conducted within this tradition continues to be an important part of the overall criminological enterprise, and a large body of empirical knowledge has been generated. Nevertheless, theoretical advances in the study of victimization have largely stalled within the field of criminology. Indeed, little in the way of new theoretical headway has been made in well over a decade. This is an ideal time to revitalize victimization theory, and this volume does just that. It is an ambitious project that will hopefully reignite the kinds of theoretical discussions that once held the attention of the field. The work included here will shape the future of victimization theory and research in years to come. This volume should be of interest to a wide range of criminologists and have the potential to be used in graduate seminars and upper-level undergraduate courses.




Taking Stock


Book Description

Criminology is in a period of much theoretical ferment. Older theories have been revitalized, and newer theories have been set forth. The very richness of our thinking about crime, however, leads to questions about the relative merits of these competing paradigms. Accordingly, in this volume advocates of prominent theories are asked to "take stock" of their perspectives. Their challenge is to assess the empirical status of their theory and to map out future directions for theoretical development. The volume begins with an assessment of three perspectives that have long been at the core of criminology: social learning theory, control theory, and strain theory. Drawing on these traditions, two major contemporary macro-level theories of crime have emerged and are here reviewed: institutional-anomie theory and collective efficacy theory. Critical criminology has yielded diverse contributions discussed in essays on feminist theories, radical criminology, peacemaking criminology, and the effects of racial segregation. The volume includes chapters examining Moffitt's insights on life-course persistent/adolescent-limited anti-social behavior and Sampson and Laub's life-course theory of crime. In addition, David Farrington provides a comprehensive assessment of the adequacy of the leading developmental and life-course theories of crime. Finally, Taking Stock presents essays that review the status of perspectives that have direct implications for the use of criminological knowledge to control crime. Taken together, these chapters provide a comprehensive update of the field's leading theories of crime. The volume will be of interest to criminological scholars and will be ideal for classroom use in courses reviewing contemporary theories of criminal behavior.