Book Description

The Routledge Handbook of Irish Criminology is the first edited collection of its kind to bring together the work of leading Irish criminologists in a single volume. While Irish criminology can be characterised as a nascent but dynamic discipline, it has much to offer the Irish and international reader due to the unique historical, cultural, political, social and economic arrangements that exist on the island of Ireland. The Handbook consists of 30 chapters, which offer original, comprehensive and critical reviews of theory, research, policy and practice in a wide range of subject areas. The chapters are divided into four thematic sections: Understanding crime examines specific offence types, including homicide, gangland crime and white-collar crime, and the theoretical perspectives used to explain them. Responding to crime explores criminal justice responses to crime, including crime prevention, restorative justice, approaches to policing and trial as well as post-conviction issues such as imprisonment, community sanctions and rehabilitation. Contexts of crime investigates the social, political and cultural contexts of the policymaking process, including media representations, politics, the role of the victim and the impact of gender. Emerging ideas focuses on innovative ideas that prompt a reconsideration of received wisdom on particular topics, including sexual violence and ethnicity. Charting the key contours of the criminological enterprise on the island of Ireland and placing the Irish material in the context of the wider European and international literature, this book is essential reading for those involved in the study of Irish criminology and international and comparative criminal justice.