NCJ Number
133313
Date Published
1992
Length
624 pages
Annotation
This textbook on crime and criminology discusses the crime problem and how and what we know about it, the nature of crimes and criminals, crime theories, and the criminal justice system.
Abstract
The introductory chapter makes the case for evidence-based thinking about crime followed by a chapter that asks why crime is a problem and its nature as a political issue during the last quarter century. Another chapter describes some of the difficulties of counting crime as well as the results of various methods of crime counting. It also provides data on long-range trends in crime and offers two competing explanations of those trends. The concluding chapter in Part I presents evidence on the relation of crime to four demographic variables (age, race, sex, and social class) and shows why different information sources (self-reports and arrests) provide different answers. Part II, "Crime and Criminals," examines the nature of violent crimes with attention to female and child victims; property crime; organized crime; and white-collar crime. Part III, which focuses on criminological theory, presents the classic theories that purport to explain why criminal behavior occurs. These encompass biological, psychological, and sociological theories of crime. Part IV, which addresses the criminal justice system, discusses police work, courts and rights, rehabilitation, deterrence, and incapacitation. Chapter notes and name and subject indexes