NCJ Number
81419
Date Published
1982
Length
693 pages
Annotation
This textbook integrates law and social science in the study of criminal behavior and society's reaction to that behavior.
Abstract
Part One, an introduction, considers problems involved in defining crime, the criminal, and criminology. Gathering and analyzing empirical data are discussed, and the relationship between law and the social sciences in the study of crimes is illustrated. The sociological forces underlying law in general and criminal law specifically are identified. The legal definition of crime is formulated in the context of simple cases requiring no legal background for understanding. The nature and purpose of the scientific method are analyzed, and a frame of reference is established for analysis in later chapters of particular sociological theories and examples of empirical research. Part Two is devoted to a discussion of the etiology of crime and types of crime. Sociological theories are emphasized, but not to the exclusion of classical, neoclassical, positive, physiological, psychiatric, and psychological theories. Both classic works and modern theories are summarized and critiqued. Part Three compares the idealized legal view of the criminal justice system with the system's actual functioning as determined by sociological research. Part Four is an introduction to corrections as viewed from an integration of law and sociology. Topics covered are punishment, administration and treatment in the modern prison, the world of the inmate in the modern prison, and release from prison. Appended is a guide to legal citations of reported judicial decisions. There are indexes of cases, names, and subjects. Footnotes accompany each chapter. (Author summary modified)