NCJ Number
177593
Editor(s)
J Lane,
J Petersilia
Date Published
1998
Length
671 pages
Annotation
Leading experts in the international criminological community, who represent a variety of disciplines, philosophies, and political viewpoints, present papers under the following topics: international perspectives on the nature and extent of crime; theoretical explanations for the onset, escalation, and termination of criminal behavior; the social context of crime; assessing alternative crime policy options; and crime control policy for the future.
Abstract
The three papers in Part I compare crime and victimization in various countries. An international perspective on crime is followed by a cross-national comparison of crime victims based on victim surveys from 12 countries. The four papers in Part II discuss theoretical explanations for the onset, escalation, and termination of criminal behavior. Among the topics considered are the feasibility of nurturant strategies, the social development model, control theory and the life-course perspective, and the contributions of life-course criminology for understanding variability in lives through time. The eight papers of Part III, "The Social Context of Crime," are grouped under the following topics: firearms and drugs, the family and peers, employment and the community, and racial disparities and discrimination. The 10 papers in Part IV discuss issues pertinent to the evaluation of alternative crime policy options. The papers are grouped under the topics of prevention; the effectiveness of treatment; sentencing and recidivism prediction; policing and law enforcement; and probation, parole, and prisons. The three papers in Part V critique the crime-control policies of the past and recommend crime-control policies for the future. Chapter references and tables as well as a name index