NCJ Number
217024
Editor(s)
Doris Layton MacKenzie Ph.D.,
Lauren O'Neill,
Wendy Povitsky,
Summer Acevedo
Date Published
2006
Length
342 pages
Annotation
This book presents multidisciplinary perspectives on different types of crimes and criminal offenders.
Abstract
Each of the chapters contained in this edited volume present sociological, psychological, and biological explanations as well as treatment approaches for different types of offenders, including those who commit the crimes of infanticide, domestic battery, stalking, child molestation, rape, serial murder, and arson. The problems of violent juvenile offenders, juvenile drug offenders, gangs, and white-collar crime are similarly examined. The authors present current research on the characteristics of the different types of offenders, the theories most commonly used to explain the various types of offending behavior, and the treatment and prevention approaches that have proven effective for dealing with offending behavior. The theories, treatment, and prevention approaches vary widely according to the type of offense and offender. The motives and conditions that contribute to the crime of infanticide, for example, are different from the motives and conditions that contribute to serial murder or arson. The authors also critically analyze the research literature and the treatment evaluation literature for each of the types of offenders examined. Many treatment programs are prison-based and, as such, the criminal justice system response to different types of offenders is analyzed. The chapters critique the management and treatment programs for offenders along with the quality of the research used to examine program effectiveness. Most of the authors report on the use and effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapies for treating the offender populations considered in this book. A concluding chapter states that future research should focus on the similarities and differences among specific offenses in order to more effectively target treatment. Boxes, notes, references, index