Introduction to Criminological Theory, Third Edition

• NCJ Number: 229143
• Author(s): Roger Hopkins Burke
• Date Published: 2009
• Length: 422 pages
• Sale Source: Willan Publishing
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This book explores the different ways in which crime and criminal behavior have been explained in modern times.

Abstract

This book is divided into five parts; the first three parts each consider a different model or tradition that explains crime and criminal behavior: the rational actor model, the predestined actor model, and the victimized actor model. Chapter 2 considers the ideas of the Classical School that provide the central theoretical foundations of the rational actor tradition. Chapter 3 considers the revival of the rational actor tradition that occurred with the rise of the political "new right" in the United States and the United Kingdom during the 1970s. Chapter 4 discusses those theories that have come to prominence with the revival of the rational actor tradition. Chapter 5 considers biological variants of the predestined actor model, starting with an examination of the early theories of the Italian School. Chapter 6 considers psychological variants of the predestined actor model. Chapter 7 considers sociological variants of the predestined actor model. Chapter 8 considers how proponents of the predestined actor model have considered female criminality. Chapter 9 considers social reaction or labeling theories. Chapter 10 considers conflict and radical theories. Chapter 11 considers the gendered criminal. Chapter 12 considers critical criminology, which is one of two contemporary variants of the radical tradition in criminology. Chapter 13 considers socio-biological theories that have attempted a synthesis of biological and sociological explanations. Chapter 14 discusses environmental theories. Chapter 15 examines social control theories. Chapter 16 considers "left realism." Chapter 17 considers the morally ambiguous nature of crime and criminal behavior. Chapter 18 considers cultural criminology and the schizophrenia of crime. Chapter 19 considers further the relationship between crime and the increasing globalization of crime. Chapter 20 presents the case for radical moral communitarian criminology. Glossary, references, and index