"The author, a law professor and former deputy sheriff, discusses the problems attending the extensive discretion given to police officers on the job. The book focuses primarily on the decision to arrest and on the development of the mechanisms to control the discretionary nature of that decision. Convinced that individual prejudices can and do play a part in arrest decisions, Professor Williams evaluates alternatives designed to produce impartial and controlled law enforcement. He concludes that only through the collective efforts of the police, state and local government officials, and the judiciary can effective guidelines be formulated and implemented." Harvard Law Review

This book explores the links between crime, deviance and popular culture in our highly-mediatised era, offering an insight into the cultural processes through which particular practices acquire a criminal or deviant status, and come to be seen as social problems. Adopting a multidisciplinary approach, the edited collection brings together international scholars across various areas of specialisation to provide an up-to-date analysis of some important and topical issues in 21st-century popular culture. The chapters look at different aspects of popular culture, including fictional detective narratives and the true crime genre, popular media constructions of sexual deviance and Islamophobia, sports, graffiti and outlaw biker subcultures. The authors examine a wide range of relevant case studies through a number of crime and deviance-related theories. Crime, Deviance and Popular Culture will be of importance to scholars and students across several disciplines, including criminology, sociology of deviance, social anthropology, media studies, cultural studies, television studies and linguistics.

Public policy responses to child sexual abuse are dominated by interventions designed to take effect only after offenders have already begun offending, and after children have already been sexually abused. Comparatively little attention has been given to alternative prevention strategies - particularly to those aimed at preventing sexual abuse before it might otherwise occur. Considerable knowledge has been accumulated on the characteristics, modus operandi and persistence of offenders, the characteristics, circumstances and outcomes for victims, and the physical and social settings in which sexual abuse occurs, but little work has been done to systematically apply this knowledge to prevention. This book aims to fulfill this objective through integrating clinical and criminological concepts and knowledge to inform a more comprehensive and effective public policy approach to preventing child sexual abuse. Empirical and theoretical knowledge concerning child sexual abuse is integrated with broader developments in evidence-based crime and child maltreatment prevention, leading to new ideas about understanding and preventing child sexual abuse. This book will be essential reading for anybody with interests in this field.

Public policy responses to child sexual abuse are dominated by interventions designed to take effect only after offenders have already begun offending, and after children have already been sexually abused. Comparatively little attention has been given to alternative prevention strategies - particularly to those aimed at preventing sexual abuse before it might otherwise occur. Considerable knowledge has been accumulated on the characteristics, modus operandi and persistence of offenders, the characteristics, circumstances and outcomes for victims, and the physical and social settings in which sexual abuse occurs, but little work has been done to systematically apply this knowledge to prevention. This book aims to fulfill this objective through integrating clinical and criminological concepts and knowledge to inform a more comprehensive and effective public policy approach to preventing child sexual abuse. Empirical and theoretical knowledge concerning child sexual abuse is integrated with broader developments in evidence-based crime and child maltreatment prevention, leading to new ideas about understanding and preventing child sexual abuse. This book will be essential reading for anybody with interests in this field.

Violence and insecurity are among the most important issues facing communities in the 21st century. Both family violence and community violence are rapidly rising in the urbanizing nations of the South, and richer nations are also facing increased concern about the health, social, economic and environmental costs of violence and crime.The Handbook of Community Safety, Gender and Violence Prevention is the first book to gather together research and examples, from a gendered perspective, of local, regional and international interventions that work to prevent crime, violence and insecurity. Case studies of successful initiatives from every continent, in settings that vary from large cities to rural areas, are analysed to provide cross-cultural lessons of what works and what doesn t. The book presents essential practical advice to professionals such as: how to obtain diagnostic information on incidence and impacts of violence; how to develop, maintain and evaluate policies and programmes that can effectively promote community safety; and how to create trust and effectiveness in partnerships.

This book puts forward a comprehensive criminology of disaster by drawing - and building - upon existing theories which attempt to explain disaster crime. Although antisocial behaviour in disasters has long been viewed as a rarity, the authors present ample evidence that a variety of crime occurs in the wake of disaster. Frailing and Harper's explorations of property crime, interpersonal violence and fraud during disaster reveal the importance of methodological approaches to understanding these phenomena. They highlight the need for the application of social disorganization, routine activity and general strain theories of crime in the development of disaster crime prevention strategies. An accessible and detailed study, this book will have particular appeal for both students and scholars of criminology, sociology, disaster studies and emergency management.

In this important classic work, one of America's foremost social scientists introduces a significant approach to the causation of delinquency and advances an all-inclusive strategy for coping with a national problem of continuing concern. MacIver shows that delinquency is caused by a complex and bewildering interplay of many factors and is not susceptible to simplistic explanations and solutions. He advances reasoned critiques of various theories regarding the causation of delinquency, while suggesting that the two combined factors most closely associated with delinquency--despite its increase among middle class youth--are urbanized poverty and ethnic or racial discrimination. Citing the encouraging results obtained by the establishment of "predelinquent gangs" by various organizations, he demonstrates that prevention of delinquency is far more successful than rehabilitation.

MacIver emphasizes the need for a strategy consisting of closer coordination of programs, in nation as well as city, a sustained system of group after-care, and special training for law enforcement officers and judges to enable them to deal more competently with delinquents. In particular, he calls for better educational services, increased employment opportunities, and higher qualifications and salaries for counselors.

"The Prevention and Control of Delinquency," exploring an important aspect of urbanized life in instructive and absorbing detail, points the way for effective action in the various areas of delinquent behavior. It provides a concrete description of the more important devices and experiments that are now being developed and practiced. Written by an outstanding authority, this major work on the theoretical understanding, control, and cure of one of the crucial problems of our urban civilization is addressed to social scientists, organizational leaders and workers, and educators and planners in the field.

Antisocial behaviour is becoming a universally accepted problem and one that dominates the political and popular imagination. By providing a new criminological framework for understanding the fear of crime, this book reposes the increasingly important debate around antisocial behaviour and the internationally understood idea of moral panics. Through a critical engagement with theories of risk, the book develops Furedi 's understanding of a Culture of Fear to illustrate how firstly, society today is best understood to be in a permanent state of anxiety, and secondly, how this state of affairs has arisen due to the collapse of traditional politics and morality, and equally, of radical alternatives to it. Central to Waiton's thesis is an explanation of the changing therapeutic relationship between the individual and society based on an understanding of diminished subjectivity and the newly emerged vulnerable public.

Drawing on a body of empirical, qualitative work spanning three decades, this unique text traces the significance of critical social research and critical analyses in understanding some of the most significant and controversial issues in contemporary society. Focusing on central debates in the UK and Ireland - prison protests; inner-city uprisings; deaths in custody; women's imprisonment; transition in the north of Ireland; the 'crisis' in childhood; the Hillsborough and Dunblane tragedies; and the 'war on terror' - Phil Scraton argues that 'marginalisation' and 'criminalisation' are social forces central to the application of state power and authority. Each case study demonstrates how structural relations of power, authority and legitimacy, establish the determining contexts of everyday life, social interaction and individual opportunity.

This book explores the politics and ethics of critical social research, making a persuasive case for the application of critical theory to analysing the rule of law, its enforcement and the administration of criminal justice. It is indispensable for students in the fields of criminology, criminal justice and socio-legal studies, social policy and social work.

Drawing on a body of empirical, qualitative work spanning three decades, this unique text traces the significance of critical social research and critical analyses in understanding some of the most significant and controversial issues in contemporary society. Focusing on central debates in the UK and Ireland - prison protests; inner-city uprisings; deaths in custody; women's imprisonment; transition in the north of Ireland; the 'crisis' in childhood; the Hillsborough and Dunblane tragedies; and the 'war on terror' - Phil Scraton argues that 'marginalisation' and 'criminalisation' are social forces central to the application of state power and authority. Each case study demonstrates how structural relations of power, authority and legitimacy, establish the determining contexts of everyday life, social interaction and individual opportunity.

This book explores the politics and ethics of critical social research, making a persuasive case for the application of critical theory to analysing the rule of law, its enforcement and the administration of criminal justice. It is indispensable for students in the fields of criminology, criminal justice and socio-legal studies, social policy and social work.

Criminal behaviour continues to be a matter of major public concern. How should society respond? What should be done with those who offend repeatedly?

Offender Rehabilitation and Treatment links theory, research and practice in a coherent way by providing a systematic, evidence-based approach for the effective reduction of criminal behaviour. James McGuire has brought together internationally renowned experts from a variety of specialisms to present the cutting edge of the most recent and exciting developments in this field.

The coverage of the book includes:

• three new meta-analytic reviews published for the first time

• update surveys on "what works" from Europe and North America

• methods of longer-term developmental crime prevention

• implementation issues for new programmes and services

• the links between violence and alcohol, domestic violence/spouse abuse, treatment of sexual offenders and approaches to predatory offenders.

Pathways and Crime Prevention is concerned with the development of prevention policies and approaches that involve early intervention in the lives of children, young people, and their families, and explores new evidence that has been emerging from longitudinal and developmental prevention research. The book addresses a number of key challenges, arguing that, by broadening the research questions and exploring contributions from a wider range of disciplines, our understanding of both the pathways into and out of crime and the type of interventions that might work will be greatly enhanced.

Do criminal cultures generate drug use? Crime, Drugs and Social Theory critiques conventional academic and policy thinking concerning the relationship between urban deprivation, crime and drug use. Chris Allen outlines an innovative constructionist phenomenological perspective to explore these relationships in a new light. He discusses how people living in deprived urban areas develop 'natural attitudes' towards activities, such as crime and drug use, that are prevalent in the social worlds they inhabit, and shows that this produces forms of articulation such as 'I don't know why I take drugs', 'I just take them' and 'drugs come naturally to me'. He then draws on his constructionist phenomenology to help understand the 'natural attitude' towards crime and drugs that emerge from conditions of urban deprivation, as well as the non-reasoned forms of articulation that emerge from this attitude. The book argues that understanding the conditions in which drug users deviate from their 'natural attitude' can help effective intervention in the lives of drug users.

With a comprehensive analysis, this book links theory, evidence and practical application to bridge gaps between planning, design and criminology. The authors investigate connections between crime prevention and development planning with an international approach, looking at initiatives in the field and incorporating an understanding of current responses to the growth of technology and terrorism.

With a comprehensive analysis, this book links theory, evidence and practical application to bridge gaps between planning, design and criminology. The authors investigate connections between crime prevention and development planning with an international approach, looking at initiatives in the field and incorporating an understanding of current responses to the growth of technology and terrorism.

Over the past four decades the fear of crime has become an increasingly significant concern for criminologists, victimologists, policy makers, politicians, police, the media and the general public. For many practitioners reducing fear of crime has become almost as important an issue as reducing crime itself. The identification of fear of crime as a serious policy problem has given rise to a massive amount of research activity, political discussion and intellectual debate. Despite this activity, actually reducing levels of fear of crime has proved difficult. Even in recent years when many western nations have experienced reductions in the levels of reported crime, fear of crime has often proven intractable. The result has been the development of what amounts to a fear of crime industry. Previous studies have identified conceptual challenges, theoretical cul-de-sacs and methodological problems with the use of the concept fear of crime. Yet it has endured as both an organizing principal for a body of research and a term to describe a social malady. This provocative, wide ranging book asks how and why fear of crime retains this cultural, political and social scientific currency despite concerted criticism of its utility? It subjects the concept to rigorous critical scrutiny taking examples from the UK, North America and Australia. Part One of Inventing Fear of Crime traces the historical emergence of the fear of crime concept, while Part Two addresses the issue of fear of crime and political rationality, and analyses fear of crime as a tactic or technique of government. This book will be essential reading on one of the key issues in government and politics in contemporary society.

Over the past four decades the fear of crime has become an increasingly significant concern for criminologists, victimologists, policy makers, politicians, police, the media and the general public. For many practitioners reducing fear of crime has become almost as important an issue as reducing crime itself. The identification of fear of crime as a serious policy problem has given rise to a massive amount of research activity, political discussion and intellectual debate.

Despite this activity, actually reducing levels of fear of crime has proved difficult. Even in recent years when many western nations have experienced reductions in the levels of reported crime, fear of crime has often proven intractable. The result has been the development of what amounts to a fear of crime industry. Previous studies have identified conceptual challenges, theoretical cul-de-sacs and methodological problems with the use of the concept fear of crime. Yet it has endured as both an organizing principal for a body of research and a term to describe a social malady. This provocative, wide ranging book asks how and why fear of crime retains this cultural, political and social scientific currency despite concerted criticism of its utility? It subjects the concept to rigorous critical scrutiny taking examples from the UK, North America and Australia.

Part One of Inventing Fear of Crime traces the historical emergence of the fear of crime concept, while Part Two addresses the issue of fear of crime and political rationality, and analyses fear of crime as a tactic or technique of government. This book will be essential reading on one of the key issues in government and politics in contemporary society.

Sexual Murder: Catathymic and Compulsive Homicides is the culmination of the author's 45 years of experience with, and studying, sexually motivated homicide. Sexual murders are generally of two types - catathymic and compulsive. Catathymic homicides are caused by a breakthrough of underlying sexual conflicts. They can be unplanned, explosive (acute) attacks or planned murders stemming from a chronic obsession with, or disturbed attachment to, the victim. In compulsive homicides, a fusion of sex and aggression results in a powerful internal drive which pushes the offender to seek out victims to kill - and the killing itself is sexually gratifying. These murders also may be planned or unplanned. In compulsive homicides that are unplanned, the urge breaks through and disrupts the offender's controls when a victim of opportunity crosses his path. The compulsive offender who plans his crimes often eludes law enforcement, and as a result he can have multiple (serial) victims over extended periods of time. Both forms of sexual murder - the catathymic and the compulsive - are presented in this volume from a clinical-descriptive perspective encompassing case studies with analysis. Recent advances in empirical research in sexual murder-including findings from the joint research project between John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico-has published many important studies. These include such topics as necrophilia, foreign object insertions in sexual homicide, ritual and signature and temporal patterns in serial sexual homicide, mass murder, crime scene staging in homicide, and undoing (symbolic reversal) at homicide scenes. All such research will be included and incorporate into this fully updated Second Edition, including approximately fifty new clinical case studies.

In the last decade, school shootings have decimated communities and terrified parents, teachers, and children in even the most "family friendly" American towns and suburbs. These tragedies appear to be the spontaneous acts of disconnected teens, but this important book argues that the roots of violence are deeply entwined in the communities themselves. "Rampage" challenges the "loner theory" of school violence and shows why so many adults and students miss the warning signs that could prevent it.

This innovative and pioneering new book sets out to establish the links between crime reduction and the law: to analyze how the law contributes to a decrease in crime. Providing a detailed and sustained analysis, "Crime Reduction and the Law "offers a thorough guide to many of the most contemporary and pressing concerns in the field of crime reduction. It offers a consideration of the social policy, politics and legislation that surround and drive the crime reduction agenda. In particular, and uniquely, this book provides a detailed and sustained analysis of how specific legislation and the setting of performance targets aids and/or undermines attempts at crime reduction. This includes analyzing the creation of "safe environments" through Town and Country Planning legislation, the role of local authorities in crime reduction initiatives and the nature of drug policy, pedophilia legislation and programs to control mental disorder crime.
Bringing together the work of internationally renowned experts in this field, this book should prove highly useful to students of criminology and sociology, as well as crime prevention and reduction practitioners, police officers and community safety partnership professionals.

This book provides a comprehensive dissemination of theoretically grounded and empirically sound research on sex offenders and sex offending. It uses diverse methodological approaches with implications for the research of criminal justice policy and practice. The chapters derive from and focus on different geographical contexts and generate empirical evidence concerning sex offenders and sex offending including: low sex recidivism rates; a lack of sex offender specialization; little to no evidence of sex offending continuity from adolescence to adulthood; and a host of collateral consequences of sex offender registration and notification policies with limited deterrent effect or public safety benefit. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Crime & Justice.

Traditional security distinctions are being rapidly eroded. Lines drawn between war and crime are blurring with fateful consequences for divisions between militaries and police forces. The assumption that security should be a publicly provided good has been challenged by private security providers, both domestic and international. Security is no longer (if it ever was) divided between what goes on inside one state and what occurs between states. However, our disciplinary tools for examining these security challenges remain resolutely focused on either the domestic or the international. This book makes one of the first attempts to examine security from both perspectives, bringing together, and into much needed conversation, the fields of criminology and international relations. This book was originally published as a special issue of Global Crime.

Criminology and Democratic Politics brings together a range of international leading experts to consider the relationship between criminology and democratic politics. How does criminology relate to democratic politics? What has been the impact of criminology on crime and justice? How can we make sense of the uses, non-uses, and abuses of criminology? Such questions are far from new, but in recent times they have moved to the centre of debate in criminology in different parts of the world. The chapters in Criminology and Democratic Politics aim to contribute to this global debate. Chapters cover a range of themes such as punishment, knowledge, and penal politics; crime, fear, and the media; democratic politics and the uses of criminological knowledge; and the public role of criminology. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of criminology, sociology, and politics and all those interested in how criminology relates to democratic politics in modern times.

This sixth volume Advances in Criminological Theory is testimony to a resurgent interest in anomie-strain theory, which began in the mid-1980s and continues unabated into the 1990s. Contributors focus on the new body of empirical research and theorizing that has been added to the anomie tradition that extends from Durkheim to Merton. The first section is a major, 75-page statement by Robert K. Merton, examining the development of the anomie-and-opportunity-struc-ture paradigm and its significance to criminology.The Legacy of Anomie Theory assesses the theory's continuing usefulness, explains the relevance of Merton's concept of goals/means disparity as a psychological mechanism in the explanation of delinquency, and compares strain theory with social control theory. A macrosociological theoretical formulationis used to explain the association between societal development and crime rates. In other chapters, anomie is used to explain white-collar crime and to explore the symbiotic relationship between Chinese gangs and adult criminal organizations within the cultural, economic, and political context of the American-Chinese community.Contributors include: David F. Greenberg, Sir Leon Radzinowicz, Richard Rosenfeld, Steven F. Messner, David Weisburd, Ellen Chayet, Ko-lin Chin, Jeffrey Pagan, John P. Hoffmann, Timothy Ireland, S. George Vincent-nathan, Michael J. Lynch, W. Byron Groves, C. Ray Jeffery, Gilbert Geis, Thomas J. Bernard, Nikos Passas, Robert Agnew, Gary F. Jensen, Deborah V. Cohen, Elin Waring, and Bonnie Berry. The Legacy of Anomie Theory \s important for criminologists, sociologists, psychologists, and other professionals seeking to understand crime and violence in culture.

This title was first published in 2001. This book explores the complex and often striking differences between national and local perspectives, particularly those of racial minorities, on crime prevention and the role that community residents should play in prevention programmes.