The Sicilian mafia is a subject of endless fascination, but few serious books have been written about it. In this provocative work, Christopher Duggan argues that the idea of the mafia is a fiction, born of political calculation and genuine misunderstanding of the behaviour of Sicilians. The first part of the book looks at the development of the idea of the mafia from the 1860s, when the term first appeared, to the Second World War. Although all serious observers realised that there was no organised criminal society in Sicily, Duggan explains why the idea was perpetuated. When the island became part of unified Italy in 1860, hostility to the new state was claimed by officials to be criminally inspired, and they spoke for the first time of 'the Mafia'. The distinctive values of the Sicilians, such as their belief in private justice and unwillingness to cooperate with the police, reinforced the idea of a secret criminal society. From then on, many of Sicily's political and social problems were attributed to this mythical organisation.In the second part of the book, to illustrate the general observations made in the first, Duggan provides a detailed study of the repressive campaign conducted by the fascist government against the mafia in the 1920s. Making use of private papers, police files, and trial proceedings, he concludes that the mafia was primarily an idea exploited for political ends, and that its use only strengthened many Sicilians' deep mistrust of the state. This lively book is a penetrating account of the origins of the mafia myth and the first study of the impact of fascism on Sicily. It will be of great interest to historians of modern Italy, to anthropologists, and to criminologists, as well as to those who are actively engaged in the fight against organised crime. Christopher Duggan was a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, and Lecturer in Italian History and Director of the Centre for the Advanced Study of Italian Society at Reading University. He is co-author, with Denis Mack Smith and Moses Finley, of 'A History of Sicily' (1986).

The role of behavioral and social sciences in the courtroom setting has expanded exponentially in the past few decades. It is now widely recognized that scientists in these areas provide critical contextual information for legal decision making, and that there is a reliable knowledge base for doing so. While there are many handbooks of forensic psychology, this is the first such volume to incorporate sociological findings, broadening the conceptual basis for examining cases in both the civil and criminal realms, including immigration issues, personal injury, child custody, and sexual harassment. This volume will examine the responsibilities of expert witnesses and consultants, and how they may utilize principles, theories and methods from both sociology and psychology. It will show these disciplines together can improve the identification and apprehension of criminals, as well as enhance the administration of justice by clarifying profiles of criminal behavior, particularly in cases of serial killers, death threat makers, stalkers, and kidnappers. The volume is quite comprehensive, covering a range of medical, school, environmental and business settings. Throughout it links basic ideas to real applications and their impact on the justice system.

Eyewitness testimony is highly compelling in a criminal trial, and can have an indelible impact on jurors. However, two decades of research on the subject have shown us that eyewitnesses are sometimes wrong, even when they are highly confident that they are making correct identifications. This book brings together an impressive group of researchers and practicing attorneys to provide current overviews and critiques of key topics in eyewitness testimony.

Yar examines the autobiographies of fallen sports stars, exploring their fall from grace and the stigma it entails. Drawing upon sociological and criminological perspectives, it illuminates how fallen stars use confessional acts of story-telling to seek forgiveness, vindication and redemption.

This engrossing book takes readers through the entire investigative process of five murder cases, with Dr. Lee as the gruesome tour guide. The cases include the O.J. Simpson case and the death of an Eastern Airlines pilot. Illustrations.

This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of why taxpayers behave the way they do. It reveals the motivations for why some taxpayers comply with the law while others choose not to comply. Given the current global financial climate there is a need for governments worldwide to increase their revenue collections via improving taxpayer compliance. Research into what shapes and influences taxpayer behavior is critical in that any marginal improvement in understanding and dealing with this behavior can potentially have a dramatic impact upon government revenue. Based on Australian data derived from the data bases of the Australian Taxation Office as an example, this book presents findings that provide lessons for tax systems around the world. Regardless of the type of tax system in place, taxpayers of all nationalities are concerned about how their tax authorities deal with non-compliance and in particular how the tax authorities go about encouraging compliance and ensuring a fair tax system for all. The book presents empirical evidence concerning taxpayer compliance behavior with particular attention being drawn to the moral values of taxpayers, the perceived fairness of the tax system and the deterrent measures undertaken by revenue authorities which influence that behavior. Other issues examined include the degree to which tax penalties operate as an effective deterrent to curbing behavior and how taxpayers' level of general tax knowledge and awareness also impacts upon their actions.

This book explores pain in a number of ways. At the heart of the book is an extension of Melzack's neuromatrix theory of pain into the social, cultural, and economic fields. Specific assemblages involving varied institutions, flows of capital, encounters, and social and economic structures provide a framework for the formation of pain, its perception, experience, meaning, and cultural production. Complementing the extended neuromatrix is a second theory, focussed on the propensity of western market capitalism to seek out new areas of life to subsume to capital. Pain is one such life area that is now ripe for exploitation. Although the book has theory at its heart, it draws extensively on case studies to identify the contradictions and complexities. Case studies are drawn from accounts of drug use in varied contexts such as prescription drugs, methamphetamine use, oxycodone use in North America, and the global rise of the medicinal cannabis marketplace.

This book explores the use of the internet by (non-Islamic) extremist groups, drawing together research by scholars across the social sciences and humanities. It offers a broad overview of the best of research in this area, including research contributions that address far-right, (non-Islamic) religious, animal rights, and nationalist violence online, as well as a discussion of the policy and research challenges posed by these unique and disparate groups. It offers an academically rigorous, introductory text that addresses extremism online, making it a valuable resource for students, practitioners and academics seeking to understand the unique characteristics such risks present.

The criminal class was seen as a violent, immoral and dissolute sub-section of Victorian London's population. Making their living through crime and openly hostile to society, the lives of these criminals were characterised by drunkenness, theft and brutality. This book explores whether this criminal class did indeed truly exist, and the effectivenessof measures brought against it. Tracing the notion of the criminal class from as early as the 16th century, this book questions whether this sub-section of society did indeed exist. Bach discusses how unease of London's notorious rookeries, the frenzy of media attention and a [word deleted here] panic among the general public enforced and encouraged the fear of the 'criminal class' and perpetuated state efforts of social control. Using the Habitual Criminals Bills, this book explores how and why this legislation was introduced to deal with repeat offenders, and assesses how successful its repressive measures were. Demonstrating how the Metropolitan Police Force and London's Magistrates were not always willing tools of the British state, this book uses court records and private correspondence to reveal how inconsistent and unsuccessful many of these measures and punishments were, and calls into question the notion that the state gained control over recidivists in this period.

Criminology has expanded significantly as an academic discipline, but it has been argued that it is becoming increasingly socially and politically irrelevant. This books aims to address this problem by rethinking the theoretical underpinnings and research methods we use, to form a criminology that is critical, engaged and useful.The left realist approach to criminology has changed considerably over the past twenty years and continues to make an important contribution to the theoretical study of crime, as well as issues such as crime prevention, policing, prisons, and community safety. As one of the pioneers of realist criminology, Roger Matthews presents a coherent overview of its development and continued relevance. By providing a critique of some of the dominant approaches in criminology, this book sets a new agenda for theoretical and practical engagement and will appeal to all those interested in making sense of contemporary forms of social control and developing types of analysis and intervention which are designed to produce a more effective and just criminal justice system.

This book analyses existing work on Marxism and criminological theory, then discusses the main concepts available for further work in this area.It shows how Marxism is still relevant after the fall of the Soviet Union. It puts Marx back into criminological thinking. It shows how an understanding of Marx is invaluable in the study of crime and criminal justice.This volume looks at Marxist thought in criminology, the work of Willem Bonger, Georg Rusche and Otto Kircheimer, and assesses the role of Marxist analysis in areas such as Critical Criminology and Left Realism. Arguing that Marxism is relevant in the post-Soviet era, it offers a 'toolkit' of Marxist theories and how to use them.

Contributing to the literature on comparative criminal procedure and Latin American law, this book examines the effects of adversarial criminal justice reforms on victim's rights by specifically analyzing the Colombian criminal justice reform of the early 2000s. This research focuses on the production, interpretation, and implementation of rules and institutions by exploring how different actors have employed the concept of victims and victims' rights to promote their agendas in the context of criminal justice reforms. It also analyzes how the goals of these agendas have interplayed in practice. By the early 2000s, it seemed that the Colombian criminal justice system was headed towards a process characterized by broader victim participation, primarily because of the doctrine of the Constitutional Court on victims' rights. But in 2002, the Colombian Attorney General promoted a more adversarial criminal justice reform. This book argues that this reform represented a sudden and unpredicted reversal of the Constitutional Court's doctrine on victim participation, even though one of the central justifications for the reform was the need to satisfy human rights standards and adhere to the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court on victims' rights. In the criminal justice reform of the early 2000s and its subsequent modifications, the promotion of a dichotomous interpretation of the adversarial model-which conceived the criminal process as a competition between prosecution and defense-served to limit victim participation. This study examines how conceptions of victims' rights emerged out of the struggles between different and at times competing agendas. In the Colombian process of reform, victims' rights have been invoked both as a justification for criminal sanctions and as an explanation for crime prevention and restorative justice. After assessing quantitative and qualitative data, this book concludes that punitive approaches to victims' rights have prevailed over restorative justice perspectives. Furthermore, it argues that punitiveness in the criminal justice system has not resulted in more protection for victims. Ultimately, this research reveals that the adversarial criminal justice reform of the early 2000s has not substantially improved the protection of victims' rights in Colombia.

Service-learning is an approach to teaching and learning that can help students acquire academic skills and knowledge, develop strong interpersonal skills and self-knowledge, become more civic minded, and gain understanding of their connected to their communities and society. This learning and development occurs by having students provide meaningful service through which they serve as an important resource to the community and systematically reflect on the process with their teachers, mentors, and/or advisors. This book series will gather current research on servicelearning in K-12 education, teacher education, and higher education. Along with chapters highlighting the findings of service-learning research studies, the book will include thought pieces that identify theoretical groundings of servicelearning and present methodological approaches for studying service-learning (including teacher action research).

This book argues that multiculturalism remains a relevant and vital framework through which to understand and construct inclusive forms of citizenship. Responding to contemporary ethnic and religious diversity in European states and the position of religious minorities, debates in multiculturalism have revitalized discussion of the public role of religion, yet multiculturalism has been increasingly challenged in both political as well as academic circles. With a focus on Britain and through a study of the narratives of British converts to Islam, this book engages in debates centered around multiculturalism, particularly on the issues of identity, recognition, and difference. Yet, it also identifies and interrogates multiculturalism's shortcomings in relation to specifically religious identities and belonging. In a unique and innovative analysis, this book combines a discussion of multiculturalism in Britain with insights from political theology. It juxtaposes multiculturalism's concepts of ethno-religious identity and recognition with the notions of religiosity and hospitality to offer a new perspective on religious identity and the implications of this for thinking with and about multiculturalism and multicultural social and political relations.

Increasingly, international governmental networks and organisations make it necessary to master the legal principles of other jurisdictions. Since the advent of international criminal tribunals this need has fully reached criminal law. A large part of their work is based on comparative research. The legal systems which contribute most to this systemic discussion are common law and civil law, sometimes called continental law. So far this dialogue appears to have been dominated by the former. While there are many reasons for this, one stands out very clearly: Language. English has become the lingua franca of international legal research. The present book addresses this issue. Thomas Vormbaum is one of the foremost German legal historians and the book's original has become a cornerstone of research into the history of German criminal law beyond doctrinal expositions; it allows a look at the system s genesis, its ideological, political and cultural roots. In the field of comparative research, it is of the utmost importance to have an understanding of the law s provenance, in other words its historical DNA."

The figure of the detective has long excited the imagination of the wider public, and the English police detective has been a special focus of attention in both print and visual media. Yet, while much has been written in the last three decades about the history of uniformed policemen in England, no similar work has focused on police detectives. The Ascent of the Detective redresses this by exploring the diverse and often arcane world of English police detectives during the formative period of their profession, from 1842 until the First World War, with special emphasis on the famed detective branch established at Scotland Yard.
The book starts by illuminating the detectives' socioeconomic background, how and why they became detectives, their working conditions, the differences between them and uniformed policemen, and their relations with the wider community. It then goes on to trace the factors that shaped their changing public image, from the embodiment of 'un-English' values to plebeian knights in armour, investigating the complex and symbiotic exchange between detectives and journalists, and analysing their image as it unfolded in the press, in literature, and in their own memoirs.

Matthew Stolick presents a detailed social and scientific exploration of the social history of cannabis, chemical make-up of the cannabis plant, and effects of cannabis use. By offering a truly interdisciplinary look at this highly political issue, he clearly articulates the reasoning behind the categorical rejection of legal cannabis use by the United States and other nations. Approaching the discussion of cannabis use from perspectives embedded within philosophy, political science, psychology, and neurobiology, Stolick provides an even-handed account of the scientific realities and social practicalities surrounding the use of cannabis for both medical and recreational purposes. Drawing on the moral thought of Aristotle, Kant, Mill, and Christianity, the book demonstrates the amoral nature of cannabis use. Grounding discussion of cannabis use in both moral theory and scientific fact, this book gives readers a thorough understanding of the social and political issues that continue to dictate cannabis law.

The art world has been discovered by criminals as an effective way for money laundering and other clandestine activities on an international level. Unfortunately, in most countries investigators, prosecutors, judges, and regulatory agencies are not equipped to accurately detect, investigate and prosecute this type of criminal activity. Also, regulation and international laws and treaties involving the art world have many loopholes that can potentially lead to the laundering of large sums of money. This book provides a bird s eye view of novel ways in which money laundering happens through illegal activities involving art. It can serve as a guide for law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, and others involved in efforts to curb money laundering and financing of terrorism, revealing why somehow new techniques used by criminals have been neglected by law enforcement in most countries. Drawing from his own experience with the matter in both Brazil and in the United States, the author makes a case for broader institutional and regulatory improvement, extending beyond mere regulation of the art market."

This book presents new conceptual and theoretical approaches to violence studies. As the first research anthology to examine violating interpersonal, institutional and ideological practices as both gendered and affective processes, it raises novel questions and offers insights for understanding and resolving social and cultural problems related to violence and its prevention. The book offers multidisciplinary perspectives on various forms and intersections of different types of violence. The research ranges from the early modern era to the present day in Europe, US, Africa and Australia, representing disciplines such as gender studies, history, literature, linguistics, media and cultural studies, psychology, social psychology, social work, social policy, sociology and environmental humanities. With its integrative approach, the book proposes new ideas and tools for academics and practitioners to improve their theoretical and practical understandings of these phenomena as a source of multidimensional inequality in a globalized world.

Recognize the con artist before you get taken! Schulte exposes dozens of telephone, mail, and computer-based scams, explaining how they work and how you can avoid becoming their next victim.

"... a must for anyone who wants to be informed about ways consumers can be fleeced by phone-room sharpies". -- Chicago Tribune

This book is about the human factor in cybercrime: its offenders, victims and parties involved in tackling cybercrime. It takes a diverse international perspective of the response to and prevention of cybercrime by seeking to understand not just the technological, but the human decision-making involved. This edited volume represents the state of the art of research on the human factor in cybercrime, addressing its victims, offenders, and policing. It originated at the Second annual Conference on the Human Factor in Cybercrime, held in The Netherlands in October 2019, bringing together empirical research from a variety of disciplines, and theoretical and methodological approaches. This volume will be of particular interest to researchers and students in cybercrime and the psychology of cybercrime, as well as policy makers and law enforcement interested in prevention and detection.

"Statistics in Criminal Justice" takes an approach that emphasizes the application and interpretation of statistics in research in crime and justice. This text is meant for both students and researchers who want to gain a basic understanding of common statistical methods used in this field. In general, the text relies on a building-block approach, meaning that each chapter helps to prepare the student for the chapters that follow. It also means that the level of sophistication of the text increases as the text progresses. Throughout the text there is an emphasis on comprehension and interpretation, rather than computation. However, as the statistical methods discussed become more complex and demanding to compute, there is increasing use and integration of statistical software. This approach is meant to provide the reader with an accessible, yet sophisticated understanding of statistics that can be used to examine real-life criminal justice problems with popular statistical software programs. The primary goal of the text is to give students and researchers a basic understanding of statistical concepts and methods that will leave them with the confidence and the tools for tackling more complex problems on their own.

New to the 4th Edition

.New chapteron experimental design and the analysis of experimental data.

.New chapteron multi-level models, including growth-curve models.

. New computer exercises throughout the text to illustrate the use of both SPSS and Stata.

. Revision of exercises at the end of each chapter that places greater emphasis on using statistical software.

. Additional resources on the text s web site for instructors and students, including answers to selected problems, syntax for replicating text examples in SPSS and Stata, and other materials that can be used to supplement the use of the text."

James Campbell provides an in-depth survey of crime, punishment and justice in African American history. Presenting cutting-edge scholarship on issues of criminal justice in African American history in an accessible way for students, he makes connections between black experiences of criminal justice and violence from the slave era to the present.

Drug Law Reform in East and Southeast Asia is a multi-author look at drugs in East and Southeast Asia, on drug policy, patterns and trends, local problems, human rights abuses, treatment prospects, and potential reforms. From the history of drugs in Asia, the book examines recent trends in illicit drugs, especially the present enormous amphetamine problems. It addresses recent policy shifts, especially harm reduction responses to the devastating drug-associated HIV epidemics. It explores further necessary reform, especially in regard to the abysmally inhuman current emphasis on detention and the death penalty for drug offences, and present the most recent evidence on effective and humane approaches to drug treatments. As the first comprehensive collection on illicit drug and harm reduction in East and Southeast Asia, it will be a vital resource for health professionals, policymakers, and others working there and elsewhere on drug policy reform. As the first comprehensive collection on illicit drugs and harm reduction in East and Southeast Asia, it will be a vital resource for health professionals, policymakers, and others working on East and Southeast Asia--and elsewhere--on drug policy."