In exploring the criminalization of corporations, this book uses the landmark "Ford Pinto case" as a centerpiece for exploring corporate violence and the long effort to bring such harm within the reach of the criminal law. Corporations that illegally endanger human life now must negotiate the surveillance of government regulators and risk civil suits from injured parties seeking financial compensation. They also may be charged with criminal offenses and their officials sent to prison.

White-Collar Crime: An Opportunity Perspective analyzes white-collar crime using the opportunity perspective, which assumes that all crimes depend on offenders recognizing an opportunity to commit an offense. The authors explicate the processes and situational conditions that facilitate opportunities for white-collar crimes and the likelihood of being victimized by white-collar crime. In addition, they offer potential policy solutions that will mitigate this persistent and widespread social problem while being realistic and balanced in their treatment of the difficulties of control. With this fourth edition, Benson and Simpson have enlisted the aid of two young white-collar crime scholars, Jay P. Kennedy and Melissa Rorie, who bring new areas of expertise to the book that enhance its analytical depth and coverage of both white-collar crime and the opportunity perspective. New up-to-date case studies are included along with examinations of recent investigations into white-collar crime and its control. These timely updates reaffirm that this rigorous yet accessible book will remain a core resource for undergraduate and early graduate courses on white-collar crime.

White-Collar Crime: An Opportunity Perspective analyzes white-collar crime using the opportunity perspective, which assumes that all crimes depend on offenders recognizing an opportunity to commit an offense. The authors explicate the processes and situational conditions that facilitate opportunities for white-collar crimes and the likelihood of being victimized by white-collar crime. In addition, they offer potential policy solutions that will mitigate this persistent and widespread social problem while being realistic and balanced in their treatment of the difficulties of control. With this fourth edition, Benson and Simpson have enlisted the aid of two young white-collar crime scholars, Jay P. Kennedy and Melissa Rorie, who bring new areas of expertise to the book that enhance its analytical depth and coverage of both white-collar crime and the opportunity perspective. New up-to-date case studies are included along with examinations of recent investigations into white-collar crime and its control. These timely updates reaffirm that this rigorous yet accessible book will remain a core resource for undergraduate and early graduate courses on white-collar crime.

"Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research" is a series of volumes that features scholarly work on the frontiers of interdisciplinary research on families and family life. Volume 2, "Families, Crime and Criminal Justice" reflects this pioneering orientation by bringing together new empirical research that examines the various ways that families intersect with and are affected by crime and the criminal justice system. The interdisciplinary nature of the volume is reflected in the diversity of disciplines represented, including developmental psychopathology, criminology, sociology, family studies, psychology, social work and demography. The inclusion of qualitative studies based upon observational techniques and in-depth, long interviews as well as quantitative work using demographic and survey approaches demonstrates the wide methodological range employed by the authors. The topics examined include the involvement of children in crime, the patterns and impact of violence in the home, the impact of criminal involvement on parenting strategies and youth development, the experience of families of victims and perpetrators, and responses of the criminal justice system to the needs of families.

In recent years, the lifecourse perspective has become a popular theoretical orientation toward crime. Yet despite its growing importance in the field of criminology, most textbooks give it only cursory treatment. Crime and the Lifecourse: An Introduction by Michael L. Benson provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary research and theory on the life-course approach to crime. The book emphasizes a conceptual understanding of this approach. A special feature is the integration of qualitative and quantitative research on criminal life histories. This book:

• provides an overview of the life course approach and describes the major concepts and issues in lifecourse theory as it applies to criminology
• reviews evidence on biological and genetic influences on crime
• reviews research on the role of the family in crime and juvenile delinquency
• provides a detailed discussion of the criminological lifecourse theories of Moffitt, Hagan, Sampson and Laub, and others
• discusses the connections between youthful crime and adult outcomes in education, occupation, and marriage
• presents an application of the lifecourse approach to white-collar crime
• discusses how macro sociological and historical developments have influenced the shape of the lifecourse in American society as it relates to patterns in crime.

In exploring the criminalization of corporations, this book uses the landmark "Ford Pinto case" as a centerpiece for exploring corporate violence and the long effort to bring such harm within the reach of the criminal law. Corporations that illegally endanger human life now must negotiate the surveillance of government regulators and risk civil suits from injured parties seeking financial compensation. They also may be charged with criminal offenses and their officials sent to prison.

A revised version of the first edition, titled "Corporate Crime Under Attack: The Ford Pinto Case and Beyond" -- an endeavor prompted in part by the Ford Pinto case s twenty-fifth anniversary and the corresponding recognition of the continuing significance of the issues this prosecution raised and of the important developments that have transpired in the intervening years.
In addition to the new, more descriptive subtitle, the book has been substantially remodeled and new sections added.

Although white-collar crime has caused a substantial amount of damage on both the individual and societal levels, it often ranks below street crime as a matter of public concern. Thus, white-collar crime remains an ambiguous and even controversial topic among academics, with a relative dearth of scholarly focus on the issue. The Oxford Handbook of White-Collar Crime offers a comprehensive treatment of the most up-to-date theories and research regarding white-collar crime. Contributors tackle a vast range of topics, including the impact of white-collar crime, the contexts in which white-collar crime occurs, current crime policies and debates, and examinations of the criminals themselves. The volume concludes with a set of essays that discuss potential responses for controlling white-collar crime, as well as promising new avenues for future research. Uniting conceptual theories, empirical research, and ethnographic data, the Handbook provides the first unified analytic framework on white-collar crime. Given the astronomical aggregate losses to victims, building a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics of white-collar crime is a topic of immediate social concern. The definitive resource on white-collar crime, this Handbook will be a valuable resource for developing both intellectual and policy-related solutions.

In recent years, the lifecourse perspective has become a popular theoretical orientation toward crime. Yet despite its growing importance in the field of criminology, most textbooks give it only cursory treatment. Crime and the Lifecourse: An Introduction by Michael L. Benson provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary research and theory on the life-course approach to crime. The book emphasizes a conceptual understanding of this approach. A special feature is the integration of qualitative and quantitative research on criminal life histories. This book: provides an overview of the life course approach and describes the major concepts and issues in lifecourse theory as it applies to criminology reviews evidence on biological and genetic influences on crime reviews research on the role of the family in crime and juvenile delinquency provides a detailed discussion of the criminological lifecourse theories of Moffitt, Hagan, Sampson and Laub, and others discusses the connections between youthful crime and adult outcomes in education, occupation, and marriage presents an application of the lifecourse approach to white-collar crime discusses how macro sociological and historical developments have influenced the shape of the lifecourse in American society as it relates to patterns in crime.