A substantive guide to state of the art research and theory, the International Handbook of Criminology completes an esteemed trilogy of comparative analyses and insight from worldwide experts. Exploring a phenomenon that penetrates cultures of all racial, ethnic, and social classes, this volume continues in the tradition of its predecessors in the series by updating research on longstanding issues and offering perspectives into new problems and trends.

Topics in this volume include:

• the etiology of crime
• historical antecedents of contemporary responses to crime
• life course criminology
• the basis for comparative research in criminal justice
• sources and strategies for knowledge acquisition in criminology
• specific forms of crime and criminal behavior, including environmental, sex-related, and financial
• responses to crime, including technological, societal, and policy-related
• crime issues related to social divisions.

Assembling the works of leading criminologists in Europe, the Americas, the Pacific, the Mediterranean, and Australasia, this volume reflects the need for a re-evaluation of the field of criminology in response to the changing theoretical framework that has occurred in recent years. In doing so, it further elevates the level of discourse and sets the stage for innovative research projects and solutions.

Those wishing to continue their studies should consult the International Handbook of Victimology and the International Handbook of Penology and Criminal Justice, which complete the trilogy.

At the outset of the twenty-first century, more than 9 million people are held in custody in over 200 countries around the world. --from the essay "Prisons and Jails" by Ron King The first comparative study of this increasingly integral social subject, International Handbook of Penology and Criminal Justice provides a comprehensive and balanced review of the philosophy and practicality of punishment. Drawn from the expertise of scholars and researchers from around the world, this book covers the theory, practice, history, and empirical evidence surrounding crime prevention, identification, retribution, and incarceration. It analyzes the efficacy of both traditional methods and thinking as well as novel concepts and approaches. Beginning with a study of the changing attitude of penal practice in Florida from one of offender transformation to one of risk-management, imprisonment, surveillance, and control, this volume embarks on an objective and sober appraisal of every aspect of the field. Contributions consider the sociology of incarcerated prisoners including the increasing prevalence of prison suicides. The book evaluates arguments regarding the world-wide abolition of capitol punishment from moral, utilitarian, and practical positions. It examines non-incarcerative and alternative punishments such as financial restoration and restrictions of liberty, as well as the positive effects of Victim Offender Mediation. It also considers several methods aimed at achieving measurable crime prevention including identifying at-risk juveniles and minimizing crimes of opportunity, as well as the pros and cons of employing the coercive power of police. Further essays consider subjects such as international policing, the roles of prosecution and defense attorneys, current discretionary sentencing practices, and the role and treatment of victims. The volume concludes with two chapters of case studies that provide a "hands-on" feel for the interplay of the concepts discussed. This volume is the first in a three-part trilogy. See also The International Handbook of Victimology and The International Handbook of Criminology.

In the nearly four decades since the First International Symposium on Victimology convened in Jerusalem in 1973, some concepts and themes have continued to hold a prominent place in the literature, while new ones have also emerged. Exploring enduring topics such as conceptions of victimhood, secondary and hidden victimization, and social services for victims along with more recent issues, the International Handbook of Victimology provides an interdisciplinary study of the topic from a diverse range of professionals on the cutting edge of victimology research.

Forty experts from top research facilities and universities around the world provide input on the traditional longstanding issues that surround the field of victimology and explore newer themes such as restorative justice, the use of government-sponsored crime victimization surveys, compensation and restitution schemes, and victims' rights legislation. The second in a trilogy of volumes, this handbook examines victimology from criminology, sociology, psychology, law, and philosophy perspectives. Topics discussed include:

Theoretical and historical frameworks used in the study of victimology Advances in research methods, including GIS technology Patterns of victimization, including drug- sex-, and work-related Responses to victimization by the victim and society Restorative justice issues Victimization as it occurs in various social divisions

Describing current research and identifying new ideas and topics of concern, the book collectively presents the "state-of-the-art" of the field today. In doing so, it helps to inform contemporary understanding of an eternal societal plague.

Those wishing to continue their studies should consult the International Handbook of Criminology and the International Handbook of Penology and Criminal Justice, which complete the trilogy.

In the nearly four decades since the First International Symposium on Victimology convened in Jerusalem in 1973, some concepts and themes have continued to hold a prominent place in the literature, while new ones have also emerged. Exploring enduring topics such as conceptions of victimhood, secondary and hidden victimization, and social services for victims along with more recent issues, the International Handbook of Victimology provides an interdisciplinary study of the topic from a diverse range of professionals on the cutting edge of victimology research. Forty experts from top research facilities and universities around the world provide input on the traditional longstanding issues that surround the field of victimology and explore newer themes such as restorative justice, the use of government-sponsored crime victimization surveys, compensation and restitution schemes, and victims' rights legislation. The second in a trilogy of volumes, this handbook examines victimology from criminology, sociology, psychology, law, and philosophy perspectives. Topics discussed include: Theoretical and historical frameworks used in the study of victimology Advances in research methods, including GIS technology Patterns of victimization, including drug- sex-, and work-related Responses to victimization by the victim and society Restorative justice issues Victimization as it occurs in various social divisions Describing current research and identifying new ideas and topics of concern, the book collectively presents the "state-of-the-art" of the field today. In doing so, it helps to inform contemporary understanding of an eternal societal plague. Those wishing to continue their studies should consult the International Handbook of Criminology and the

There is an unbridgeable controversy between the functionalist sociologist who anchors his theories on society and the group, and the existentialist who bathes his thoughts on the individual. Durkheim and Parsons, as well as many contemporary American sociologists, are adjustment based in the sense that all those individuals who rock the boat even if they are creative innovators would be labelled deviant or mad. The existentialists, from Kierkegaard to Buber, regard the individual as the focus of life; they see philosophy and society as at best a curbing control-structure and at worst coercing, stigmatizing and ostracizing. The present volume treads in the giant footsteps of Albert Camus who saw the absurd as the conflictual encounter between the individual and society. Society and the Absurd attempts to overcome this deep sociological controversy by investigating absurdity through the prism of an interdisciplinary theory of personality.

This book explores the relationship between creative innovation, deviance and morbidity. To innovate, one has to be able to view the medium and the object of creativity in a different, hitherto unexplored manner. The essence of art is creative innovation, coupled with an ability, in varying degrees, to transcend the boundaries of consciousness. But this 'ability' is also the prerogative of the mentally deranged. Likewise, the criminal and the deviant are more likely to transcend normative barriers while creating, hence the wide range of criminal and deviant behaviour in society. Although the inverse hypothesis does not hold -- the mere existence of deviance or morbidity does not predispose the individual to creativity -- nevertheless criminal and mad behaviour are often very innovative. This thesis is illustrated by historical case histories of creative deviance and genius madness, and contemporary observations. The painter Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio killed a man while still a teenager, and a second victim during a ball game. In his lifetime he was considered degenerate, but today he is considered the greatest painter of the Italian Settecento, and his portrait adorns the Hundred-Thousand Lira note. Jean Genet the homosexual thief was born out of wedlock and as a teenager he transgressed almost all the paragraphs of the French criminal code. But he became a famous French playwright, the mouthpiece for criminals and deviants. His plays built up a philosophical apology for the raison d'etre of the criminal group.

These psychological dynamics are presented by way of the developmental and relationship experiences we have with the outside world - alternations between conflict and a striving to revert back to earlier developmental phases. At any given moment of our lives there is a gap between our desires for participation and our subjectively defined distance from our participatory aims. This gap is denoted the Tantalus Ratio, after the Olympian demigod. Transcendental longings and quests are explored in their actual structuring of the human personality. This new Theory of Personality also explores the mytho-empirical manifestation of the normative sacrifice of the young, denoted as the Isaac Syndrome. The author pays homage to Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus by recognising the absurd drudgeries of man's existence, the maddening routines, the point-lessness of being, the silence of god, and the cruelty of man to man. Examples from literature and myth demonstrate that if man can find a creative modus vivendi with his pitiful 'stone' burden, then the vicissitudes of existence can become punctuated with meaning, satisfaction and even happiness.;Like Camus, the author concludes that it is only through creative rebellion that man can find authenticity.

Art, Crime and Madness explores the relationship between creative innovation, deviance and morbidity. To innovate, one has to be able to view the medium and the object of creativity in a different, hitherto unexplored manner. The essence of art is creative innovation, coupled with an ability, in varying degrees, to transcend the boundaries of consciousness. But this 'ability' is also the prerogative of the mentally deranged. Likewise, the criminal and the deviant are more likely to transcend normative barriers while creating, hence the wide range of criminal and deviant behaviour in society. Although the inverse hypothesis does not hold -- the mere existence of deviance or morbidity does not predispose the individual to creativity -- nevertheless criminal and mad behaviour are often very innovative. This thesis is illustrated by historical case histories of creative deviance and genius madness, and contemporary observations. The painter Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio killed a man while still a teenager, and a second victim during a ball game. In his lifetime he was considered degenerate, but today he is considered the greatest painter of the Italian Settecento, and his portrait adorns the Hundred-Thousand Lira note. Jean Genet the homosexual thief was born out of wedlock and as a teenager he transgressed almost all the paragraphs of the French criminal code. But he became a famous French playwright, the mouthpiece for criminals and deviants. His plays built up a philosophical apology for the raison d'etre of the criminal group.

This study traces the influence of Gnosis in European culture. Gnostic roots can be traced to the paintings of Hieronymous Bosch and William Blake, the romanticism of Novalis, the symbolic poetry of Gerard de Nerval, the dualistic writings of Herman Hesse, and to Heideggerean existentialism. Gnostic alternations between grace and damnation permeate the work of Luis Bunuel, and many others.;The idea that the body is the prison of the soul was expounded by Pythagoras, Plato, and the Orphics. Yet with the Gnostics the dualism of soul-spirit/body-matter became complete. Objects and lifeforms were created by an evil deity, whereas the souls embedded in them are particles chipped from an alien, boundless and eternal divinity. This book is interdisciplinary, combining personality theory, mythology and theology. It integrates ontological/ideological philosophy in bio-psycho-sociology. The claim is that Gnosis, Kabbala and Existentialism are the specific disciplines linking the dualities of human existence. Finally, an anthropocentric theory of religion is presented, which links history and transcendence through the mediation of the human.

Torah Torah Torah by Prof. Shlomo Giora Shoham is an amazing work, exceptional in every way. Written in the form of intimate diary entries ascribed to the famous Palestinian sage Yochanan Ben-Zakkai, the book is based on the Talmudic tradition that Ben-Zakkai saved the world of Jewish learning during the great revolt against Rome by acquiring the Emperor's permission to study and teach Torah in Yavne, a small settlement outside Jerusalem. Shoham's broad knowledge of history, religious sources and western philosophy enable him to introduce fascinating interpretations of the great ideas and movements that were current in the early Christian era. Shoham offers a realistic interpretation of the life and death of Jesus Christ, the meaning of Torah learning as a substitute for Temple rituals and sacrifices, and many other elements in the religious life of the day based on his existential and dialogical point of view. With great artistry he combines historical fact with brilliant insight as expressed through the character of Yochanan. Ben-Zakkai's resistance to religious fanatics and extremists is based on the traditional legends that dominate the book. There are unmistakable implications here for contemporary religious believers. I am certain that this highly imaginative and thoughtful work will have a significant impact.

The Genesis of Genesis is about the mytho-empiricism of creation-cosmogony. In its attempt to compare the mythologies of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean cultures-Egyptian, Greek, Judaic and Mesopotamian-the Judaic cosmogony of genesis, which is unique in its reliance on the word as creative agent, is contrasted with the Egyptian, Greek and Mesopotamian mythologies, which are more deterministic.

A new approach to culture and cultural patterns is elucidated through relating a theory of personality and social characters to the genesis of myths and religions. Cultures are classified along a continuum and their relationship to a given personality structure is based on the assumptions that cultures possess generalized traits, and that these traits relate to characters of individuals. Cultures, like man, pass through the age phases of childhood, youth, manhood, culminating in old age. It is the cultural goals and the means to achieve them that become the culture pattern. What are these cultural goals? How do we achieve them? Every society and culture has its own indigenous mythology. Myths move in time from sacred myths recorded before history to modern myths, like master detectives Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, or the master spy, John Le Carre's Smiley, or even Superman, who realizes the dreams of omnipotence among the downtrodden, henpecked inhabitants of Metropolis. Thus myths provide meaning and motivation for human behavior.