This book provides a synthesis of recent research on the history of crime and criminal justice in Europe from the mid-18th to the mid-20th centuries. It tackles the subject chronologically, paying due attention to the evolving economic, social, and political aspects of the continent over the two centuries. It addresses specifically the different forms of criminal offending and the changing interpretations and understandings of that offending at both elite and popular levels. It explores how both old regimes and the new nation states, that emerged in the early 19th century, responded to criminal activity with the development of police forces and the refinement of forms of punishment.

Crime in the United States has fluctuated considerably over the past thirty years, as have the policy approaches to deal with it. During this time, criminologists and other scholars have helped to shed light on the roles of incarceration, prevention, drugs, guns, policing, and numerous other aspects to crime control. Yet the latest research is rarely heard in public discussions and is often missing from the desks of policymakers. This book summarizes the latest scientific information on the causes of crime and the evidence about what does and does not work to control it. As with previous editions, each essay reviews the existing literature, discusses the methodological rigor of the studies, identifies what policies and programs the studies suggest, and then points to policies now implemented that fail to reflect the evidence. The chapters cover the principle institutions of the criminal justice system (juvenile justice, police, prisons, probation and parole, sentencing), how broader aspects of social life inhibit or encourage crime (biology, schools, families, communities), and topics currently generating a great deal of attention (criminal activities of gangs, sex offenders, prisoner reentry, changing crime rates).

How did ideas about crime and criminals change in Europe from around 1750 to 1940? How did European states respond to these changes with the development of police and penal institutions? Clive Emsley addresses these questions using recent research on the history of crime and criminal justice in Europe. Exploring the subject chronologically, he addresses the forms of offending, the changing interpretations and understandings of that offending at both elite and popular levels, and how the emerging nation states of the period responded to criminal activity by the development of police forces and the refinement of forms of punishment. The book focuses on the comparative nature in which different states studied each other and their institutions, and the ways in which different reformers exchanged ideas and investigated policing and penal experiments in other countries. It also explores the theoretical issues underpinning recent research, emphasising that the changes in ideas on crime and criminals were neither linear nor circular, and demonstrating clearly that many ideas hailed as new by contemporary politicians and in current debate on crime and its 'solutions', have a very long and illustrious history.

Crime control has risen rapidly up the social and political agendas to become a central feature of western societies. This book is concerned with issues arising from these developments. Top criminologists from Britain, the USA and Australia explore the links between crime and risk through a range of themes, from the depiction of crime in the media to the dilemmas of policing, to the new punitiveness of criminal justice systems and the custodial warehousing of the poor and excluded.

Following the USA, in many Western countries over the last decade, prison rates have increased while crime rates have declined. This key book examines the role played by penal populism on this and other trends in contemporary penal policy.

This book brings together leading international criminologist to examine the link between the fruits of criminological research and the development of criminal justice policy. This volume includes comparative discussions of the United States, Germany, Australia, England and Wales. It is divided into four parts: Part 1 discusses the theoretical issues surrounding the relationship between public policy and the discipline of criminology; Part 2 consists of three essays exploring historical aspects of that relationship. Part 3 then examines three distinct areas of penal policy: sentencing, policing and parole; Part 4 is devoted to international comparisons and considers the factors that distinguish research projects that influence criminal justice policy from those that appear not have any influence.

This book aims to explore a number of connected themes relating to compliance, legitimacy and trust in different areas of criminal justice and socio-legal regulation.

As crime increasingly crosses national boundaries, and international co-operation takes firmer shape, so the development of ideas and policy on the control of crime has become an increasingly international and transnational affair. This book is concerned both with the very specific issue of 'policy transfer' within the crime control arena, and with the issues raised by a more broadly conceptualized idea of comparative policy analysis.