Criminal psychology is the application of the principles of normal and abnormal psychology to the understanding, prediction, and control of criminal behavior. Criminal Psychology: Nature, Nurture, Culture provides an in-depth yet readable introduction to the foundations of criminal psychology as it is understood and practiced from the classroom to the courtroom. The book is organized into five sections. Part I examines the nature and origins of criminal behavior. These chapters outline the role of psychology in the criminal justice system, and review the biology, psychology, and sociology of crime to develop a naturalistic model of criminal behavior that can guide theory and practice in law enforcement, criminal justice, and forensic evaluation. Part II examines the major classes of mental disorder that may be associated with criminal behavior, including psychotic disorders, mood disorders, organic brain syndromes, substance abuse, and personality disorders. Each chapter consists of a description of the syndrome, followed by applications to law enforcement, criminal justice, and forensic mental health issues of competency, sanity, and criminal culpability. Part III deals with death. Topics include homicide, serial murder, mass homicide, workplace and school violence, and terrorism. Part IV covers sexual offenses and crimes within the family, including rape and sexual assault, sex crimes against children, child battery, domestic violence, and family homicide. Part V discusses the psychological dynamics of a variety of common crimes, such as stalking and harassment, theft and robbery, gang violence, organized crime, arson, hate crimes, victimology, the psychology of corrections, and the death penalty. Each chapter contains explanatory tables and sidebars that illustrate the chapter’s main topic with examples from real-life cases and the media, and explore controversies surrounding particular issues in criminal psychology, such as criminal profiling, sexual predator laws, dealing with children who kill, psychotherapy with incarcerated offenders, and the use of “designer defenses” in court. Grounded in thorough scholarship and written in a crisp, engaging style, this volume is the definitive handbook and reference source for forensic psychologists, mental health practitioners, attorneys, judges, law enforcement professionals, and military personnel. It will also serve as an authoritative core text for courses in forensic psychology, criminology, and criminal justice practice.

This book provides an accessible introduction to the increasingly popular subject of criminal psychology. It explores the application of psychology to understanding the crime phenomenon, criminal behaviour,solving crimes, the court process and punishment rehabilitation. It will be an invaluable resource for anybody taking courses in this field, in particular students taking the criminal psychology/forensic psychology components of the main A-level psychology specifications. The book is fully in line with the new A-level specifications being taught from September 2009. Each chapter includes case studies, keystudies, evaluations and a range of discussion questions. Apart from providing in depth and up-to-date knowledge on criminal psychology, the book is equally up-to-date on trends and issues in criminal justice today.

Applied Criminal Psychology provides the reader with a comprehensive and practical guide to psychological research and techniques. It is introductory and wide-ranging and covers important forensic aspects of psychology, psychiatry, and behavioral sciences. Many key forensic issues are covered, including personality disorders, risk assessment, the forensic psychologist as an expert witness, detecting deception, eyewitness memory, cognitive interviewing, forensic hypnosis, false confessions, criminal profiling, and crisis negotiation. With this new edition and starting with the first two chapters, significant focus has been placed upon Psychopathy and the closely associated DSM category of Anti-Social Personality Disorder. Another new chapter has also been included dedicated to the principles of law associated with an accused person's mental status. The book is international and interdisciplinary in its scope and focus. Many of the contributors to this book are well known scholars and/or practitioners. It will be of great interest to psychologists, psychiatrists, criminologists, legal professionals, law enforcement personnel and students who are planning careers in forensic psychology, criminology, and policing.

Offender profiling has been developing slowly as a possible investigative tool since 1841 and the publication of Edgar Allen Poe's The Murder in the Rue Morgue. In this book, detective C. Auguste Dupin demonstrates the ability to follow the thought patterns of a companion while they stroll through Paris for 15 minutes without speaking a word. Today

This comprehensive, four-volume reference set on the subject of criminal psychology includes contributions from top scholars and practitioners in the field, explaining new and emerging theory and research in the study of the criminal mind and criminal behavior. Unfortunately, criminal behavior surrounds us in our society—from petty theft and vandalism to multimillion-dollar white-collar crime to shocking terrorism attempts and school killings. Invariably, one of the first questions is, "Why did they do it?" Criminal psychology seeks to solve this complex puzzle. In this four-volume reference work, a unparalleled team of leading experts offer an exhaustive look at the history, developments, emerging and classic research issues, controversies, and victories in the expanding field of criminal psychology. The first volume examines the general theories in the study of criminal psychology. The second volume focuses more specifically on research of criminal behavior and crime types, while the last two volumes delve into criminal justice and forensic applications. The comprehensive content allows readers to better understand criminal behavior and appreciate the specific criminal justice and forensic settings in which this theory and research is applied, such as criminal profiling, forensic assessment of danger, and correctional rehabilitation and offender reentry.

The Psychology of Criminal and Antisocial Behavior: Victim and Offenders Perspectives is not just another formulaic book on forensic psychology. Rather, it opens up new areas of enquiry to busy practitioners and academics alike, exploring topics using a practical approach to social deviance that is underpinned by frontier research findings, policy, and international trends. From the relationship between psychopathology and crime, and the characteristics of catathymia, compulsive homicide, sadistic violence, and homicide victimology, to adult sexual grooming, domestic violence, and honor killings, experts in the field provide insight into the areas of homicide, violent crime, and sexual predation. In all, more than 20 internationally recognized experts in their fields explore these and other topic, also including discussing youth offending, love scams, the psychology of hate, public threat assessment, querulence, stalking, arson, and cults. This edited work is an essential reference for academics and practitioners working in any capacity that intersects with offenders and victims of crime, public policy, and roles involving the assessment, mitigation, and investigation of criminal and antisocial behavior. It is particularly ideal for those working in criminology, psychology, law and law enforcement, public policy, and for social science students seeking to explore the nature and character of criminal social deviance. - Includes twenty chapters across a diverse range of criminal and antisocial subject areas - Authored by an international panel of experts in their respective fields that provide a multi-cultural perspective on the issues of crime and antisocial behavior - Explores topics from both victim and offender perspectives - Includes chapters covering research, practice, policy, mitigation, and prevention - Provides an easy to read and consistent framework, making the text user-friendly as a ready-reference desktop guide

It is a conundrum that has vexed societies throughout history: how do you deal with those that break the law? If their aim is to evade you, how do you identify them? If their aim is to lie, how do you interview them? If they don’t see their actions are wrong, how do you help them to successfully reform? Criminal psychology is the discipline which tackles these challenges head on. From the signals which give away we’re lying to the psychological profiling of violent offenders, this exhaustive guide, written by the UK’s top experts, is the perfect introduction. Also covering policing, and the much debated topic of sexual offenders and their treatment, it will demonstrate how understanding the mind will help us to view modern justice from a more informed perspective.

Television programs and feature films present criminal psychology and profiling as a blend of psychic visions, supernatural intuition, and evidence analysis. The reality, however, is quite different. Using true-crime case studies from history and the present, examples from current and former FBI profilers, and informative sidebars, Criminal Psychology & Personality Profiling explores the many roles and responsibilities criminal psychologists and profilers fill as they support other professionals in addressing crime and its consequences. From crime-scene analysis to offering expert testimony in court, these behavioral scientists offer an understanding of crime, the criminal mind, and those affected by crime.