Deterrence, Choice, and Crime explores the various dimensions of modern deterrence theory, relevant research, and practical applications. Beginning with the classical roots of deterrence theory in Cesare Beccaria’s profoundly important contributions to modern criminological thought, the book draws out the many threads in contemporary criminology that are explicitly mentioned or at least hinted by Beccaria. These include sanction risk perceptions and their behavioral consequences, the deterrent efficacy of the certainty versus the severity of punishment, the role of celerity of punishment in the deterrence process, informal versus formal deterrence, and individual differences in deterrence. The richness of the volume is seen in the inclusion of chapters that focus on the theoretical development of deterrence across disciplines such as criminology and economics. In an innovative section, the role of agents of deterrence is considered. Lessons are learned from the practical applications of deterrence undertaken in the areas of policing, corrections, and the community. The closing section includes Michael Tonry’s "An Honest Politician’s Guide to Deterrence: Certainty, Severity, Celerity, and Parsimony," a reminder of Beccaria’s dictum that "it is better to prevent crimes than punish them." In the current environment, deterrence arguments are routinely used to justify policies that do just the opposite. Ray Paternoster, who contributed two chapters, passed away as this volume was being finalized. Fittingly, this book is dedicated to him and ends with Alex Piquero’s poignant remembrance of Ray, a path-breaking deterrence scholar, beloved mentor, and ardent supporter of social justice. Suitable for researchers and graduate students as well as for advanced courses in criminology, this book breaks new ground in theorizing the effects of punishment and other sanctions on crime control.

Compliance has become key to our contemporary markets, societies, and modes of governance across a variety of public and private domains. While this has stimulated a rich body of empirical and practical expertise on compliance, thus far, there has been no comprehensive understanding of what compliance is or how it influences various fields and sectors. The academic knowledge of compliance has remained siloed along different disciplinary domains, regulatory and legal spheres, and mechanisms and interventions. This handbook bridges these divides to provide the first one-stop overview of what compliance is, how we can best study it, and the core mechanisms that shape it. Written by leading experts, chapters offer perspectives from across law, regulatory studies, management science, criminology, economics, sociology, and psychology. This volume is the definitive and comprehensive account of compliance.

Offering a rich introduction to how scholars analyze crime, Criminological Theory: Context and Consequences moves readers beyond a commonsense knowledge of crime to a deeper understanding of the importance of theory in shaping crime control policies. The Eighth Edition of this clear, accessible, and thoroughly revised text covers traditional and contemporary theory within a larger sociological and historical context. The latest edition includes new sources that assess the empirical status of the major theories, a new chapter on Black Criminology, and expanded coverage of important perspectives, such as the explanation of white-collar crime and the relationship of immigration and crime.

Explore how the law shapes and influences public health In the newly revised second edition of Legal Epidemiology: Theory and Methods, a team of distinguished researchers delivers a thorough primer on the problems that arise in legal epidemiology—and potential solutions to those problems. Following an introduction to the basic concepts of the field in Part One, the book offers a rich collection of theories that researchers have used to study how law influences behavior in Part Two. The book also covers the special questions of measurement that arise when law is the independent variable and the various study designs for legal epidemiology. Drawing on the full range of social, psychological, sociological, and sociolegal disciplines to better understand, measure, and predict how much laws will influence health-relevant behaviors and environments, the editors have also included works that: Discuss the frameworks for legal epidemiology, including explorations of law in public health systems and services Examine how law influences behavior, including discussions of criminological theories, procedural justice theory, and economic theory Explore the design of legal epidemiology evaluations, including natural experiments, randomized trials, and qualitative research An essential and engaging resource for experienced social science researchers, health scientists, legal scholars, and policy analysts, Legal Epidemiology: Theory and Methods will also benefit students, novice scientists, and non-scientists seeking a general orientation to the subject.

Many studies during the past few decades have sought to determine whether the death penalty has any deterrent effect on homicide rates. Researchers have reached widely varying, even contradictory, conclusions. Some studies have concluded that the threat of capital punishment deters murders, saving large numbers of lives; other studies have concluded that executions actually increase homicides; still others, that executions have no effect on murder rates. Commentary among researchers, advocates, and policymakers on the scientific validity of the findings has sometimes been acrimonious. Against this backdrop, the National Research Council report Deterrence and the Death Penalty assesses whether the available evidence provides a scientific basis for answering questions of if and how the death penalty affects homicide rates. This new report from the Committee on Law and Justice concludes that research to date on the effect of capital punishment on homicide rates is not useful in determining whether the death penalty increases, decreases, or has no effect on these rates. The key question is whether capital punishment is less or more effective as a deterrent than alternative punishments, such as a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Yet none of the research that has been done accounted for the possible effect of noncapital punishments on homicide rates. The report recommends new avenues of research that may provide broader insight into any deterrent effects from both capital and noncapital punishments.

The assumption that rewards and punishments influence our choices between different courses of action underlies economic, sociological, psychological, and legal thinking about human action. Hence, the notion of a reasoning criminal--one who employs the same sorts of cognitive strategies when contemplating offending as they and the rest of us use when making other decisions--might seem a small contribution to crime control. This conclusion would be mistaken. This volume develops an alternative approach, termed the "rational choice perspective," to explain criminal behavior. Instead of emphasizing the differences between criminals and non-criminals, it stresses some of the similarities. In particular, while the contributors do not deny the existence of irrational and pathological components in crimes, they suggest that the rational aspects of offending should be explored. An international group of researchers in criminology, psychology, and economics provide a comprehensive review of original research on the criminal offender as a reasoning decision maker. While recognizing the crucial influence of situational factors, the rational choice perspective provides a framework within which to incorporate and locate existing theories about crime. In doing so it also provides both a new agenda for research and sheds a fresh light on deterrent and prevention policies.

A comprehensive and state-of the-art overview from internationally-recognized experts on white-collar crime covering a broad range of topics from many perspectives Law enforcement professionals and criminal justice scholars have debated the most appropriate definition of “white-collar crime” ever since Edwin Sutherland first coined the phrase in his speech to the American Sociological Society in 1939. The conceptual ambiguity surrounding the term has challenged efforts to construct a body of science that meaningfully informs policy and theory. The Handbook of White-Collar Crime is a unique re-framing of traditional discussions that discusses common topics of white-collar crime—who the offenders are, who the victims are, how these crimes are punished, theoretical explanations—while exploring how the choice of one definition over another affects research and scholarship on the subject. Providing a one-volume overview of research on white-collar crime, this book presents diverse perspectives from an international team of both established and newer scholars that review theory, policy, and empirical work on a broad range of topics. Chapters explore the extent and cost of white-collar crimes, individual- as well as organizational- and macro-level theories of crime, law enforcement roles in prevention and intervention, crimes in Africa and South America, the influence of technology and globalization, and more. This important resource: Explores diverse implications for future theory, policy, and research on current and emerging issues in the field Clarifies distinct characteristics of specific types of offences within the general archetype of white-collar crime Includes chapters written by researchers from countries commonly underrepresented in the field Examines the real-world impact of ambiguous definitions of white-collar crime on prevention, investigation, and punishment Offers critical examination of how definitional decisions steer the direction of criminological scholarship Accessible to readers at the undergraduate level, yet equally relevant for experienced practitioners, academics, and researchers, The Handbook of White-Collar Crime is an innovative, substantial contribution to contemporary scholarship in the field.

What cannot be measured, cannot be managed. Despite this axiom, few books in the security industry have tackled the need to truly understand crime. Unraveled: An Evidence-Based Approach to Understanding and Preventing Crime bridges the gap between criminological theories and the practical application of these theories in the real world. Unraveled is applicable to a broad audience of people responsible for making security decisions for one or hundreds of properties. ​​​​ Unraveled: An Evidence-Based Approach to Understanding and Preventing Crime provides a practical approach to understanding crime and the theories which support crime prevention and security measures. Using research, Unraveled guides security decision makers to a deeper understanding of the unique nature of crime at their properties, summarizes the theories which support crime prevention efforts, and how to objectively analyze security programs. Unraveled discusses crime data sources used in conducting crime analysis and explores ways to organize statistical data and the techniques used in crime analysis such as crime rate analysis, temporal analysis, threshold analysis and more. By explaining the significance of crime statistics relative to crime prevention theory and techniques, Unraveled provides readers with a clear, strategic plan to implement and evaluate crime prevention programs and optimize security programs. Unraveled: An Evidence-Based Approach to Understanding and Preventing Crime includes an extensive bibliography and 600+ endnotes citing evidence-based research on the following topics: Definition of Crime Analysis Units of Analysis Crime Hot Spots The importance of Place Law Enforcement Data Sources Calls for Service Offense / Incident Reports Uniform Crime Report (UCR) Law Enforcement Data Limitations Crime Typologies Victim-Offender Relationships Violence Escalation Crime Rates Temporal Analysis Spatial Analysis Crime Thresholds Forecasting Modus Operandi Analysis Crime Harm Index Environmental Criminology/Crime Science Problem Analysis Triangle (or new Crime Triangle) Opportunity Structure and Signatures Opportunity Theories Routine Activity Theory Rational Choice Theory Crime Pattern Theory Situational Crime Prevention Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Problem-Oriented Policing Displacement and Diffusion of Benefits Instrumental vs. Expressive Violence Targeted Violent Crimes Dispute-Related Violent Crimes Predatory Violence Limitations Of Violent Crime Prevention Research

Criminal Justice Theory: Explanations and Effects undertakes a systematic study of theories of the criminal justice system, which historically have received very little attention from scholars. This is a glaring omission given the risk of mass imprisonment, the increasing presence of police in inner-city communities, and the emergence of new policy initiatives aimed at improving the quality and effectiveness of the administration of justice. Fortunately, however, a number of disparate theoretical works have appeared that seek to provide insight into the nature and impact of criminal justice. Based on 13 original essays by influential scholars, this volume pulls together the most significant of these perspectives, thus creating a state-of-the-art assessment of contemporary criminal justice theory. Criminal justice theory can be divided into two main categories. The first includes works that seek to explain the operation of the criminal justice system. Most of these contributions have grappled with the core reality of American criminal justice: its rising embrace of punitiveness and the growth of mass imprisonment. The second category focuses on works that identify theories that have often guided efforts to reduce crime. The issue here focuses mainly on the effects of certain theoretically guided criminal justice interventions. The current volume is thus organized into these two categories: explanations and effects. The result is an innovative and comprehensive book that not only serves researchers by advancing scholarship but also is appropriate for advanced undergraduate or graduate classroom use.

Presenting state-of-the-art research, this Handbook summarises emerging and establishing topics in the area of legal decision-making. Interdisciplinary in its approach, it covers decisions made within the criminal justice system, the trial process, and clinical settings. Chapters, written by accomplished academics and experts in the field, synthesize historical context, identify gaps in existing literature, propose future directions of study, and discuss policy limitations. It also includes 'perspectives from the field' essays written by professionals - a judge, an attorney, a police officer, a trial consultant, and a probation officer - to bridge the gap between academic research and its application to the real world. It is intended as a go-to resource for students and researchers who want to immerse themselves in a body of scientific research to understand its history and shape its future.