In this groundbreaking book that is built on decades of work on the front lines of the criminal justice system, expert psychologist Craig Haney encourages meaningful and lasting reform by changing the public narrative about who commits crime and why. Based on his comprehensive review and analysis of the research, Haney offers a carefully framed and psychologically based blueprint for making the criminal justice system fairer, with strategies to reduce crime through proactive prevention instead of reactive punishment. Haney meticulously reviews evidence documenting the ways in which a person's social history, institutional experiences, and present circumstances powerfully shape their life, with a special focus on the role of social, economic, and racial injustice in crime causation. Haney debunks the "crime master narrative"--the widespread myth that criminality is a product of free and autonomous "bad" choices--an increasingly anachronistic view that cannot bear the weight of contemporary psychological data and theory. This is a must-read for understanding what truly influences criminal behavior, and the strategies for prevention and rehabilitation that follow.

This book examines the extent to which criminal desistance – 'the change process involved in the ending of criminal behaviour' – is affected by personal and social circumstances which are place specific. Grounded in criminological spatial analysis, as well as more general social scientific investigations of the role of space and place in contemporary social, economic and cultural life, it examines why large numbers of prisoners in the United States and the United Kingdom appear to be drawn from – and after release return to – certain urban neighbourhoods. In doing so Criminal Behaviour in Context assesses the effect of this unique life course experience on the pathways and choices open to ex-prisoners who attempt to give up crime. Including new data on the geographical distribution of offenders, interviews with serving prisoners, and drawing on theories about social context, identity and subjectivity, it discusses the implications of the evidence and arguments presented for prisoner reintegration policy and practice.

Referencing clinical case studies throughout, this book encourages students to critically examine crime-related constructs such as psychopathy, antisocial personality disorder and criminal lifestyle, and to explore evidence-based interventions that could prevent further crime.

Theories of criminality and theories of victimization have traditionally been discussed as though they bore no relationship to one another. Yet, a complete explanation for crime must examine both the decision to engage in crime by an offender and the everyday actions of ordinary citizens that increase vulnerability to criminals. The integration of these approaches yields testable models that have greater predictive power than could be obtained by looking only at models of offenders or models of victim behavior. A more general perspective that accounts for both the decision to engage in crime and the selection of particular crime targets is developed and tested.

Public opinion is vital to the functioning of the criminal justice system but it is not at all clear how best to establish what this is, and what views people have on different aspects of criminal justice and the criminal justice system. Politicians and the media often assume that the public wants harsher, tougher and longer sentences, and policies may be shaped accordingly. Detailed research and more specific polling often tells a different story. This book is concerned to shed further light on the nature of public views on criminal justice, paying particular attention to public opinion towards specific types of offenders, such as sex offenders and mentally disordered offenders. In doing so it challenges many enduring assumptions regarding people's views on justice, and confronts the myths that infect our understanding of what people think about the criminal justice system.

Integration of disciplines, theories and research orientations has assumed a central role in criminological discourse yet it remains difficult to identify any concrete discoveries or significant breakthroughs for which integration has been responsible. Concentrating on three key concepts: context, mechanisms, and development, this volume aims to advance integrated scientific knowledge on crime causation by bringing together different scholarly approaches. Through an analysis of the roles of behavioural contexts and individual differences in crime causation, The Explanation of Crime seeks to provide a unified and focused approach to the integration of knowledge. Chapter topics range from individual genetics to family environments and from ecological behaviour settings to the macro-level context of communities and social systems. This is a comprehensive treatment of the problem of crime causation that will appeal to graduate students and researchers in criminology and be of great interest to policy-makers and practitioners in crime policy and prevention.

Criminology: theory and context, third edition, expands upon the ideas presented in previous editions, while introducing new material on critical theory, feminism, masculinities, cultural criminology and postmodernism. The text has been thoroughly updated throughout to reflect key perspectives in contemporary criminological theory. Relevant updates include discussions on New Labour’s criminal justice and penal policies in its third term in office, and the latest developments in criminal justice and the politics of law and order in the UK and US. This edition revisits societal and cultural influences that have shaped the discipline and invites the reader to re-examine the phenomena of crime and deviance. Criminology: theory and context, third edition, is presented in a logical structure and adopts an accessible framework. The text is essential reading for students of criminology, criminological theory and criminal justice and will also be of key interest to those studying sociology, law and the wider social sciences.

A law professor and former prosecutor reveals how inconsistent ideas about violence, enshrined in law, are at the root of the problems that plague our entire criminal justice system—from mass incarceration to police brutality. We take for granted that some crimes are violent and others aren’t. But how do we decide what counts as a violent act? David Alan Sklansky argues that legal notions about violence—its definition, causes, and moral significance—are functions of political choices, not eternal truths. And these choices are central to failures of our criminal justice system. The common distinction between violent and nonviolent acts, for example, played virtually no role in criminal law before the latter half of the twentieth century. Yet to this day, with more crimes than ever called “violent,” this distinction determines how we judge the seriousness of an offense, as well as the perpetrator’s debt and danger to society. Similarly, criminal law today treats violence as a pathology of individual character. But in other areas of law, including the procedural law that covers police conduct, the situational context of violence carries more weight. The result of these inconsistencies, and of society’s unique fear of violence since the 1960s, has been an application of law that reinforces inequities of race and class, undermining law’s legitimacy. A Pattern of Violence shows that novel legal philosophies of violence have motivated mass incarceration, blunted efforts to hold police accountable, constrained responses to sexual assault and domestic abuse, pushed juvenile offenders into adult prisons, encouraged toleration of prison violence, and limited responses to mass shootings. Reforming legal notions of violence is therefore an essential step toward justice.

"The text is logically organized and easy to read and understand. Students will find the text intriguing as they move through the coverage of the controversies from the text."—Michelle L. Foster, Kent State University Updated with new content and current controversies that facilitate critical thinking, debate, and application of the concepts, Mallicoat’s Crime and Criminal Justice, Second Edition, provides accessible and concise coverage of all relevant aspects of the criminal justice system, as well as unique chapters on victims and criminal justice policy. Using an innovative format designed to increase student engagement and critical thinking, each chapter is followed by two Current Controversy debates that dive into a critical issue in criminal justice. These features challenge misconceptions by providing a balanced debate of both the pros and the cons of each issue and are followed by probing questions to help students think critically about timely topics. With contemporary examples that students can easily apply and a broad range of effective learning tools, this practical text helps students go beyond the surface toward a deeper understanding of the criminal justice system. This title is accompanied by a complete teaching and learning package.

This lauded bestseller, now available in paperback, takes an uncompromising look at how we define psychopathology and makes the argument that criminal behavior can and perhaps should be considered a disorder. Presenting sociological, genetic, neurochemical, brain-imaging, and psychophysiological evidence, it discusses the basis for criminal behavior and suggests, contrary to popular belief, that such behavior may be more biologically determined than previously thought. Presents a new conceptual approach to understanding crime as a disorder Provides the most extensive review of biological predispositions to criminal behavior to date Presents the practical implications of viewing crime as a psychopathology in the contexts of free will, punishment, treatment, and future biosocial research Includes numerous tables and figures throughout Contains an extensive reference list Analyzes the familial and extra-familial causes of crime Reviews the predispositions to crime including evolution and genetics, and the neuropsychological, psychophysiological, brain-imaging, neurochemical, and cognitive factors