Psychosocial_Criminology

W elcome to the world of criminological theory! It is an exciting and complex endeavor that explains why certain individuals and groups commit crimes and why other people do not. This book will explore the conceptual history of this endeavor as well as current theories. Most of us can relate directly to many of these theories; we may know friends or family members who fit dominant models of criminal behavior. This introduction begins by describing what criminology is; what distinguishes it from other perspectives of crime, such as religion, journalism, or philosophy; and how definitions of crime vary across time and place. Then, it examines some of the major issues used to classify different theories of criminology. After exploring the various paradigms and categories of criminological theory, we discuss what characteristics help to make a theory a good one-in criminology or in any scientific field. In addition, we review the specific criteria for proving causality-for showing what predictors or variables actually cause criminal behavior. We also explain why-for logistic and ethical reasons-few theories in criminology will ever meet the strict criteria required to prove that key factors actually cause criminal behavior. Finally, we look at the strengths and weaknesses of the various measures of crime, which are used to test the validity of all criminological theories, and what those measures reveal about how crime is distributed across various individuals and groups. Although the discussion of crime distribution, as shown by various measures of criminality, may seem removed from our primary discussion regarding theories of why certain individuals and groups commit more crime than others, nothing could be further from the truth. Ultimately, all theories of criminal behavior will be judged based on how much each theory can explain the observed rates of crime shown by the measures of criminality among individuals and groups. 1 Stephen Brown, Finn Esbensen, and Gilbert Geis, Criminology, 6th ed. (Cincinnati: LexisNexis, 2007).

"This volume contains recent and cutting-edge articles from leading criminological theorists. The book is organized into ten sections, each representing the latest in the multi-disciplinary orientations representing a cross-section of contemporary criminological theory. These sections include: 1: Classical and Rational Choice; 2: Biological and Biosocial; 3: Psychological; 4: Social Learning and Neutralization; 5: Social Control; 6: Social Ecology, Sub-cultural and Cultural; 7: Anomie and Strain; 8: Conflict and Radical; 9: Feminist and Gender; 10: Critical Criminologies: Anarchist, Postmodernist, Peacemaking. The articles were selected based on their contributions to advancing the field, including ways in which the authors of each chapter understand the current theoretical tendencies of their respective approaches and how they envision the future of their theories. Because of this, the articles focus on theory rather than empirical research. Of particular note is the tendency toward integration of different perspectives, as described by editors, Henry and Lukas, in their original introduction to this volume. Contents: Introduction; Part I Classical and Rational Choice Theories: Rational choice, deterrence, and theoretical integration, David A. Ward, Mark C. Stafford and Louis N. Gray; A crying shame: the over-rationalized conception of man in the rational choice perspective, Willem de Haan and Jaco Vos. Part II Biological and Biosocial Theories: A theory explaining biological correlates of criminality, Lee Ellis; Behavior genetics and anomie/strain theory, Anthony Walsh. Part III Psychological Theories: An alternative psychology of criminal behavior, Julie Horney; A sociocognitive analysis of substance abuse: an agentic perspective, Albert Bandura. Part IV Social Learning and Neutralization Theories: Moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities, Albert Bandura; When being good is bad: an expansion of neutralization theory, Volkan Topalli. Part V Social Control Theories: In defense of self-control, Travis Hirschi and Michael R. Gottfredson; Refining control balance theory, Charles R. Tittle. Part VI Social Ecology, Subcultural and Cultural Theories: Transcending tradition: new directions in community research, Chicago style, Robert J. Sampson; New directions in social disorganization theory, Charis E. Kubrin and Ronald Weitzer. Part VII Anomie and Strain Theories: Anomie, social change and crime, Jon Gunnar Bernburg; Building on the foundation of general strain theory: specifying the types of strain most likely to lead to crime and delinquency, Robert Agnew. Part VIII Conflict and Radical Theories: Revisionist history, visionary criminology, and needs-based justice, Gregg Barak; The state of the criminology of crimes of the state, Dawn L. Rothe and David O. Friedrichs. Part IX Feminist and Gender Theories: Patriarchy, crime, and justice: feminist criminology in an era of backlash, Meda Chesney-Lind; Feminist state theory: applications to jurisprudence, criminology, and the welfare state, Lynne A Haney. Part X Critical Criminologies: Anarchist, Postmodernist, Peacemaking: Constitutive criminology: origins, core concepts, and evaluation, Stuart Henry and Dragan Milovanovic; Against the law: anarchist criminology, Jeff Ferrell; Restorative justice: what is it and does it work?, Carrie Menkel-Meadow. Part XI Conclusion: Interdisciplinary integration: building criminology by stealing from our friends, D. Wayne Osgood; Name Index."

Recherche, 2012

This edited collection brings together established global scholars and new thinkers to outline fresh concepts and theoretical perspectives for criminological research and analysis in the twenty-fi rst century. Criminologists from the UK, USA, Canada and Australia evaluate the current condition of criminological theory and present students and researchers with new and revised ideas from the realms of politics, culture and subjectivity to unpack crime and violence in the precarious age of global neoliberalism.

In this monograph, the author applied his concept of criminology as the science dealing with criminal phenomenon, i.e., the crime, the perpetrator and the victim of crime, criminality, as well as the way in which a society reacts to criminal behaviour. That is the reason why he divided all theories in criminology into two groups. First, there are theories in criminology in stricto sensu (classical, positivistic, theories of social reaction and new criminological theories). In the other group, there are theories in victimology and penology, conceived (comprehended) as the criminological disciplines (along with the criminology in stricto sensu, they constitute criminology in a broader sense).

Crime and criminology have been at the forefront of hot debates and heated discussion amongst the opposing bodies that in their search for the meaning of the word criminology, these debates have branched into distinct and opposing theorists of what is crime and criminology. Theoretical criminology can be explained as the internal individual personal explanation which is based on social and cultural interpretation of criminality. Criminologists study the criminal actions of offenders; these actions are defined by law as “criminal”, as opposed to the legal and moral discourses which are set forward in sociology, and concern itself more with deviance and control in society.

Criminal activity has been in society for as much as there has been mankind. Socioeconomic and sociocultural criminogenic factors both contribute to crime. The research of subcultures frequently replaces the study of criminals as a social type. The research on crime and the study of conduct are not synonymous. Attempts to discover the basic differences between crime and non-crime, considered as behavior, and between criminals and non-criminals, considered as different types of individuals, have yielded evidence that seems to undermine the very assumption upon which such attempts have been founded. The belief that there is a fundamental distinction between criminal and noncriminal activity is dubious.The majority of crimes go unreported and unrecorded. Any sample of presumed non-criminals is questionable due to research on self-reported offenses accessible to public and private groups but not the police, white collar crime, and factors connected to differential reported crime.The percentages are comparatively high for lower middle class, minority group, youthful, male, itinerant, and urban populations for the majority of offending categories. It is debatable if variances in behavior among various groups of individuals account for discrepancies in crime rates. Criminology may look into whether laws penalize actions that are typical of those with less authority but not those with more power. People progressively pick up the fundamentals of illegal behavior and disdain the law more and more. When someone is officially assigned to a certain delinquent stigma, they start to identify with the appropriate social group and act accordingly. The qualitative research methodology has been applied to the following article.

Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 1989

Criminology has not done very well at explaining why some societies, some periods

After a cursory scan of the articles within this edition of Acta Criminologica, one is struck by the diverse collection of "criminologies" and explorations into crime (and victimisation), as well as the wide range of evidence-based reforms that are on offer to institutions and systems created to address these issues. One is also struck by the interdisciplinary nature of the criminological subject matter with which the authors engage. In this, and other editions of Acta Criminologica, you will find that criminological work has not only emerged from the conventional corridors of criminology, but it has dynamically manifested within, and across, the humanities and social sciences. Research exploring the antecedents, predictors and impacts of crime can also be found in the health sciences, economics and the clinical and mental health disciplines, to name just a few. This edition of Acta Criminologica illustrates that not only is there a wide spectrum of topics that occupy criminological research, but that criminological inquiries have gone inter-continental, technological and retro-theoretical. In this edition, authors reconsider conventional criminological theory, as well as stimulate progressive perspectives on modern-day events that our grounding theories on crime and deviance could not have anticipated.

Asian Journal of Criminology, 2012