Fundamentals of Criminology - 9781594606908

Fundamentals of Criminology: New Dimensions delivers a comprehensive and comprehensible introduction to the discipline of criminology. As the title implies, it covers the fundamentals of criminology, including the major theories of crime causation, classic and current empirical tests of those theories, the strengths and weaknesses and the policy implications of each. It also describes the types of crime and provides current rates, trends over time and theoretical explanations for each, as well as a discussion of characteristics of offenders and victims. What sets this book apart from the many other fine criminology textbooks out there is its inclusion of some new dimensions of criminology. The new dimensions in this book include but are not limited to research designs in criminology, new theories of crime causation, crime in different contexts, connections between criminology and criminal justice policy and a number of lingering issues for both disciplines. In combination with the fundamentals, these new dimensions are designed to provide readers with the richest, most complete understanding of what crime is, how much of it there is, what causes it and what do to about it, as well as the ability and desire to pose important questions for the future of both criminology and criminal justice.