Criminological perspectives : a reader

Presents readings from the diverse criminology literature, and provides students and academics with direct access to the main theories and perspectives, which underpin and shape the discipline of criminology.

It focuses on the following themes: the origins of criminology; criminology's historic and continuing concern to discover the causes of crime; processes of criminalization and why it is that only certain harmful behaviours seem to be subject to criminal sanction; competing rationales for systems of crime control - from deterrence, just deserts and rehabilitation to crime prevention; issues of social control - from the formal processes of criminal justice to regulation and surveillance in the community; and the future of criminology and its potential for further theoretical development.