Joan McCord - Böcker

Reflecting a diversity of thought and intellectual power, this unique volume provides undergraduate students with an important historical context and demonstrates the continuity of many issues in the fields of criminology and criminal justice. Commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the American Society of Criminology, this volume contains previously published articles by the society's president-many of whom are the leading thinkers in the field. Articles examine the philosophy of punishment, policing, the politics of crime and crime control, criminological theory, drug use, white-collar crime, female crime, the study of deviance, parole, prediction studies, and criminal justice policy.

Even though youth crime rates have fallen since the mid-1990s, public fear and political rhetoric over the issue have heightened. The Columbine shootings and other sensational incidents add to the furor. Often overlooked are the underlying problems of child poverty, social disadvantage, and the pitfalls inherent to adolescent decisionmaking that contribute to youth crime. From a policy standpoint, adolescent offenders are caught in the crossfire between nurturance of youth and punishment of criminals, between rehabilitation and "get tough" pronouncements. In the midst of this emotional debate, the National Research Council's Panel on Juvenile Crime steps forward with an authoritative review of the best available data and analysis. Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents recommendations for addressing the many aspects of America's youth crime problem. This timely release discusses patterns and trends in crimes by children and adolescents--trends revealed by arrest data, victim reports, and other sources; youth crime within general crime; and race and sex disparities.The book explores desistance--the probability that delinquency or criminal activities decrease with age--and evaluates different approaches to predicting future crime rates. Why do young people turn to delinquency? Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents what we know and what we urgently need to find out about contributing factors, ranging from prenatal care, differences in temperament, and family influences to the role of peer relationships, the impact of the school policies toward delinquency, and the broader influences of the neighborhood and community. Equally important, this book examines a range of solutions: * Prevention and intervention efforts directed to individuals, peer groups, and families, as well as day care-, school- and community-based initiatives. * Intervention within the juvenile justice system. * Role of the police. * Processing and detention of youth offenders. * Transferring youths to the adult judicial system. * Residential placement of juveniles. The book includes background on the American juvenile court system, useful comparisons with the juvenile justice systems of other nations, and other important information for assessing this problem.

Children must learn to act appropriately, in ways that differ from society to society and from context to context. The question of how best to socialize children so that they can function successfully has fascinated educators and psychologists for centuries. In a world in which children exhibit levels of violence that are strikingly un-childlike, the question of how to bring children up takes on an immediacy for parents and psychologists. Does physical punishment prevent further outbreaks of violent behaviour? Are there ways of influencing children so that punishment will not be necessary? Drawing upon rich, longitudinal data, the contributors to this volume examine the benefits and costs of coercion and punishment, considering such issues as mental health, antisocial and criminal behaviour, substance abuse, and issues related to measurement and prediction. They look at coercion among peers, aggressive behavior in boys and girls, different parenting styles and effects of home context. The volume draws together evidence about coercion and punishment that have appeared in disparate literatures, and it raises questions about easy assumptions regarding them. It will be a useful tool for psychologists, criminologists, social workers, child-care workers, and educators.

The contributors to this book believe that something can be done to make life in American cities safer, to make growing up in the urban ghettos less risky, and to reduce the violence that so often permeates urban childhoods. They consider why there is so much violence, why some people become violent and others do not, and why violence is more prevalent in some areas. Both biological and psychological characteristics of individuals are considered. The authors also discuss how the urban environment, especially the street culture, affects childhood development. They review a variety of intervention strategies, considering when it would be appropriate to use them and towards whom they should be targeted. Drawing upon ethnographic commentary, laboratory experiments, historical reviews, and program descriptions, this book presents a variety of opinions on the causes of urban violence and the changes necessary to reduce it.

Children must learn to act appropriately, in ways that differ from society to society and from context to context. The question of how best to socialize children so that they can function successfully has fascinated educators and psychologists for centuries. In a world in which children exhibit levels of violence that are strikingly un-childlike, the question of how to bring children up takes on an immediacy for parents and psychologists. Does physical punishment prevent further outbreaks of violent behaviour? Are there ways of influencing children so that punishment will not be necessary? Drawing upon rich, longitudinal data, the contributors to this volume examine the benefits and costs of coercion and punishment, considering such issues as mental health, antisocial and criminal behaviour, substance abuse, and issues related to measurement and prediction. They look at coercion among peers, aggressive behavior in boys and girls, different parenting styles and effects of home context. The volume draws together evidence about coercion and punishment that have appeared in disparate literatures, and it raises questions about easy assumptions regarding them. It will be a useful tool for psychologists, criminologists, social workers, child-care workers, and educators.

Beyond Empiricism expands the discourse on theories of criminal behavior. It considers institutional, social, and individual issues related to criminal behavior, while individually each raises questions about the adequacy of current theoretical claims. The topics have significant implications both for policy and research in criminology.Per-Olof Wikstrom introduces a cross-level action theory of crime. He suggests that better understanding of causal mechanisms can lead to a situational theory of action based on perception of alternatives and the process of choice. David Wolcott and Steven Schlossman provide new perspectives on the issues of racial disparity and the incarceration of adolescents in adult prisons. These authors highlight gaps in our understanding of early twentieth-century juvenile justice and negate some popular claims about recent changes in the criminal law. Peter Grabosky spotlights privatization policies in the criminal justice system, suggesting a framework for analyzing the balance of advantage resulting from three basic forms of institutional relationships in policing. Steven Messner and Richard Rosenfeld discuss why institutional analysis has been seriously underdeveloped in etiological analyses of crime. Jordan Pederson and Matthew Shane scrutinize the concept of aggression. Their descriptions of aggressive behavior among non-human animals provide a fascinating backdrop for understanding human actions. Joan McCord emphasizes the intentionality of crimes as she argues that to understand what causes crime, one must have a theory about what it means to act intentionally. After critically appraising prior theories, McCord introduces and defends a new theory of motivation based on a post-empiricist theory of language.This latest volume in the distinguished Advances in Criminological Theory series continues to add to the theoretical underpinnings of the field, and will be important to all collections of social science research on criminology.

Beyond Empiricism expands the discourse on theories of criminal behavior. It considers institutional, social, and individual issues related to criminal behavior, while individually each raises questions about the adequacy of current theoretical claims. The topics have significant implications both for policy and research in criminology.Per-Olof Wikstrom introduces a cross-level action theory of crime. He suggests that better understanding of causal mechanisms can lead to a situational theory of action based on perception of alternatives and the process of choice. David Wolcott and Steven Schlossman provide new perspectives on the issues of racial disparity and the incarceration of adolescents in adult prisons. These authors highlight gaps in our understanding of early twentieth-century juvenile justice and negate some popular claims about recent changes in the criminal law. Peter Grabosky spotlights privatization policies in the criminal justice system, suggesting a framework for analyzing the balance of advantage resulting from three basic forms of institutional relationships in policing. Steven Messner and Richard Rosenfeld discuss why institutional analysis has been seriously underdeveloped in etiological analyses of crime. Jordan Pederson and Matthew Shane scrutinize the concept of aggression. Their descriptions of aggressive behavior among non-human animals provide a fascinating backdrop for understanding human actions. Joan McCord emphasizes the intentionality of crimes as she argues that to understand what causes crime, one must have a theory about what it means to act intentionally. After critically appraising prior theories, McCord introduces and defends a new theory of motivation based on a post-empiricist theory of language.This latest volume in the distinguished Advances in Criminological Theory series continues to add to the theoretical underpinnings of the field, and will be important to all collections of social science research on criminology.

Facts, Frameworks, and Forecasts calls for rethinking the development of criminological theory. In her introduction, Joan McCord argues that the field is ready for new approaches and that its progress depends on a sound factual base. Examining the discipline's research design, methodology, and quantitative analysis efforts, the contributors identify significant advances in criminological theory. This empirical orientation results in a balanced blend of information and speculation. This book contains a comprehensive review. The first chapter describes biological conditions that have theoretical links with criminal behavior -- ending with a discussion of how biological and social conditions may interact to influence criminal behavior. Early chapters discuss general issues related to crime. These are followed by expositions of theoretical orientations not typically found in criminological literature. The second half of the book describes seven longitudinal studies in four countries. The authors interpret their data to expose biological, social, and psychological factors they believe may influence criminal behavior.These contributors include: Guenther Knoblich and Roy King, Daniel Glaser, Robert A. Rosellini and Robin L. Lashley, Robert J. Sampson, Ellen S. Cohn and Susan O. White, Joan McCord, L. Rowell Huesmann and Leonard D. Eron, Robert Cairns and Beverly Cairns, Richard E. Tremblay, Patricia Cohen and Judith S. Brook, David P. Farrington and David Magnussen, Britt af Klinteberg, and Hakan Stattin. Facts, Frameworks, and Forecasts addresses the observation of noted criminologist Marvin Wolfgang that criminological theory had stagnated. This groundbreaking work, available in paperback for the first time, is as relevant now as when first published. It should be read by all concerned with data-related approaches to criminology.

Facts, Frameworks, and Forecasts calls for rethinking the development of criminological theory. In her introduction, Joan McCord argues that the field is ready for new approaches and that its progress depends on a sound factual base. Examining the discipline's research design, methodology, and quantitative analysis efforts, the contributors identify significant advances in criminological theory. This empirical orientation results in a balanced blend of information and speculation.This book contains a comprehensive review. The first chapter describes biological conditions that have theoretical links with criminal behavior - ending with a discussion of how biological and social conditions may interact to influence criminal behavior. Early chapters discuss general issues related to crime. These are followed by expositions of theoretical orientations not typically found in criminological literature. The second half of the book describes seven longitudinal studies in four countries. The authors interpret their data to expose biological, social, and psychological factors they believe may influence criminal behavior.These contributors include: Guenther Knoblich and Roy King, Daniel Glaser, Robert A. Rosellini and Robin L. Lashley, Robert J. Sampson, Ellen S. Cohn and Susan O. White, Joan McCord, L. Rowell Huesmann and Leonard D. Eron, Robert Cairns and Beverly Cairns, Richard E. Tremblay, Patricia Cohen and Judith S. Brook, David P. Farrington and David Magnussen, Britt af Klinteberg, and Hakan Stattin.Facts, Frameworks, and Forecasts addresses the observation of noted criminologist Marvin Wolfgang that criminological theory had stagnated. This groundbreaking work, available in paperback for the first time, is as relevant now as when first published. It should be read by all concerned with data-related approaches to criminology.