Criminology and Justice Studies – serie

Criminological Perspectives on Race and Crime, Fourth Edition, is the only text to look at the array of mainstream and unconventional explanations for crime as they relate to racial and ethnic populations.Each chapter begins with a historical review of each theoretical perspective and how its original formulation and more recent derivatives account for racial or ethnic differences in offending. Included in each chapter is a review of relevant empirical tests that have investigated the value of that theory. The theoretical paradigms include those based on religion, biology, social disorganization/strain, subculture, labeling, conflict, social control, colonial, feminism, and race-centered perspectives. Gabbidon considers which perspectives have shown the most promise in explaining the relationships between race/ethnicity and crime.Ideal for courses in either crime theory or race and crime, this text is used in Criminology and Sociology programs in the US as well as in the UK and Canada.

Criminological Perspectives on Race and Crime, Fourth Edition, is the only text to look at the array of mainstream and unconventional explanations for crime as they relate to racial and ethnic populations.Each chapter begins with a historical review of each theoretical perspective and how its original formulation and more recent derivatives account for racial or ethnic differences in offending. Included in each chapter is a review of relevant empirical tests that have investigated the value of that theory. The theoretical paradigms include those based on religion, biology, social disorganization/strain, subculture, labeling, conflict, social control, colonial, feminism, and race-centered perspectives. Gabbidon considers which perspectives have shown the most promise in explaining the relationships between race/ethnicity and crime.Ideal for courses in either crime theory or race and crime, this text is used in Criminology and Sociology programs in the US as well as in the UK and Canada.

She Took Justice: The Black Woman, Law, and Power – 1619 to 1969 proves that The Black Woman liberated herself. Readers go on a journey from the invasion of Africa into the Colonial period and the Civil Rights Movement. The Black Woman reveals power, from Queen Nzingha to Shirley Chisholm.In She Took Justice, we see centuries of courage in the face of racial prejudice and gender oppression. We gain insight into American history through The Black Woman's fight against race laws, especially criminal injustice. She became an organizer, leader, activist, lawyer, and judge – a fighter in her own advancement.These engaging true stories show that, for most of American history, the law was an enemy to The Black Woman. Using perseverance, tenacity, intelligence, and faith, she turned the law into a weapon to combat discrimination, a prestigious occupation, and a platform from which she could lift others as she rose. This is a book for every reader.

Winner of the 2022 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Outstanding Book Award!Shopping While Black: Consumer Racial Profiling in America lays out the results of nearly two decades of research on racial profiling in retail settings.Gabbidon and Higgins address the generally neglected racial profiling that occurs in retail settings. Although there is no existing national database on shoplifting or consumer racial profiling (CRP) from which to study the problem, they survey relevant legal cases and available data sources. This problem clearly affects a large number of racial/ethnic minorities, and causes real harm to the victims, such as the emotional trauma attached to being excessively monitored in stores and, in the worst-case scenarios, falsely accused of shoplifting. Their analysis is informed by their own experience: one co-author is a former security executive for a large retailer, and both are Black men who understand firsthand the sting of being profiled because of their color. After providing an overview of the history of CRP and the official and unofficial data sources and criminological literature on this topic, they address public opinion polls, as well as the extent and impact of victimization. They also provide a review of CRP litigation, provide recommendations for retailers to reduce racial profiling, and also chart some directions for future research. This book is appropriate for researchers as well as advanced undergraduates and graduate students in Criminology, Black Studies, Ethnic Studies, Sociology, Security Studies, and Law programs, and will be of interest to the general reader.

She Took Justice: The Black Woman, Law, and Power – 1619 to 1969 proves that The Black Woman liberated herself. Readers go on a journey from the invasion of Africa into the Colonial period and the Civil Rights Movement. The Black Woman reveals power, from Queen Nzingha to Shirley Chisholm.In She Took Justice, we see centuries of courage in the face of racial prejudice and gender oppression. We gain insight into American history through The Black Woman's fight against race laws, especially criminal injustice. She became an organizer, leader, activist, lawyer, and judge – a fighter in her own advancement.These engaging true stories show that, for most of American history, the law was an enemy to The Black Woman. Using perseverance, tenacity, intelligence, and faith, she turned the law into a weapon to combat discrimination, a prestigious occupation, and a platform from which she could lift others as she rose. This is a book for every reader.

Winner of the 2022 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Outstanding Book Award!Shopping While Black: Consumer Racial Profiling in America lays out the results of nearly two decades of research on racial profiling in retail settings.Gabbidon and Higgins address the generally neglected racial profiling that occurs in retail settings. Although there is no existing national database on shoplifting or consumer racial profiling (CRP) from which to study the problem, they survey relevant legal cases and available data sources. This problem clearly affects a large number of racial/ethnic minorities, and causes real harm to the victims, such as the emotional trauma attached to being excessively monitored in stores and, in the worst-case scenarios, falsely accused of shoplifting. Their analysis is informed by their own experience: one co-author is a former security executive for a large retailer, and both are Black men who understand firsthand the sting of being profiled because of their color. After providing an overview of the history of CRP and the official and unofficial data sources and criminological literature on this topic, they address public opinion polls, as well as the extent and impact of victimization. They also provide a review of CRP litigation, provide recommendations for retailers to reduce racial profiling, and also chart some directions for future research. This book is appropriate for researchers as well as advanced undergraduates and graduate students in Criminology, Black Studies, Ethnic Studies, Sociology, Security Studies, and Law programs, and will be of interest to the general reader.

In Human Trafficking: Interdisciplinary Perspectives experts from a wide range of disciplinary and professional backgrounds provide a uniquely comprehensive understanding of human trafficking in the twenty-first century. Chapter authors consider historical, sociocultural, legal, public health, human rights, and psychological aspects of this issue. New chapters address important topics such as racism, child soldiers, organ trafficking, and the role of technology and the banking industry in trafficking. The third edition also explores the ways in which institutionalized oppression of people of color, Native Americans, and those in the LGBTQ+ community can underlie vulnerability of these populations to being trafficked. Human Trafficking is essential reading for professionals in law enforcement, human services, and health care, and for concerned citizens interested in human rights and making a difference in their communities. This book is also intended for use in undergraduate and graduate interdisciplinary courses in human trafficking.

In Human Trafficking: Interdisciplinary Perspectives experts from a wide range of disciplinary and professional backgrounds provide a uniquely comprehensive understanding of human trafficking in the twenty-first century. Chapter authors consider historical, sociocultural, legal, public health, human rights, and psychological aspects of this issue. New chapters address important topics such as racism, child soldiers, organ trafficking, and the role of technology and the banking industry in trafficking. The third edition also explores the ways in which institutionalized oppression of people of color, Native Americans, and those in the LGBTQ+ community can underlie vulnerability of these populations to being trafficked. Human Trafficking is essential reading for professionals in law enforcement, human services, and health care, and for concerned citizens interested in human rights and making a difference in their communities. This book is also intended for use in undergraduate and graduate interdisciplinary courses in human trafficking.

Given the media attention and research focus on big cities with large minority populations, people have grown accustomed to associating violence with these attributes. Violence in the Heights counters that narrative to provide a fresh perspective on inner-city violence with a close look at violence and associated social disorder in a cluster of neighborhoods in a mid-sized, predominantly White city. Eileen M. Ahlin studied 42 residents and their perceptions of and responses to violence to give voice to their experiences. Ahlin provides a historical overview of the neighborhoods and highlights a series of pivotal violent events, and discovers how they differentially impacted residents and their perceptions of safety. Residents reveal how institutional and demographic shifts reduced interpersonal connections and weakened the community's social fabric. A unique take on inner-city violence, Violence in the Heights also details why residents move to other communities when violence increases or, if they remain, adapt to changing conditions.This book will interest mainstream readers interested in learning about urban affairs and the human-interest story as it will track why inner-city residents stay in their neighborhoods or move to other communities when violence increases. This book will also serve as an academic text to outline the changes in violence and community disorder in a mid-sized city that is predominantly White, an understudied aspect of urban violence.

Given the media attention and research focus on big cities with large minority populations, people have grown accustomed to associating violence with these attributes. Violence in the Heights counters that narrative to provide a fresh perspective on inner-city violence with a close look at violence and associated social disorder in a cluster of neighborhoods in a mid-sized, predominantly White city. Eileen M. Ahlin studied 42 residents and their perceptions of and responses to violence to give voice to their experiences. Ahlin provides a historical overview of the neighborhoods and highlights a series of pivotal violent events, and discovers how they differentially impacted residents and their perceptions of safety. Residents reveal how institutional and demographic shifts reduced interpersonal connections and weakened the community's social fabric. A unique take on inner-city violence, Violence in the Heights also details why residents move to other communities when violence increases or, if they remain, adapt to changing conditions.This book will interest mainstream readers interested in learning about urban affairs and the human-interest story as it will track why inner-city residents stay in their neighborhoods or move to other communities when violence increases. This book will also serve as an academic text to outline the changes in violence and community disorder in a mid-sized city that is predominantly White, an understudied aspect of urban violence.

Winner of the 2025 Division on Critical Criminology & Social Justice (DCCSJ) Jock Young Criminological Imagination Book Award!Gratuitous Angst in White America presents a new criminological theory that explains the racialized experiences of white people. Unlike orthodox traditions that assume whiteness as normative or progressive traditions that center the experiences of the marginalized and oppressed, the theory of whiteness and crime flips those perspectives and turns a lens toward white people’s lived experiences and the ideologies of whiteness. The theory of whiteness and crime answers two overarching questions: How does being white impact one’s likelihood of engaging in deviant, criminal, and/or violent behaviors? And, why are white people treated differently than other racial and ethnic groups by the criminal legal system? Through the application of a critical whiteness perspective to criminology, the theory of whiteness and crime is an intersectional and integrated framework that explains within (and between) group differences in negative behaviors and entanglements with the criminal legal system.This book examines the racialized history of America to contextualize the current racial strife in society and inform a more nuanced theoretical approach to explaining disparities. The reader will gain a socio-historical understanding of the depths of the current divides and insight into how such are perpetuated and potentially dismantled. Students will see connections between various theoretical traditions and an application of theory to current social conditions. Researchers will acquire a new theoretical foundation and propositions to ground empirical work that will fill extensive gaps in the criminological literature. And policy makers will see how oversights in understanding the depths of historical significance perpetuate and increase disparities and disadvantages, which are counter to a pursuit of justice.Written in a compelling and direct way, this book will appeal to those in criminology, sociology, race and ethnic studies, gender and sexuality studies, political science, cultural studies, psychology, criminal justice, law, and beyond. Gratuitous Angst in White America is essential for those seeking a more complete understanding of the associations between race and crime and those who want to remedy those disparities. In the end, it is more than a new theory of crime, it is a call to action for all willing to hear.

Winner of the 2025 Division on Critical Criminology & Social Justice (DCCSJ) Jock Young Criminological Imagination Book Award!Gratuitous Angst in White America presents a new criminological theory that explains the racialized experiences of white people. Unlike orthodox traditions that assume whiteness as normative or progressive traditions that center the experiences of the marginalized and oppressed, the theory of whiteness and crime flips those perspectives and turns a lens toward white people’s lived experiences and the ideologies of whiteness. The theory of whiteness and crime answers two overarching questions: How does being white impact one’s likelihood of engaging in deviant, criminal, and/or violent behaviors? And, why are white people treated differently than other racial and ethnic groups by the criminal legal system? Through the application of a critical whiteness perspective to criminology, the theory of whiteness and crime is an intersectional and integrated framework that explains within (and between) group differences in negative behaviors and entanglements with the criminal legal system.This book examines the racialized history of America to contextualize the current racial strife in society and inform a more nuanced theoretical approach to explaining disparities. The reader will gain a socio-historical understanding of the depths of the current divides and insight into how such are perpetuated and potentially dismantled. Students will see connections between various theoretical traditions and an application of theory to current social conditions. Researchers will acquire a new theoretical foundation and propositions to ground empirical work that will fill extensive gaps in the criminological literature. And policy makers will see how oversights in understanding the depths of historical significance perpetuate and increase disparities and disadvantages, which are counter to a pursuit of justice.Written in a compelling and direct way, this book will appeal to those in criminology, sociology, race and ethnic studies, gender and sexuality studies, political science, cultural studies, psychology, criminal justice, law, and beyond. Gratuitous Angst in White America is essential for those seeking a more complete understanding of the associations between race and crime and those who want to remedy those disparities. In the end, it is more than a new theory of crime, it is a call to action for all willing to hear.

White-Collar Crime: An Opportunity Perspective analyzes white-collar crime using the opportunity perspective, which assumes that all crimes depend on offenders recognizing an opportunity to commit an offense. The authors explicate the processes and situational conditions that facilitate opportunities for white-collar crimes and the likelihood of being victimized by white-collar crime. In addition, they offer potential policy solutions that will mitigate this persistent and widespread social problem while being realistic and balanced in their treatment of the difficulties of control. With this fourth edition, Benson and Simpson have enlisted the aid of two young white-collar crime scholars, Jay P. Kennedy and Melissa Rorie, who bring new areas of expertise to the book that enhance its analytical depth and coverage of both white-collar crime and the opportunity perspective. New up-to-date case studies are included along with examinations of recent investigations into white-collar crime and its control. These timely updates reaffirm that this rigorous yet accessible book will remain a core resource for undergraduate and early graduate courses on white-collar crime.

This second edition of Gloria Browne-Marshall’s seminal work , tracing the history of racial discrimination in American law from colonial times to the present, is now available with major revisions. Throughout, she advocates for freedom and equality at the center, moving from their struggle for physical freedom in the slavery era to more recent battles for equal rights and economic equality. From the colonial period to the present, this book examines education, property ownership, voting rights, criminal justice, and the military as well as internationalism and civil liberties by analyzing the key court cases that established America’s racial system and demonstrating the impact of these court cases on American society. This edition also includes more on Asians, Native Americans, and Latinos. Race, Law, and American Society is highly accessible and thorough in its depiction of the role race has played, with the sanction of the U.S. Supreme Court, in shaping virtually every major American social institution.

This second edition of Gloria Browne-Marshall’s seminal work , tracing the history of racial discrimination in American law from colonial times to the present, is now available with major revisions. Throughout, she advocates for freedom and equality at the center, moving from their struggle for physical freedom in the slavery era to more recent battles for equal rights and economic equality. From the colonial period to the present, this book examines education, property ownership, voting rights, criminal justice, and the military as well as internationalism and civil liberties by analyzing the key court cases that established America’s racial system and demonstrating the impact of these court cases on American society. This edition also includes more on Asians, Native Americans, and Latinos. Race, Law, and American Society is highly accessible and thorough in its depiction of the role race has played, with the sanction of the U.S. Supreme Court, in shaping virtually every major American social institution.

This innovative work builds on Huff and Killias’ earlier publication (2008), but is broader and more thoroughly comparative in a number of important ways: (1) while focusing heavily on wrongful convictions, it places the subject of wrongful convictions in the broader contextual framework of miscarriages of justice and provides discussions of different types of miscarriages of justice that have not previously received much scholarly attention by criminologists; (2) it addresses, in much greater detail, the questions of how, and how often, wrongful convictions occur; (3) it provides more in-depth consideration of the role of forensic science in helping produce wrongful convictions and in helping free those who have been wrongfully convicted; (4) it offers new insights into the origins and current progress of the innocence movement, as well as the challenges that await the exonerated when they return to "free" society; (5) it assesses the impact of the use of alternatives to trials (especially plea bargains in the U.S. and summary proceedings and penal orders in Europe) in producing wrongful convictions; (6) it considers how the U.S. and Canada have responded to 9/11 and the increased threat of terrorism by enacting legislation and adopting policies that may exacerbate the problem of wrongful conviction; and (7) it provides in-depth considerations of two topics related to wrongful conviction: voluntary false confessions and convictions which, although technically not wrongful since they are based on law violations, represent another type of miscarriage of justice since they are due solely to unjust laws resulting from political repression.

This innovative work builds on Huff and Killias’ earlier publication (2008), but is broader and more thoroughly comparative in a number of important ways: (1) while focusing heavily on wrongful convictions, it places the subject of wrongful convictions in the broader contextual framework of miscarriages of justice and provides discussions of different types of miscarriages of justice that have not previously received much scholarly attention by criminologists; (2) it addresses, in much greater detail, the questions of how, and how often, wrongful convictions occur; (3) it provides more in-depth consideration of the role of forensic science in helping produce wrongful convictions and in helping free those who have been wrongfully convicted; (4) it offers new insights into the origins and current progress of the innocence movement, as well as the challenges that await the exonerated when they return to "free" society; (5) it assesses the impact of the use of alternatives to trials (especially plea bargains in the U.S. and summary proceedings and penal orders in Europe) in producing wrongful convictions; (6) it considers how the U.S. and Canada have responded to 9/11 and the increased threat of terrorism by enacting legislation and adopting policies that may exacerbate the problem of wrongful conviction; and (7) it provides in-depth considerations of two topics related to wrongful conviction: voluntary false confessions and convictions which, although technically not wrongful since they are based on law violations, represent another type of miscarriage of justice since they are due solely to unjust laws resulting from political repression.

The death penalty has inspired controversy for centuries. Raising questions regarding capital punishment rather than answering them, Questioning Capital Punishment offers the footing needed to allow for more informed consideration and analysis of these controversies. Acker edits judicial decisions that have addressed constitutional challenges to capital punishment and its administration in the United States and uses complementary materials to offer historical, empirical, and normative perspectives about death penalty policies and practices. This book is ideal for upper-level undergraduate and graduate classes in criminal justice.

The death penalty has inspired controversy for centuries. Raising questions regarding capital punishment rather than answering them, Questioning Capital Punishment offers the footing needed to allow for more informed consideration and analysis of these controversies. Acker edits judicial decisions that have addressed constitutional challenges to capital punishment and its administration in the United States and uses complementary materials to offer historical, empirical, and normative perspectives about death penalty policies and practices. This book is ideal for upper-level undergraduate and graduate classes in criminal justice.

This innovative collection of original essays showcases the use of social networks in the analysis and understanding of various forms of crime. More than any other past research endeavor, the seventeen chapters in this book apply to criminology the many conceptual and methodological options from social network analysis. Crime and Networks is the only book of its kind that looks at the use of networks in understanding crime, and can be used for advanced undergraduate and beginner’s graduate level courses in criminal justice and criminology.

This innovative collection of original essays showcases the use of social networks in the analysis and understanding of various forms of crime. More than any other past research endeavor, the seventeen chapters in this book apply to criminology the many conceptual and methodological options from social network analysis. Crime and Networks is the only book of its kind that looks at the use of networks in understanding crime, and can be used for advanced undergraduate and beginner’s graduate level courses in criminal justice and criminology.

Criminal Justice Theory, Second Edition is the first and only text, edited by U.S. criminal justice educators, on the theoretical foundations of criminal justice, not criminological theory. This new edition includes entirely new chapters as well as revisions to all others, with an eye to accessibility and coherence for upper division undergraduate and beginning graduate students in the field.

Criminal Justice Theory, Second Edition is the first and only text, edited by U.S. criminal justice educators, on the theoretical foundations of criminal justice, not criminological theory. This new edition includes entirely new chapters as well as revisions to all others, with an eye to accessibility and coherence for upper division undergraduate and beginning graduate students in the field.

John Irwin writes about prisons from an unusual academic perspective. Before receiving a Ph.D. in sociology, he served five years in a California state penitentiary for armed robbery. This is his sixth book on imprisonment – an ethnography of prisoners who have served more than twenty years in a California correctional institution. The purpose of the book is to take issue with the conventional wisdom on homicide, society’s purposes of imprisonment, and offenders’ reformability. Through the lifers’ stories, he reveals what happens to prisoners serving very long sentences in correctional facilities and what this should tell us about effective sentencing policy.

John Irwin writes about prisons from an unusual academic perspective. Before receiving a Ph.D. in sociology, he served five years in a California state penitentiary for armed robbery. This is his sixth book on imprisonment – an ethnography of prisoners who have served more than twenty years in a California correctional institution. The purpose of the book is to take issue with the conventional wisdom on homicide, society’s purposes of imprisonment, and offenders’ reformability. Through the lifers’ stories, he reveals what happens to prisoners serving very long sentences in correctional facilities and what this should tell us about effective sentencing policy.

Peers often act as agents of informal social control and influence each other both away from deviance and toward positive, prosocial behaviors. Criminology research has neglected studying positive peer influence, a potentially powerful source of social control that may help the field understand the causes of deviance. Criminologists have been unsuccessful in studying the actual mechanisms of both positive and negative peer influence. In Causes of Delinquency Revisited, Costello and Hope take a first step toward uncovering these mechanisms, drawing on quantitative and qualitative data collected from two convenience samples of university students. Their quantitative analyses shows that positive peer influence occurs most frequently among those who associate with the most deviant peers and self-report the most deviance. Their qualitative data reveal a variety of mechanisms for negative influence, including a previously undiscovered motivation encouraging a peer toward deviance for the entertainment of group members.Written in clear, engaging language and illustrated with students' self-reported experiences of peer pressure, this book addresses criminologists and sociologists, and can be used as a text for graduate students and undergraduates. Costello and Hope aim to spur a new research agenda in the field of criminology, one that recognizes the potentially powerful impact of positive peer pressure, and seriously questions prevailing assumptions.

Wrongful Conviction and Criminal Justice Reform is an important addition to the literature and teaching on innocence reform. This book delves into wrongful convictions studies but expands upon them by offering potential reforms that would alleviate the problem of wrongful convictions in the criminal justice system. Written to be accessible to students, Wrongful Conviction and Criminal Justice Reform is a main text for wrongful convictions courses or a secondary text for more general courses in criminal justice, political science, and law school innocence clinics.

Wrongful Conviction and Criminal Justice Reform is an important addition to the literature and teaching on innocence reform. This book delves into wrongful convictions studies but expands upon them by offering potential reforms that would alleviate the problem of wrongful convictions in the criminal justice system. Written to be accessible to students, Wrongful Conviction and Criminal Justice Reform is a main text for wrongful convictions courses or a secondary text for more general courses in criminal justice, political science, and law school innocence clinics.

The only text available that presents white-collar crime to undergraduates from both theoretical and practical / professional perspectives, in a unique text-adapted readings format.