Criminology

Our everyday worlds are filled with reference to crime, punishment, discipline and the law, but what do these concepts actually mean? How have these meanings and understandings been constructed and to what extent are they shared by members of society? How have criminologists attempted to explain and understand the phenomena of crime and deviance? These are amongst the issues and questions that "Criminology: theory and context" invites the reader to re-examine. This clear and rigorous historical introduction to criminology combines an accessible style with depth and scope to encourage a broad understanding of the discipline. Closely mapping the development of criminology and criminological theory within a historical context, it provides a logical structure and accessible framework through which students will absorb the wider scope and development of the area, as well as the societal and cultural influences that have shaped it.; New to edition: updated to reflect the latest developments in criminal justice and the politics of law and order and the New Right in the US; new material on social capital theory, critical theory, feminist influences and cultural criminology, globalisation, post- and late-modernity and the risk society; relevant updates concerned with the impact of the New Labour government since 1997; generally updated statistics and examples throughout; and new in-text features, including key themes and annotated further reading. The key features include: historical, linear approach provides a clear and digestible overview of the emergence and development of the discipline; criminological theory is discussed in depth and interweaved with the empirical and historical context to provide a cohesive and integrated whole; and a broad range of data and examples provide evidence and grounding for the analysis and theory "Tierney has made an enormous contribution by offering a thorough, comprehensive, and accurate review and record of the field ...the book should be read by all students of criminology looking for an account of the essential themes, key debates and contemporary twists in the theoretical; ""Criminology" is marked by almost all those qualities one might hope to find in an introduction to a burgeoning and often incoherent discipline. It is a near-encyclopaedic summary of major American and British work that succeeds in being well-structured, accessible, clearly-written, judicious and historically-informed. That is quite a feat." - Professor Paul Rock, LSE. This text will be essential reading for students of criminology, criminological theory, criminal justice and of key interest to sociology, law and the wider social sciences. John Tierney is Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Applied Social Sciences, University of Durham.