An Introduction to Crime and Crime Causation

An Introduction to Crime and Crime Causation is a student-friendly textbook that defines and explains the concepts of crime, criminal law, and criminology. Ideal for a one-semester course, the book compares and contrasts early criminal behavior and today’s modern forms of crime. It also explores society’s responses to criminal behavior in the past and in the present day. It covers both major and lesser-known crime causation theories and their impact on society.

Topics covered include:

• The importance of understanding crime data
• The goals of punishment
• The history of criminology, including the influence of social Darwinism on early trait theorists
• Crime causation theories, including a comparison of mainstream and critical theories
• The relationship between crime and biology, including the influence of genetics, substance use, and mental illness
• The social structural approach to crime, including a consideration of the changing contexts of urban criminality
• The nature and function of the justice system at the local, state, and federal levels, and basic categories of crimes
• Drug trafficking crimes, drug court efforts, and perceived weaknesses in current antidrug efforts

Each chapter begins with a set of objectives and concludes with a summary. Interactive questions promote classroom discussion and practicum sections facilitate contextual learning. Drawn from different and distinct backgrounds, the authors each have unique perspectives on crime, making for a particularly well-rounded text that explores crime from several angles. The book attempts to educate readers in the development of new insights on crime and crime causation and provides a greater understanding of the steps that need to be taken before a significant reduction in crime can occur.