Crime and Criminology: An Introduction

Crime and Criminology: An Introduction identifies basic approaches within criminology, including classical, biological and psychological positivist, strain, labelling, marxist, feminist, republican, left realist, new right and critical, and discusses critically the strengths and weaknesses of each perspective, and its contribution to the field as a whole.

In its survey of the major perspectives on the causes of crime, the book reviews the contributions made by European, American, British and Australian scholars to the understanding of crime. Each chapter further illustrates the nature of each perspective by referring specifically to Australian cases and writers. An important aspect of the book is the way in which it discusses the social context of each theoretical development, highlights basic concepts, and gives both historical and contemporary examples of each approach.