Although a well-known phenomenon in the U.S., street gangs and other violent and criminal groups_including racist groups_exist also in European cities and countries, and are of increasing concern in global law enforcement. The eminent contributors to this volume present valuable new data on European youth gangs, describing important characteristics of these groups, and their similarities and differences to American gangs. Their findings from the Eurogang Research Program compare European a...

In her latest book, sociologist Diane Crocker challenges the popular perception that crime in Canada is on the rise and argues that public opinion is becoming a bigger barrier to achieving justice than the actual extent of crime. Using the most current data available, her research reveals how we can better assess the effectiveness of crime control policies, as well as our own responses to crime, while promoting democratic values such as equity and accountability.

Is prison a humane form of punishment and an effective means of rehabilitation? Are current prison policies, such as shifting resources away from rehabilitation toward housing more offenders, improving the safety and lives of incarcerated populations?Considering that many Canadians have served time, are currently incarcerated, or may one day be incarcerated–and will be released back into society–it is essential for the functioning and betterment of communities that we understand th...

As the number of prisoners in the UK, USA and elsewhere continues to rise, so have concerns risen about the damaging short term and long term effects this has on prisoners. This book brings together a group of leading authorities in this field, both academics and practitioners, to address the complex issues this has raised, to assess the implications and results of research in this field, and to suggest ways of mitigating the often devastating personal and psychological consequences of imp...

This book is an excellent resource in examining the influence that community control can have on crime.

This book examines international developments in investigative interviewing. It analyses the cases and other factors leading to the paradigm shift in a number of countries, it considers issues that are of current interest to practitioners and academics including the continuing calls for the use of torture, whether it is possible to detect deception and the contribution of investigative interviewing methods to concepts of therapeutic and restorative justice.The book responds to the ...

This book provides a concise but comprehensive review of the full range of classic and contemporary theories of crime. With separate chapters on the nature and use of criminological theory as well as theoretical application, the authors render the difficult task of explaining crime more understandable to the introductory student. All of the main theories in criminology are reviewed including classical and rational choice, biological, psychological, and evolutionary, social structural, soci...

This comprehensive work provides a sourcebook of information about the substantive, methodological, and policy-oriented aspects of homicide research in Europe. Part one of this work covers the most recent substantive and methodological information about European homicide research. The second part will contains detailed case studies on homicide research in 15-20 individual European nations.This work will be both conceptual and practical. conceptual and practical. Conceptual aspects ...

In The Modern Prison Paradox, Amy E. Lerman examines the shift from rehabilitation to punitivism that has taken place in the politics and practice of American corrections. She argues that this punitive turn has had profoundly negative consequences for both crime control and American community life. Professor Lerman's research shows that spending time in America's increasingly violent and castigatory prisons strengthens inmates' criminal networks and fosters attitudes that increase the like...

In the past two decades, many prevention and suppression programs have been initiated on a national and local level to combat street gangs--but what do we really know about them? Why do youths join them? Why do they proliferate? Street Gang Patterns and Policies is a crucial update and critical examination of our understanding of gangs and major gang-control programs across the nation. Often perceived solely as an urban issue, street gangs are also a suburban and rural dilemma. Kl...

In Responding to Youth Crime in Canada, Anthony Doob and Carla Cesaroni describe how Canada has been responding to youth crime in the context of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which came into force on April 1, 2003. The authors describe what is known about Canadian youth crime, and the operation of the youth justice system in the context of the changes in the law that are taking place.The authors posit that the youth justice system has a relatively modest impact ...

In recent decades, research into the legitimacy of criminal justice has convincingly demonstrated the importance of procedural justice to citizens’ sense of trust and confidence in legal authorities and their resulting willingness to conform to the law and cooperate with the legal authorities. Reversing the age-old question ‘why do people break the law?’, theories of procedural justice have provided insight into the factors that encourage people to abide by the law, suggesting that experie...