Crime and Social Control is a textbook with a unique conceptual framework aimed at sophisticated students in core criminology courses. The book begins at the macro level with an emphasis on the system and how that plays into society's view of crime and criminals. Using ‘social control' as a guiding framework, the book takes an integrated approach to crime as a sociological phenomenon. Beginning with an understanding of the way the criminal justice system, the media and other institutions construct a public definition of what is crime and how criminals are treated, the text then moves into the micro areas such as the social influences in one's life and concluding with an analysis of the individual. A broad range of research will be presented describing crime and criminality historically, cross culturally, and in contemporary American society. Theories and research on social organization, law, and systems of social control will be an integral part of the text. Complex ideas will be made clear through the use of accessible writing and examples to illustrate key points to encourage reader interest. The aim is get students to understand that there are developing lines of research and theory that are producing consistent conclusions. Criminologists seek convergence and synthesis and to move toward more comprehensive explanations. This point of view is reflected in the organization and content throughout the book.
Crime and Social Control opens with a prime example of a contemporary problem: drug use and its control. This example is meant to capture reader interest and to suggest that criminology has something of value to offer. Specifically, readers will learn that it is possible to approach systematically, issues that are critical and emotionally charged. They will be introduced to some key concepts (violation, social control, and crime) and the importance of distinguishing among them. Students will be immersed from the beginning in real and pressing criminological issues and the ongoing efforts to control crime.
Setting this textbook apart from the competition, while most of the mainstream criminology books offer a chapter on sources of crime data, this book will provide a similar discussion, but in addition, an extended discussion of research methods. Students will find the information on methods especially useful when they read the detailed reviews of research literature that are presented in the chapters on particular crime patterns.
Finally, crime theories will be described in a way that emphasizes continuities and coherence. Among the variables proposed as explanations are forms and levels of social integration, patterns of interpersonal relationships, learning experiences, and levels of individual commitment to the conventional social order.
Crime and Social Control is aimed at professors seeking an alternative to the standard textbook offerings that tend to copy one another with a set of disconnected facts written for the less prepared student. This text aims to break that mold to provide a deeper understanding of crime for motivated students and what criminologists are doing to control it.
