Product Description

Providing an international and comparative introduction to the discipline, this informative book is an accessible guide to the theoretical and practical approaches to the phenomena of crime.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17036 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Review

"[Sandra Walklate] has set out the subject matter of criminology in a reader friendly manner but one in which the reader can question their own conventional notions about crime, crime causation, crime theorizing and crime control."

David C. Perrier, Saint Mary's University, Canada

"This text will be a welcome addition to many libraries, including my own!"

Barbara Perry, University of Ontario, Canada

From the Back Cover
Criminology: The Basics is a short, accessible introduction to what criminology is, and the main areas of study within it. Designed to be relevant to a wide, international audience, Sandra Walklate has taken a comparative approach, and includes a large range of examples from arounfd the world. The book includes chapter summaries, a glossary and annotated further reading.

About the Author

Sandra Walklate is Professor of Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Bangor University. Her previous publications include Understanding Criminology (second edition, Open University Press, 2003.

Customer Reviews

A reasonable but flawed introduction
Professor Walklate's introduction to the field of criminology promises to be "easy to read, concise and supported by a glossary of terms and pointers to further reading". The first is sadly wide of the mark, though the latter claims are substantiated by a reading of the text.
Criminology is a complex field and Professor Walklate's range of reference is helpful in breaking down the completing claims of various groups (sociologists, politicians, the judiciary etc) and their definition of the field. The use of case studies is also helpful, locating the sometimes obtuse academic praxis of the subject in readily identifiable narratives which shed an interesting light on both those narratives and the subject itself. As a basic guide, then, this is informative.
Unfortunately, the writing itself is, at times, shockingly bad. Whether this is the fault of the author herself or the editors at Routledge is of course unclear, but that such obfuscating and grammatically erroneous writing should be published is a sad reflection on both parties. Some examples from the first 15 pages:
"Psychologists, for example, explore how the mind works, sociolgists are interested in social structures, economics in economic systems..." (3)
"...pointing not only to its multi-disciplinarity but also to its theoretical diversity. Thus emphasising the highly contested nature of the discipline..." (7)
"However in order to do that it is important..." (7)
"Criminology embraced Comte's understanding of positivism and its historically significant links with policy; that is in wanting to manage social problems." (8)
"That understanding of positivism; a concern to measure the..." (8)
"...can still be felt contemporarily in two ways; first in the continuing presence of biological positivism and second in ideas around who is, and who is not, likely to be criminal: the Criminal Other." (9-10)

And, worst of all:

"Thinking about this categorisation critically, it is possible to see that Von Hentig thought the normal person was the white, heterosexual male. Rather like in the work of Lombroso discussed earlier. Von Hentig does not suggest that there is a 'born victim', however, that parallels with the ideas of Lombroso." (15)

Professor Walklate, or her editors, seem sadly unable to identify incomplete sentences lacking a main verb, to use the semi-colon with any precision or accuracy, or to, at times, write with the clarity that a 'basic' introduction demands or that the back-cover spiel promises. It is very sad that an otherwise helpful book is so badly written that it fails to deliver its information in a readable format, frustrating this reader time and again.

first steps in criminology
Excellent first introduction to the subject for a social sciences undergraduate persuing pre course reading for the OU second level criminology course.