Developments In Crime And Crime Control Research

"One of the central features of modern German criminology in revealing the 'true nature of crime' follows the tradition of enlightment" instead of accommodating the approach of the criminal justice system. This contention is made by the editors of Developments in Crime and Crime Control Research, Drs. Sessar and Kerner, as they continue to bridge the traditional gap between Anglo-American scholars in criminology and their German counterparts. The language barrier has long been another contributing circumstance to the division of philosophy among countries, but recently, substantial attempts are being undertaken to examine more closely the differences among specific criminological schools of thinking. Drs. Sessar and Kerner point out that, although crime has its universality, a clear understanding of the various approaches to the problem of crime will prove of benefit to those in the field in all countries.

Over recent years, the governance of crime - from policing and crime prevention to sentencing and prison organization - has moved away from a focus on reforming offenders toward preventing crime and managing behaviour using predictive and distributional (such as risk) techniques. Crime and Risk presents an engaging discussion of risk strategies and risk-taking in the domain of crime and criminal justice. It outlines the broad theoretical issues and political approaches involved, relating risk in contemporary crime governance to risk in criminal activity. Taking a broad and discursive approach, it covers: Risk-taking and contemporary culture The excitement associated with risk-taking and the impact of criminal activity The application of risk-oriented developments in crime prevention and control The use of genetic and related biotechnologies to assess and react to perceived threats The conceptualization of risk in relation to race and gender The influence of excitement upon criminal activity Evidence and accountability. ? Compact Criminology is an exciting series that invigorates and challenges the international field of criminology. Books in the series are short, authoritative, innovative assessments of emerging issues in criminology and criminal justice – offering critical, accessible introductions to important topics. They take a global rather than a narrowly national approach. Eminently readable and first-rate in quality, each book is written by a leading specialist. Compact Criminology provides a new type of tool for teaching, learning and research, one that is flexible and light on its feet. The series addresses fundamental needs in the growing and increasingly differentiated field of criminology.

Evidence-based policing is based on the straightforward, but powerful, idea that crime prevention and crime control policy should be based on what works best in promoting public safety, as determined by the best available scientific evidence. Bringing together leading academics and practitioners, this book explores a wide range of case studies from around the world that best exemplify the integration of scientific evidence in contemporary policing processes. Chapters explore the transfer of scientific knowledge to the practice community, the role of officers in conducting police-led science, connection of work between police researchers and practitioners, and how evidence-based policing can be incorporated in daily police functions. The Globalization of Evidence-Based Policing is written for both researchers and practitioners interested in ensuring that scientific research is at center stage in policing. Agencies (including law enforcement agencies, research centers, and institutions of higher learning) can look to these case studies as road maps to better foster an evidence-based approach to crime prevention and crime control. Those already committed to evidence-based policing can look to these chapters to ensure that evidence-based policing is firmly institutionalized within their agencies. Accessible and compelling, this book is essential reading for all those interested in learning more about and doing more to bring about evidence-based policing.

Provides an integrated and holistic review of effective crime prevention programs, practices and policies, their theoretical grounding, the scientific evidence of their effectiveness, and the practical issues involved in their implementation at the community, state and national levels. The Prevention of Crime offers a comprehensive yet easy-to-understand overview of crime prevention strategies, such as programs and practices guided by life-course developmental theories of crime, situational crime prevention, law enforcement practices and policies, and correctional interventions. Containing the most up-to-date and accurate information about “what works” in crime prevention, this unique textbook introduces students to the public health and prevention science approaches to addressing the causes of crime, with a focus on prevention-oriented, community-based interventions. Throughout the text, the authors emphasize the importance of using high-quality scientific methodologies to identify effective and ineffective interventions that are based on theory, provide expert insights on practical issues relating to crime prevention in communities, and discuss how practitioners can effectively implement a range of crime prevention strategies. Incorporating recent advances and emerging research in the field, the second edition of The Prevention of Crime contains new and updated coverage of developments in criminological theory and evaluation methods, efforts to avoid and correct discriminatory crime prevention practices, understand how and why communities make adaptations to evidence-based interventions (EBI), strategies to investigate and communicate the impact of EBIs on different populations (including members of racial/ethnic minority groups), and more. This edition includes new links to relevant research and internet resources, additional real-world examples, updated crime statistics, and information on recent changes in EBI registries that list crime prevention interventions. Describes effective interventions that have been developed, tested, and used in the United States and internationally Demonstrates the relationship between criminological theories, research, and practice Discusses the practical challenges of implementing crime prevention strategies and policies Corrects misconceptions about widely-used prevention models shown to be ineffective in reducing crime Draws from cutting-edge conceptual frameworks and the latest research in prevention science and crime prevention Written to be accessible to students without formal training in research methods, The Prevention of Crime, Second Edition, is an excellent textbook for undergraduate and graduate programs in criminology, criminal justice, and prevention science programs, as well as courses on psychology, public health, sociology, and social work.

The U.S. is the world´s biggest jailor and one of the most affluent murderous countries, and yet its citizens pay more taxes to sustain law and order than their European counterparts. Yet, the U.S. has the most data in the world on the use of incarceration and its failure. Its researchers have identified more projects able to prevent violence than the rest of the world put together. Its legislators have access to pioneering data banks on cost effective ways to use taxes to reduce crime. We are left wondering why we cannot implement measures that we know will work, reduce crime, and cost less for law and order. Smarter Crime Control shows how to use recent knowledge and best practices to reduce the extraordinarily high rates of murder, traffic fatalities, drug overdoses, and incarceration, while avoiding the high taxes paid by families for policing and prisons. Providing detailed examples, Irvin Waller offers specific actions our leaders at all levels can take to reduce violence and lower costs to taxpayers. He focuses on how to retool policing and improve corrections to reduce reoffending and crime, while limiting criminal courts. He also shows how programs and investments in various strategies can help those youth on the path to chronic offending avoid the path all together. Waller shows how to get smart on crime to shift the criminal justice paradigm from the failing, outdated, racially biased, and exorbitant complex today to an effective, modern, fair and lean system for safer communities that spares so many victims from the loss and pain of preventable violence. He makes a compelling case for reinvesting what is currently misspent on reacting to crime into smart ways to prevent crime. Ultimately, he demonstrates to readers the importance of reevaluating our current system and putting into place proven strategies for crime and violence prevention that will keep people out of jail and make our streets and communities safer for everyone.

This edited volume explores recent research and developments in the study of organized crime. It covers six key areas: drug-related issues; human trafficking and prostitution; sports and crime; procurement and corruption; and enforcement and prevention. The contributors provide timely research for understanding various aspects of organized crime, as well as the responses that have been developed worldwide to prevent and contain them. These contributions were presented at seminars of the Centre for Information and Research on Organized Crime (CIROC). It will be of interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, particularly with an interest in organized crime and criminal networks, as well as related fields such as Comparative Law, and Political Science. This collection represents the most current thinking on entrenched problems of organized crime....This book is an important contribution in developing new approaches to organized crime and its control. — Jay S. Albanese, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Criminal Justice Programs, Virginia Commonwealth University The book is very well organised and written and deals with a diversity of topics and approaches. — Ernesto U.Savona, Director of Transcrime, Professor of Criminology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan

This book addresses and reviews progress in a major innovative development within police work known as evidence-based policing. It involves a significant extension and strengthening of links between research and practice and is directed to the task of increasing police effectiveness in the field of community crime prevention. This volume provides an international perspective that synthesizes recent research results from the United States and other countries – including systematic reviews of large bodies of evidence – to illuminate several of the most challenging issues currently confronting police departments. It examines recent advances in research-based models of policing and the expanding base in outcome evaluation. Key areas of coverage include: Managing the nighttime economy. Supervising sex offenders. Tackling domestic/intimate partner violence. Addressing school violence and the formation of gangs. Reducing victim and witness retraction and disengagement. Responding to mental disorders, safeguarding vulnerable adults, and providing victim support. Leveraging public awareness campaigns. In addition, each chapter presents an overview of key issues within a designated area, synthesizes existing reviews, and examines the most recent research. The book clearly and concisely presents major concepts, theories, and research findings, thereby providing both conceptual and analytic tools alongside an integrated presentation of principal findings and messages. The volume concludes with a discussion of current directions in research, key developments in policing strategies, and identification of effective operational structures for facilitating and sustaining research-practice links. Evidence-Based Policing and Community Crime Prevention is a must-have resource for researchers, clinicians and other professionals, and graduate students in forensic psychology, criminology and criminal justice, public health, developmental psychology, psychotherapy and counseling, psychiatry, social work, educational policy and politics, health psychology, nursing, and behavioral therapy/rehabilitation.

Opportunity theories of crime seek to explain the occurrence of crime rather than simply the existence of criminal dispositions. They emphasize the fundamental element in the criminal act of opportunity: how this arises, how it is perceived, evaluated and acted on by those with criminal dispositions. This volume brings together influential research articles on opportunity theories of crime by leading theorists such as Cohen and Felson on routine activity theory and Clarke and Cornish on the bounded rational choice perspective. The articles also include more recent theoretical developments and studies of situational crime prevention of specific twenty-first century crimes. These articles attest to the sheer volume as well to as the richness and the variety of work designed to reduce crime that has forever changed the face of criminology and criminal justice.

Crime control has risen rapidly up the social and political agendas to become a central feature of western societies. As inequalities in society have increased, so the actual and perceived risks of crime and other social ills have grown rapidly for all sections of society. Crime has become a central issue to governments, and no longer just a technical operation of law enforcement and adjudication. This book is concerned with issues arising from these developments. Top criminologists from Britain, the USA and Australia explore the links between crime and risk through a range of themes, from the depiction of crime in the media to the dilemmas of policing, to the new punitiveness of criminal justice systems and the custodial warehousing of the poor and excluded. Crime, Risk and Justice will be of interest to students, academics and practitioners with an interest in crime and crime control and the place they have in modern society.

For the past two decades or more the growth of public policies and strategies aimed at crime prevention and community safety has constituted one of the major innovations in crime control, with significant implications for the manner in which crime and safety are governed. But how has 'the preventive turn' in crime control policies been implemented in various different countries and what have its implications been? What lessons have been learnt over the ensuing years and what are the major trends influencing the direction of development? What does the future hold for crime prevention and community safety?These are some of the questions explored in this book through a comparative analysis of developments in crime prevention policies across a number of European countries. Contributors explore and assess the different models adopted and the shifting emphasis accorded to differing strategies over time. The book also seeks to compare and contrast different approaches as well as the nature and extent of policy transfer between jurisdictions and the internationalisation of key ideas, strategies and theories of crime prevention and community safety. The book brings together a collection of leading international experts to explore the lessons learnt through implementation, and the future directions of crime prevention policies. Many of the contributors have been closely involved in crime prevention and community safety policy development and research in different countries. As such, they are well placed to reflect upon developmental trajectories over the last quarter of a century, as well as to draw out the underlying influences that have shaped such changes.