1. What is Crime? Defining the Problem
2. What is Criminology? The Study of Crime, Criminals, and Victims
3. Crime and Criminology in a Global Context?
4. Measuring Crime: How Criminologists Obtain Data on the Extent of Crime and Victimization
5. Classical, and Neoclassical Theories: Crime as Free Will– Myth or Reality?
6. Rational-Choice, and Routine Activities Theories: Crime as Opportunity
7. Biological, Physiological, and Biosocial Theories: "Born to Be Bad"
8. Psychoanalytical, Personality Traits, and Learning Explanations: Criminal Minds
9. Socio-Psychological and Cognitive Learning Theories: "Stinking Thinking"
10. Neutralization and Moral Disengagement Theories: “Everybody Does it”
11. Social Control, Social Bonding, and Self-Control Theories: “Poor Parenting"
12. Developmental and Life-Course Theories: Crime Over Time
13. Labeling and Social Constructionist Theories: Reaction to Social Control
14. Social Ecology and Social Disorganization Theories: Crimes of Place
15. Anomie and Strain Theories: The Sick Society
16. Subcultural Theories and Cultural Criminology: Cultures of Crime
17. Conflict and Radical Criminology: Capitalism as a Criminogenic Society
18. Critical Criminology: Power and Difference in Postmodern Society
19. Feminist Criminology: Patriarchy, Gender, and Crime
20. Critical Realist and Critical Green Criminology: Grounding Critical Criminology
21. Integrated Criminology: Toward a Unified Criminology
Biography
Stuart Henry, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Criminology and Criminal Justice at San Diego State University where he was Director of the School of Public Affairs (2006-2017). He is the author/coauthor of 37 books and 125 articles in academic journals and book chapters. His published co-authored works include: Social Deviance (2019), Responding to School Violence (2014), Criminological Theory (2006), and Constitutive Criminology: Beyond Postmodernism (1996).
Desiré J. M. Anastasia, Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology at Metropolitan State University of Denver and Instructor of Criminal Justice at San Diego State University. She is the co-author of four books and three articles in academic books and book chapters. Employed as a teaching scholar, she has instructed over 240 sections of courses in Sociology, Criminology, and Criminal Justice.
“Theories are presented comprehensively, intelligently, systematically, fairly, and with proper critical evaluation.”
Paul Leighton, Eastern Michigan University, US.A.
"Essential Criminology brings a breath of fresh air to my course at the same time it provides the materials to cover a very important but very difficult topic: theorizing about crime itself."
Sandra Quinn, St. Ambrose University, U.S.A.
"No other text on theories of crime can compete with Essential Criminology's precise coverage of core theories in crime causation or with its seductive encouragement to actively engage the respective theories. This book will not only appeal to students but also to those seeking a comprehensive, critical reference text."
Dragan Milovanovic, Northeastern Illinois University, U.S.A.
