Preface

In the past decade the number and size of criminology and criminal justice departments have increased substantially and nearly all of these departments require a class in criminological theory. Those who teach these theory classes have three options when choosing texts: they can assign a theory textbook that summarizes the theories and the major research on them; they can assign a reader that includes one or two original articles explaining each theory; or they can put together their own packet of readings. We believe that each of these options has major limitations. In an effort to address these limitations and provide researchers, instructors, and students with a comprehensive treatment of criminological theory, we put together the book you now hold in your hands. This book is unique among edited theoretical volumes in that it provides a comprehensive collection of the most impactful classical theoretical pieces in criminology, combined with original retrospective pieces on each theory written exclusively for this book by some of the best-established and up and-coming criminologists today. This combination of classical articles and contemporary retrospectives provides the reader with a solid foundation for understanding the original theories and with a contemporary understanding of how the theories have evolved through testing and developments.

This book contains the most important and influential theories used to understand crime and criminality. As a course text, this book is designed for upper-division courses in criminology, criminal justice, and sociology. As a research resource, it should be of interest to researchers and professionals, because it provides a compendium of the most important theories combined with keen contemporary analysis that presents the latest research and theoretical modifications regarding each of them. This book's greatest strength, and indeed its future impact, derives from the retrospective pieces found at the end of each chapter. Great care and deliberation were taken to identify and recruit contemporary criminologists whose current and past work marks them as experts in the theoretical perspectives at hand. In each chapter, these individuals have provided retrospective analyses of the theories so users can “see” how each theory has progressed and been implemented since its development. We strove to ensure a consistency in the retrospectives. Thus, in soliciting these unique pieces from our authors we asked them to consider five aspects of each theory. First, authors provide the theoretical foundation of the theory they wrote about. This includes a brief overview and summary of the theory, with some detail on how the theory came about and what its preceding philosophical foundations may have been. Second, authors reviewed the various critiques of the theory. Here they provide a critical assessment of the theory, delineating its shortcomings and identifying areas that require further attention from researchers and theorists. Third, for theories to be valid they must be subject to empirical evaluation. In reviewing evaluations authors address the major research evaluating the theory, as well as how the theory has held up to empirical tests and how scholars have measured core concepts. Fourth, each retrospective discusses the various theoretical refinements that have been made. This includes a description of the advances and reformulations of the original theory and a description of how the theory has grown since its inception. Finally, authors address the potential policy applications of the theory. This includes addressing how the theory can be used to inform and guide policies relevant to crime and justice.

In our opinion, these critical analyses have the capacity to enlighten our understanding of criminological theory as a whole, and it is likely that a number of them will at some point in the future be considered classical pieces in their own right. To our knowledge there is not another criminology theory textbook like this on the market, and we are grateful beyond words to the authors who submitted their work to us for this book. A perusal of the author biographies will surely impress the reader, and we are humbled (if not outright shocked) that these exceptional scholars were willing to pause their busy and productive careers to contribute to this effort. What is evident from their writings, research, and careers is that they feel as passionately about the place and importance of criminology in contemporary society as we do. Crime is an unfortunately enduring characteristic of life, and our ability to respond to it would be severely hampered were it not for the existence and advancement of criminological theory. The contributing authors continue to advance theory and research in this critical area. This book would simply not be possible without them.