Criminological Perspectives: Essential Readings (Published in association with The Open University). This item is unavailable.Criminological Perspectives: Essential Readings (Published in association with The Open University)

`This second edition is an excellent updated collection. The volume′s fifty essays provide invaluable sources for academics, students and practitioners interested in enduring and new criminological issues and concerns′ - SCOLAG Legal Journal

`In its acumen and choice of readings it is simply the best accompanying reader for an undergraduate criminological theory course′ -

Dr Colin Webster, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, University of Teeside

`This is by far the most comprehensive and enjoyable reader in criminological theory. It is both international in its scope and historical in its depth. This is a must for a student beginning the subject or a postgraduate wanting to be reminded how criminology at its best can be so intellectually exhilarating. For the writer here are all the core articles you need for quick reference, for the teacher this is one book you can recommend with the knowledge that it can be used across topics whilst presenting the student with the width of perspective which is the basis of a sound education in the social sciences′ - Jock Young, Visiting Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the City University of New York

`Provides an excellent and comprehensive introduction to the critical issues and debates that are revitalising contemporary criminology. This genuinely international text will be an invaluable resource for both students and lecturers alike′ - Professor Adam Crawford, Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, Department of Law, University of Leeds

The Second Edition of this highly successful and internationally acclaimed Reader, now fully revised and updated, provides readers with a comprehensive introduction to the depth and diversity of criminological thinking. The carefully selected readings which cover the most significant theoretical and empirical work in the field, provide access to the core perspectives that underpin criminology and promote fresh debate at the interface of the different perspectives.

The Reader is organised into six sections: Part One: Criminological Formations; Part Two: Crime Causation; Part Three: Criminalisation; Part Four: Criminal Justice and Crime Prevention; Part Five: Discipline and Governance; Part Six: Criminological Transformations.

It contains new readings on:

· social control theory

· opportunity theory

· gender and crime control

· race and criminalisation

· the governance of crime

· psycho-social criminology

· cultural criminology

· global criminology.

In order to guide readers through the different perspectives, the text has a substantial introduction. Each part of the reader is also prefaced by a concise introduction that identifies the significance of each article.

The Second Edition of Criminological Perspectives offers the most comprehensive guide to the major topics and areas of debate that constitute contemporary criminology. It will be essential reading for students of criminology, criminal justice studies, socio-legal studies, sociology, social policy and social work.

Criminological Perspectives: Essential Readings is the set book for The Open University course Crime, Order and Social Control (D315).

Eugene McLaughlin is Professor of Criminology and co-director of the Centre for Crime and Justice Research. He is also a member of the Centre for Law Justice and Journalism. He completed his postgraduate criminology studies at the University of Cambridge and the University of Sheffield. Eugene has held various academic appointments including at the University of Hong Kong, the Open University and the University of Southampton. He has also been Visiting Professor at the Department of Sociology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, the Department of Communication Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies. He is an associate editor of Crime, Media and Cultureand is on the editorial board of Criminal Justice Matters. He has served on the editorial boards of the British Journal of Criminology, Critical Social Policy, the Howard Journal of Criminal Justice and was co-editor of Theoretical Criminology.


John Muncie is Emeritus Professor of Criminology at the Open University, UK. He is the author of Youth and Crime (5th edition, Sage, 2021), and he has published widely on issues in comparative youth justice and children’s rights, including the co-edited companion volumes Youth Crime and Justice and Comparative Youth Justice (Sage, 2006). He has produced numerous Open University texts and readers, including Crime: Local and Global (Willan, 2010), Criminal Justice: Local and Global (Willan, 2010), The Problem of Crime (2nd edition, Sage, 2001), Crime Prevention and Community Safety (Sage, 2001) and Imprisonment: European Perspectives (Harvester, 1991). He has also contributed nine volumes to the The Sage Library of Criminology (Sage, 2007–2009). He is co-editor of the Sage journal Youth Justice: An International Journal.