Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

The development of crime and crime control as social phenomena: the role of the police -- Crime: definitions and conflicting images -- The statistics on crime and their meaning -- The media and 'law and order' -- The classical and positivist traditions -- Crime and the environment -- Poverty, anomie and strain -- Subcultural theories -- Interactionism and phenomenology -- Conflict, Marxist and radical theories of crime -- Realist criminology -- Theories of control -- Gender and crime -- Biological factors and crime -- Intelligence, mental disorder and crime -- Personality theories -- Violent, aggressive and sexual offences.

"Criminology provides a discussion of the distribution and causation of crime. Throughout the text, the author draws on a wide range of research in order to consider both sociological and psychological explanations of criminal behaviour aiming to ask the right questions rather than provide a definitive set of answers." "This third edition has been fully updated and is designed for undergraduates studying criminology, criminological theory, and the sociology of deviance. Its detailed analysis and sources of further readings will also be of interest to postgraduate students."--BOOK JACKET.