Print Price: $80.50

Format:
Paperback
832 pp.
29 line illus, 226 mm x 150 mm

ISBN-13:
9780195140606

Publication date:
October 2000

Imprint: OUP US

The Handbook of Crime and Punishment

Edited by Michael Tonry

Crime is one of the most significant political issues in contemporary American society. Crime control statistics and punishment policies are subjects of constant partisan debate, while the media presents sensationalized stories of criminal activity and over-crowded prisons. In the highly politicized arena of crime and justice, empirical data and reasoned analysis are often overlook or ignored. The Handbook of Crime and Punishment, however, provides a comprehensive overview of criminal justice, criminology, and crime control policy, thus enabling a fundamental understanding of crime and punishment essential to an informed public. Expansive in its coverage, the Handbook presents materials on crime and punishment trends as well as timely policy issues. The latest research on the demography of crime (race, gender, drug use) is included and weighty current problems (organized crime, white collar crime, family violence, sex offenders, youth gangs, drug abuse policy) are examined. Processes and institutions that deal with accused and convicted criminals and techniques of punishment are also examined. While some articles emphasize American research findings and developments, others incorporate international research and offer a comparative perspective from other English-speaking countries and Western Europe. Editor Michael Tonry, a leading scholar of criminology, introduces the 28 articles in the volume, each contributed by an expert in the field. Designed for a wide audience, The Handbook is encyclopedic in its range and depth of content, yet is written in an accessible style. The most inclusive and authoritative work on the topic to be found in one volume, this book will appeal to those interested in the study of crime and its causes, effects, trends, and institutions; those interested in the forms and philosophies of punishment; and those interested in crime control.

Reviews

• The volume provides an overview of areas ranging from the political context in which crime occurs and criminal justice policy reactions take place to specific subject, the etiology of crime, crime reduction strategies, and punishment debates. The articles do a good job of highlighting measurement and methodological weaknesses in the literature. They also cite cross national comparisons where appropriate note the evolution of punishment policies, and generally provide a historical framework for the current state of crime and criminal justice affairs.--Choice
• "Editor Michael Tonry is a giant of criminology....The Handbook of Crime and Punishment is the well-crafted product of his experience, brilliance and vision....Few other works present such a massively researched overview of crime and punishment, or such top-flight analysis of criminological theories....The Handbook could help politicians and the public to get past self-interest and emotion to act equitably toward everyone caught up in the web of crime and punishment--victims and criminals alike."--The Angolite
• "Handbooks of this and that are a familiar genre. To the extent that they are organized around important ideas and enterprises, and written by thoughtful, well-informed and intelligent writers, they are useful as assessments of a field's state of knowledge. The best also forecast future developments and assess their likely trajectories. For what is sets out to do, The Handbook of Crime and Punishment gets high marks on all these counts." --Contemporary Justice Review
• "Carefully reviews the latest empirical evidence on crime and the operations of the criminal justice system. Almost all the authors are highly respected household names in criminology, reflecting the high quality of the book....An impressive collection...."--Contemporary Sociology