Theoretical Criminology From Modernity To Post Modernism

This book incorporates many of the exciting debates in the social sciences and philosophy of knowledge concerning the issues of modernity and post-modernism. It sets out a new project for criminology, a criminology of modernity, and offers a sustained critique of theorizing without a concern for social totalities. This book is designed to place criminological theory at the cutting edge of contemporary debates. Wayne Morrison reviews the history and present state of criminology and identifies a range of social problems and large scale social processes which must be addressed if the subject is to attain intellectual commitment. This book marks a new development in criminological texts and will serve a valuable function not only for students and academics but for all those interested in the project of understanding crime in contemporary conditions.

This volume presents the rich and provocative historical, theoretical, methodological, and applied developments within affirmative postmodern and post-structural criminology. This includes the evolution of thought that embraces the "linguistic turn" in crime, law justice, and social change. Previously-published articles authored by key thinkers are included throughout the book's five substantive sections. Collectively, they represent important reflections on the current criminological landscape in which symbolic, linguistic, material, and cultural realms of analyses are featured.

Originally published in 1997. The use of postmodern criminology’s conceptual tools offers the potential for the development of a better understanding of the various configurations of repressive forces and directions for social change. This excellent text introduces the reader to the core ideas concerning subjectivity as it is related to discourses and how the discursive construction of social reality takes place. It discusses some of the key themes, dealing with both theoretical integrative work, applications, and recent developments in studying postmodern criminology. It is intended for students as well as those who are more familiar with the subject. This book is composed of twelve essays organized into three parts, this important work contributes to the big discussion among criminologists about the postmodern aspects of crime.

This book of essays by legal scholars from the United Kingdom, Eire, Israel and Palestine explores the extent to which the recognition of the concept of children’s rights is affected by adherence to religious, cultural and ethnic traditions. The aim is twofold: first, to illuminate the interface between internationally-agreed norms of conduct regarding children and national and cultural determination to preserve traditional approaches; and secondly, to reflect upon the conflicts within societies between different cultural and religious groups in their attempts to determine whether 'liberal/secular' or 'conservative/religious' norms predominate in attitudes to children’s upbringing. This is the first collection of papers covering and comparing the UK and Israeli/Palestinian jurisdictions. The particular blends of social, religious and cultural diversity in both regions, mingled with the political factors operating as well, render these jurisdictions of special interest as case-studies in the reception of 'western/liberal' norms and values. Moreover, Israel and Palestine, despite their manifestly different cultures as compared with Britain, have been influenced by the colonial legacy of the common law, rendering this particular east-west comparison of special interest.

Innovative and timely, Constitutive Criminology offers an affirmative, holistic approach to the study of crime. Taking as its starting point that humans not only shape the world but are shaped by it, this volume asserts that the behaviors of individuals who break laws and victimize others cannot be understood in isolation from the society of which they are a part. Instead of setting out to identify factors that cause offending, authors Stuart Henry and Dragan Milovanovic examine the coproduction of crime by human subjects and by the social and organizational structures that humans develop. Using a context of prevailing modernist and postmodernist analysis, the authors first deconstruct crime as a recursive process and then attempt reconstruction with the goal of preventing recurrence of crime. This volume challenges readers to compare affirmative postmodernist assumptions to the assumptions of existing modernist theories--and thus build a new criminological theory--through the exploration of familiar themes, including human nature, society and social order, the role of the law, definitions of crime, crime causation, and justice policy and practices. An original and interdisciplinary study for those seeking a new approach to understanding and explaining crime, Constitutive Criminology is essential reading for students and academics in criminology, criminal justice, the sociology of law and sociology, as well as for professionals in criminal justice fields.

For undergraduate courses in Introduction to Criminological Theory, Theories of Crime & Delinquency, Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Introduction to Criminology found in Departments of Sociology, Criminology and Criminal Justice. This concise book, acclaimed by students as easy to read and understand, covers all the major sociological theories of crime, views the development of these theories, and shows the connections between them over time.

Constitutive Criminology at Work reveals the value of applying postmodernist-informed constitutive criminology to issues of crime and justice. A holistic, integrated criminological theory, constitutive criminology takes serious account of the interrelated contributions of human agency and social forces and argues that crime is an integral part of the total material and cultural production of society. Consequently, analysis and control of crime cannot be separated from the wider structural and cultural contexts in which it is produced. This book argues that constitutive criminology can ultimately help society out of its obsession with the crime and punishment cycle. Based on applications and empirical research within the theoretical framework first presented in the editors' earlier volume, Constitutive Criminology: Beyond Postmodernism, this new book brings together scholars and practitioners who have applied constitutive theory to specific areas of crime and justice practice. It extends development of the constitutive project by drawing together studies that found constitutive theory helpful in understanding distinct problems in the applied world of crime and justice. [Contributors include Bruce Arrigo, Gregg Barak, Mary Bosworth, John Brigham, Dion Dennis, Victor E. Kappeler, Peter Kraska, Lisa Sanchez, Robert Schehr, Jim Thomas, James Williams, and T. R. Young.]