Understanding Deviance

Description

The clearest and most authoritative student guide to deviance: David Downes, Paul Rock, and Eugene McLaughlin, all leading experts in the field of deviance, come together to lead students through the sociological theories behind crime and deviance.

• A detailed account of the major sociological theories of crime and deviance covering their development, recent research, and varying perspectives on their explanation of criminality
• Authored by three distinguished criminologists who have written extensively on theories of crime and deviance
• Introduces key debates chronologically and deals with the complexity of these debates, challenging readers to question assumptions and explore new avenues of scholarship
• An extensive bibliography provides readers with references to a range of texts from the criminology classics, to less well known texts, reflecting the authors' expert knowledge of the subject

New to this edition

• A completely new chapter on victimology
• Rethinking the legacy and relevance of past sociological theorizing in the field of crime and deviance
• Discussion of the significance of the emergence of cultural, public and global criminologies
• Further clarification of the relationship between crime, crime control and the 'risk society'
• Fresh assessment of the applied policy relevance of academic theorizing
• Discussion of the twenty-first century challenges facing criminology that places the much heralded fall in crime rate across most democratic and developed societies in perspective

About the Author(s)

David Downes, Emeritus Professor, London School of Economics, Paul Rock, Emeritus Professor, London School of Economics, and Eugene McLaughlin, Professor of Criminology, City University

David Downes is Emeritus Professor of Social Administration and a member of the Mannheim Centre of Criminology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is currently working with Tim Newburn and Paul Rock on the official history of criminal justice policy in England and Wales 1959-1997.

Paul Rock is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and a member of the Mannheim Centre of Criminology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is currently working with David Downes and Tim Newburn on the official history of criminal justice policy in England and Wales 1959-1997.

Eugene McLaughlin is Professor of Criminology and a member of the Department of Sociology at the City University of London. He is currently researching the significance of institutional scandals in the UK.

Table of Contents

1:Theoretical contexts: the changing nature and scope of the sociology of crime and deviance
2:Sources of knowledge about crime and deviance
3:The Chicago school
4:Functionalism: the Durkheimian legacy
5:Anomie and strain theory
6:Culture and subculture
7:Symbolic interactionism
8:Phenomenology
9:Control theories
10:Radical criminology
11:Feminist criminology
12:Victimology
13:Public criminology: theory and policy
14:The metamorphosis of the sociology of crime and deviance

Reviews

I would say that while lesser books go straight to the 'deviance' aspect, this book does much more by addressing the 'sociology', situating the subject historically, culturally, and academically. - Jo Buckle, Glasgow Caledonian University

An excellent introduction to the sociology of deviance; it covers all the main theories and some that are not typically included with rich and varied examples. - Dr Luca Follis, Lancaster University Law School

I regard Understanding Deviance to be a triumph, a major achievement - and its reading essential to a balanced understanding of the field. - Erich Goode, Emeritus Professor, State University of New York at Stony Brook