Criminal Sociology

by Enrico Ferri

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction, Psychology, Crime

310 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1884

About the author

Italian criminologist, socialist, and student of Cesare Lombroso.

However, whereas Lombroso researched the physiological factors that motivated criminals, Ferri investigated social and economic factors.

Ferri was the author of Criminal Sociology in 1884 and the editor for Avanti, a socialist daily. His work served as the basis for Argentina’s penal code of 1921.

Although at first he rejected the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, after his rise to power he became one of its main supporters outside the Fascist Party.

Reviews

[Jim Poling · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to preface my review by saying that due to the time period of this book (1800s) by a European author mixed with my lack of a psychology background, some of this may have gone over my head. A lot of the terminology used in the text was unfamiliar to me. I’m not sure if this was because of the time period, geographical language, or my lack of in depth knowledge on the subject. But nonetheless

It was a tough book to get through. Very dry and often boring. A lot of the themes the author seems to cover also seem kind of outdated (not surprising considering it was written over 100 years ago). The author seems to complain about the jail system being imperfect but his specific solutions seem to be unrealistic. Maybe they were more applicable back then but in a modern society they just seem implausible. This may have been revolutionary stuff at the time but a lot of it is common sense practices today.

Would not really recommend unless you’re a student studying this specific topic.

[Jordan Thibodeaux · Rating 2 out of 5]

who has ever enjoying reading a class textbook front to back.

[Doreen Petersen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although this book was written long ago the problem I have with it is that the author strongly advocates the concept of eugenics in determining what is criminal and what should be done. Therefore I can only in good conscience give it 1 star.

[Lexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Informative Read

This book is quite old, it was written for criminal sociology of the late 1880s. However, some of the observations of the penal system then and still ring true to the penal system today.

[Kylie Abecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

A lot of theories written as factual without any evidence to support it. Not very well written - Would not recommend.

[P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dense? Criminals? Numbers? Murders? History? Studies? All of the above.