Criminological Theory: Past to Present: Essential Readings

by Francis T. Cullen (Editor), Robert Agnew (Editor)

In this comprehensive anthology, Francis Cullen and Robert Agnew take readers on an excursion from past to present, reviewing classic and contemporary theories of crime. Students are introduced to the foundations of criminology and to the competing theories that will shape thinking about crime
in the years ahead.

Building on the success of the second edition, the third edition features nine new selections and adds two new "Conservative Criminology" and "Environmental Criminology." The third edition also begins with a unique "Guide for Readers"--an essay that helps students understand both the
structure of criminological theory and how to use the book's readings most effectively.

A brief introduction precedes each individual reading, alerting readers to key points and integrating the selection into the larger theme of the section. These introductions serve as a useful "road map" as students explore the ongoing intellectual developments, diverse views, and continuing debates
that make the study of criminological theory an exciting adventure.

Genres: Nonfiction, Textbooks, Sociology, Grad School, Read For School

606 pages, Paperback

Published March 30, 2006

Reviews

[McKenna]

Counting this towards my reading goal cuz it took up all my time.

[Dia]

For a textbook that I read front to cover for my criminology class, I actually enjoyed it. Mainly because the teacher was able to explain everything when the class couldn't understand, which really just means the language of the textbook was a little advanced, but not too much of a problem if you're used to extensive textbook reading.

[David]

The text provides an explaination of various theories of criminology, then provides excerpts of the text being discussed. This is a terrific resource providing key theories and highlights of publications for reference. the authors include highlights of the various studies and theories from the original authors. really a great reference for the bookshelf if you are studying the subject.

[CraftyBirdies]

I didn't finish the class, so I didn't finish the whole book, but I read a lot of it. Honestly, this was really great because it had summaries of the movements and of each excerpt that was in there. It makes for a great textbook, especially for skimming summaries if there isn't time to read it all :)

[Ava Jane Walton Moorlach]

very good crim textbook 🏃‍♀️

[Allison Gray]

Counted this toward my reading goal because I had to read the entire thing for my criminology class.

[Kulsoom]

This is probably the first textbook I've ever read for school, cover to cover. (Plus extra.) Very insightful and fascinating. Of course, it helped that the class was extremely well taught because this book was not always a consistently easy read.

The book gives you all the important material regarding relevant and leading criminological theories, but allows for you to come your own conclusions about the validity or acceptability of the theories, especially in terms of what it would mean for crime prevention. I also liked that the textbook included not only summaries of the theories, but that it included the original (excerpts of the) theories.

[Valerie]

I read this for class. It a an excellent source for a foundation of theoretical knowledge. I intend to keep it and refer to it in the future.

[Alexandra Carpenter]

As a textbook, this was great. Yes, it's redundant, but all the more helpful. The introductions beginning each chapter coupled with selection from ORIGINAL WRITINGS is a fantastic idea. It's everything I could've dreamed of for all of my psychology texts. Unfortunately this book within my criminal justice minor is the only taste I've gotten of this format.

I only had one problem with this text and that was the obvious liberal skew. Pretty sure Cullen and Agnew tried to destroy conservative theories of crime at every opportunity. The points they made against conservative theories were not wrong, in fact I agree profusely with them that most conservative theories are pretty ignorant, but they make no attempt to explain the details of these ideas or reveal any of the evidence that they *might* work. Persuasion only works when you can thoroughly explain and comprehend the ideas presenting on the opposing side, and the conservative theories were brushed over with little more than "there's little evidence to support this and look how much better this other theory is because it doesn't punish people." I think they overemphasized lack of punishment as a positive factor in certain theories. You can't expect every offender to be willing or attentive to rehabilitation programs or for at-risk youth to care about community involvement programs. They help, yes, but they're not the end-all-be-all of deterrence.