Criminal Psychology: A Beginner's Guide

Beginner's Guide (Oneworld Publications)

by Ray Bull, Claire Cooke, Ruth Hatcher

It is a conundrum that has vexed societies throughout how do you deal with those that break the law? If their aim is to evade you, how do you identify them? If their aim is to lie, how do you interview them? If they don’t see their actions are wrong, how do you help them to successfully reform?

Criminal psychology is the discipline which tackles these challenges head on. From the signals which give away we’re lying to the psychological profiling of violent offenders, this exhaustive guide, written by the UK’s top experts, is the perfect introduction. Also covering policing, and the much debated topic of sexual offenders and their treatment, it will demonstrate how understanding the mind will help us to view modern justice from a more informed perspective.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Crime, Audiobook, Research

217 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2006

Reviews

[Justine]

A brief, but good introduction to the field of Criminal/Forensic Psychology. Contents include what criminal psychologists do (dispelling media portrayals), profiling, policing, interviewing suspects and witnesses, detecting deception, eyewitness testimony, forensic linguistics, punishment of offenders, experiencing punishment, offender rehabilitation, and treatment of sex offenders.
The book is very straightforward, and cites a good amount of research. I'd recommend this book for any psych person or anyone interested in learning about this field.

[Rachel]

I had originally picked up this book assuming it had to do with criminal psychology, not the work of criminal psychologists. Either way, I felt it would still be interesting.

And it was, however, the book is riddled with skewed logic and misinterpreted results. There is also a bias toward programs the UK utilizes versus anything done by other countries, specifically the USA.

It is a very basic introduction to the work of criminal psychologists, and if you can ignore the obvious biases, it is a useful introduction. I however don't foresee myself utilizing this book as reference item.

[Nakieta]

I just really wanted more out of this book. I was expecting more about why people did fucked up things. THAT’S WHAT I’M HERE FOR.

[Any Length]

A great book that gives the reader a good insight into what criminal psychology is all about. I learnt a lot and felt it was very well written and explained.

[Eleanor Norman]

A good introduction into the world of criminal psychology. The arrangement of the chapters is useful and the further reading sections are helpful as well

[Mahfuz Rahman]

best

[Cole]

Not bad by any stretch but it is not recommended if you have some basic knowledge of the subject.

It really is a Beginners Guide. Very light on anything to get your teeth into.

[Jamie Moore]

I wanted a book about the way that criminals think. Instead, it is about how psychologist help police forces. Still interesting.

[Timothy Price]

A good book if you’re after basic information about the subject matters however very dry.

[Suzi]

pretty much everyone does bad things, some of them do criminally bad things, but only the poor get punished.

[Kashaf]

It's literally a beginner's guide. I was thrilled to learn some new terminologies. Vigilantism for instance, we all know what it means to take the law in own hands but we never knew what do we call this act.

It looked more like a textbook and I would recommend it to people who don't know even the basics of psychology or criminal psychology.

The book basically focuses on the analysis of criminals. The methods, the techniques, the factors causing a person to commit crime and so on.

I liked it.

[David Ross]

A very easy to read introduction to criminal psychology and the treatment of offenders in western culture. Easy to read language and a very patient writing style make this accessible to people who may not have tackled anything in the field of psychology. I am a huge fan of Jung and have read many different texts in the field and still found this to be an interesting read. Something for all levels of knowledge.

[Serra]

A very straight-forward written book as an introductory to Forensic/criminal psychology. I found it very helpful that the author cites good research papers underlying the basic concepts and foundations of the profession. Recommend it to everyone who are interested in the field.

[Michael Storandt]

I watch Criminal Minds and thought that this would be interesting. It wasn't.

[Sonia]

3.5 stars.

Some interesting facts that serve to dispel the myths surrounding criminal psychology. Very dry read though.

[Frank Vagnone]

Good textbook.

[Alison Jog]

If I had read this book a decade ago when I originally bought it, I probably would have enjoyed reading it more. At this point in my life where I have taken a course on criminal behaviour, much of the information in this book was repetitive and too simplistic for me.

[Raquel]

"If you were asked the question 'What do criminal psychologists do in their everyday working life?', what would you answer?".

If you are new to this interesting discipline and would like to go beyond all the popular conceptions of the work of criminal psychologists engendered by the latest television dramas, this guide is the perfect reading for you. In an everyday language, well organized and easy to read way, anybody interested in this field of psychology can have a pretty comprehensive overview of the varied and wide reaching roles of those trained in criminal psychology.

Other than the general and basic operational knowledge, this guide -primarily written for a UK audience with brief references on how the subject is studied or researched in the US- offers at the end of each chapter a list of references for futher and more comprehensive reading on any of the main topics treated by the authors.

[Hayati Hm]

I bought this book at Blackwell in Oxford last time as I needed some references for my uni assignment. I'm glad I bought it cos I got it did give me the info that I wanted to know.

To the writers, thank you very much for publishing this book!