Crime and the Life Course: An Introduction (The Roxbury Series in Crime, Justice, and Law)

By Jessamyn West

Book Overview

In recent years the life-course perspective has become a popular theoretical orientation toward crime. Yet despite its growing importance in the field of criminology, most textbooks give it only cursory treatment. Crime and the Life Course: An Introduction by Michael L. Benson provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary research and theory on the life-course approach to crime. The book emphasizes a conceptual understanding of this approach. A special feature is the integration of qualitative and quantitative research on criminal life histories.

The book:
* Provides an overview of the life course approach and describes the major concepts and issues in life-course theory as it applies to criminology.
* Reviews evidence on biological and genetic influences on crime.
* Reviews research on the role of the family in crime and juvenile delinquency.
* Provides a detailed discussion of the criminological life-course theories of Moffitt, Hagan, Sampson and Laub, and others.
* Discusses the connections between youthful crime and adult outcomes in education, occupation, and marriage.
* Presents an application of the life-course approach to white-collar crime.
* Discusses how macro sociological and historical developments have influenced the shape of the life course in American society as it relates to patterns in crime.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195330080
• ISBN13: 9780195330083
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 238 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.9" x 8.9"