An Introduction to Criminological Theory

Includes chapters on crime and the postmodern condition, cultural criminology, globalisation and the risk society, and radical communitarian criminology. This interdisciplinary text recognises the value of legal, biological, psychological and sociological explanations of crime and criminal behaviour.

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This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to criminological theory for students taking courses in criminology at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.


The text is divided into five parts, the first three of which address ideal type models of criminal behaviour the rational actor, predestined actor, and victimized actor models. Within these the various criminological theories are located chronologically in the context of one of these different traditions, and the strengths and weaknesses of each theory and model are clearly identified. The fourth part of the book looks more closely at more recent attempts to integrate theoretical elements from both within and across models of criminal behaviour, while the fifth part addresses a number of key recent concerns of criminology – postmodernism, cultural criminology, globalization and communitarianism.