An Introduction to Criminological Theory, Penology and Crime Prevention

This book combines three key issues in the field of criminology: criminological theory, penology and crime prevention. Thus, the book addresses three fundamental criminological aspects, namely: explaining the causes of criminal/deviant behaviour, explaining the process of dealing with deviants/criminals, and articulating ways for preventing criminal activities. This is an essential book for researchers and students undertaking undergraduate and post-graduate programmes in criminology and criminal justice. The book is also essential for security and correctional practitioners such as police officers, correction officers, probation officers and private security players, as well as criminal crime control policy makers. As a lecturer in the field of criminology for some time, I discovered the challenges that most students face in comprehending various divergent aspects of criminological theory, as well as other issues in the areas of penology and crime prevention. However, this essential book logically presents the criminological theories, penology and crime prevention aspects in simple language, and anyone who reads it will find it easy to grasp all the various aspects it covers. To assist with comprehension, summaries of main issues and discussion questions are placed at the end of each chapter. The book is comprised of eight chapters. Chapter one, the introductory chapter, explains key concepts such as criminology, crime, deviance, criminal justice and crime statistics. The chapter also gives a brief history of criminology and outlines the role of the criminologist, among other issues. Chapter two to chapter six cover criminological theories in classes as follows: chapter two covers the classical and neoclassical school of criminology; chapter three covers the positivist school of criminology; chapter four covers socio-structural theories; chapter five covers social process theories; and chapter six covers critical theories. Chapter seven covers white-collar criminology and, given that most of the pioneer criminologists mainly focused on street crime, the chapter looks at white-collar crime, which is even more harmful. Chapter eight focuses on penology, which is the study of punishment and the treatment of offenders. It covers areas such as theories of punishment, forms of punishment, the death penalty, restorative justice and recidivism. Lastly, chapter nine focuses on crime control and prevention. The chapter starts by looking at two models of the criminal justice process, the crime control model and the due process model. The bulk of the chapter then looks at crime prevention, which entails any action designed to reduce the actual level of crime and/or the perceived fear of crime. Among others, the chapter looks at crime prevention through environmental design, situational crime prevention, crime prevention through social development, as well as various policing strategies for crime prevention.