Introduction to Criminological Thought

The third edition of Introduction to Criminological Thought is a comprehensive update and revision of the second edition. It reports on new and important developments in criminology in both policy and practice. It is specifically focused on, and draws from, the New Zealand context and experience.

The text critically examines a range of issues of concern to criminology including the nature and extent of crime in New Zealand; the disproportionate representation of Maori and other ethnic minorities in the criminal justice system; recent increases in corporate fraud and other harms; and those contemporary policies and strategies to reduce the extent and severity of crime and criminal behaviour.

This text is principally designed for those who are studying crime, criminology and criminal justice, but will also be of particular interest to those with a relevant professional or occupational association and those more generally interested in crime and the way society responds to it.

Key features:

• A detailed analysis of criminological theories and perspectives, including discussion of new critical narratives
• A chapter detailing the criminal justice experiences of Māori, state responses to Māorioffending and Indigenous critiques of those responses
• Contemporary examples of crimes of the powerful, human rights abuses and other unconventional sources of crime to illustrate and explain the complex dimensions to crime and criminality
• Historical and contemporary New Zealand strategies for crime prevention and community safety and the new and extended crime prevention role of the police.

About the authors

Dr. Trevor Bradley is a senior lecturer at the Institute of Criminology, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, where he teaches under- and post-graduate courses on criminological thought, police and policing and crime prevention. He has published in the areas of crime prevention and the politics of community safety, youth crime and justice, plural policing and private security and community violence.

Reece Walters is Professor of Criminology in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin University in Australia. He has published widely on the sociology of criminological knowledge and crimes committed by state and corporate actors. His more recent research focuses on crimes against the 'essentials of life', namely air, food and water, and the ways in which the powerful exploit, threaten and damage the natural environment for political and financial gain. He has authored five books including Deviant Knowledge: Criminology Policy and Practice, Eco Crime: Crime and Genetically Modified Food and Water, Crime and Security in the 21st Century: Too Dirty, Too Little, Too Much (with Avi Brisman, Bill McClanahan and Nigel South).