Understanding Deviance A Guide to the Sociology of Crime and Rule-Breaking

An indispensable guide to the sociological theories behind crime, it outlines the principal theories of crime and rule-breaking, discussing them chronologically. Placing each theory in its European and North American contexts, the authors confront major criticisms that have been voiced against each theory, and construct defences where appropriate. Thoroughly revised and updated in its 7th edition, this is the clearest and most authoritative guide to crime and deviance, written by three leading names in the field.

1 - Theoretical contexts: the changing nature and scope of the sociology of crime and deviance
2 - Sources of knowledge about crime and deviance
3 - The Chicago school
4 - Functionalism: the Durkheimian legacy
5 - Anomie and strain theory
6 - Culture and subculture
7 - Symbolic interactionism
8 - Phenomenology
9 - Control theories
10 - Radical criminology
11 - Feminist criminology
12 - Victimology
13 - Public criminology: theory and policy
14 - The metamorphosis of the sociology of crime and deviance

David Downes is Emeritus Professor of Social Administration and a member of the Mannheim Centre of Criminology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is currently working with Tim Newburn and Paul Rock on the official history of criminal justice policy in England and Wales 1959-1997. Paul Rock is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and a member of the Mannheim Centre of Criminology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is currently working with David Downes and Tim Newburn on the official history of criminal justice policy in England and Wales 1959-1997. Eugene McLaughlin is Professor of Criminology and a member of the Department of Sociology at the City University of London. He is currently researching the significance of institutional scandals in the UK.