Customer Reviews

Criminology : Explaining Crime and Its Context

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Criminology is a broad topic and therefore, any treatment designed to be utilized during a semester-long course must, by necessity, be selective in the information presented. The book is divided into three sections: the first part addresses "Foundations for Criminology," the second, reviews the various criminological theories, and the third covers types of crimes. It is the third section that I found lacking. In the preface of the book the authors state that they had to cut back on material for this edition - my sense is that most of the reduction came from this third section. If you are a professor using this book in a class I would recommend skipping the third section entirely and supplementing with a text that does a better job of not only describing crimes, but how criminological theory relates to these offenses. Again - not a bad book.

Perhaps it is because criminology has yet to mature and struggles to present itself as a science, but this book, like many others in the social sciences, spends many pages to articulate even the most simple concepts. Honestly, it could've been condensed to perhaps half its size, removing all the unnecessary repetitions and useless filler text.

This is a required text in my course. However, I am clueless why my Kindle edition does not contain a table of contents! Also, we utilize APA Formatting in all our professional writing. Citing material from this text is therefor problematic as there is no ability to cite specific page numbers. I am reading the text on an iPad 2, which works fine. I am only rating the kindle edition three stars, because there is a one star deduct for the lack of a table of contents, and a one star deduct for the inability to discern page numbers.

This textbook provides a good review of criminological theories. It can be a little wordy at times, but still a great book. I am planning on keeping it for future reference.

Book was in the exact condition specified my seller. Very satisfied. Saved $250 by not purchaseing from the bookstore on campus. Will use again in the future.

I received my book in excellent shape and very fast. Would order again from them.