Criminology

Edited by Chris Hale, Keith Hayward, Azrini Wahidin and Emma Wincup
Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2005

On occasion, large multi-edited, multi-chaptered surveys of certain disciplines such as criminology produce largely more than disappointment and frustration.  However, when a small and skilled group of individuals enlists a talented score of specialists whose expertise in their specialized sub-field of study is undoubted, and they pursue an obviously well reasoned plan of presentation and discussion, with the additional boon of a signal enthusiasm for their subject matter and a sincere wish to assist students, the results can be most impressive.  Criminology, we are thankful, represents the best example of the latter form of scholarship, and the resulting study will doubtless serve to rekindle any flagging enthusiasm that a student might be experiencing in the early years of their studies.  Simply put, the editors and contributors have brought to their collective task erudition, experience in teaching, and a wish to impart knowledge that is largely unmatched.

Criminology is divided into four principal sections: Introducing crime and criminology, Forms of crime, Social dimensions of crime and Responses to crime, and the discussion is comprised within 27 chapters with particular emphasis on theory, and includes welcome overviews of corporate and organized crime¹ and of older offenders, areas often neglected in this kind of text, not to mention policing and victimology, two subjects characterized by controversies in both practical and theoretical spheres and yet ably discussed therein.  The authors are all distinguished and save for Dr. Jeff Ferrell, of Texas Christian University, they teach in the United Kingdom, which results in a particular emphasis on English institutions.  As a further introductory observation, this text is noteworthy for its novel inclusion of an accompanying website that has no doubt proven of assistance to both teachers and students.

By way of particular comments, in light of space constraints, it will no doubt be of assistance for me to underscore briefly a number of themes that I found to be notably well developed in this text, and to highlight emerging issues that the editors and authors have addressed ably.  At the outset, I found Dr. Jock Young’s foreword to be a formidable example of the excellence that can mark this type of writing: it begins with a vivid reference to the “largest penal colony in the world” a scant eight miles from Manhattan, New York, a writing technique that succeeds easily in gaining the reader’s undivided attention, to then make plain the contours of what others have described so well by the expression “The New Punitiveness”,² and concludes by prophesying the extent to which this text will gain favour as a reference book in the years to come.

No less noteworthy is the “Guide to the book”, written by the editors and found on pages xxvii to xxxii, which serves to explain the book’s raison d’être as providing undergraduates with a single comprehensive and authoritative source to serve as “an accessible overview of the most pertinent issues facing the discipline.  Criminology is specifically intended to meet this requirement.  It has been produced as a complete package both for students new to criminology and their course lecturers.  We also hope that Criminology will serve as a useful resource for criminal justice practitioners and interested members of the general public” (Refer to page xxvii).  As is no doubt evident already, this text will assist lawyers, judges, police officers and probation officials in coming to terms with the classic and core criminological questions and, no less helpfully, with the emerging issues in criminology.

Litigation counsel are often well advised to begin with their strongest argument, to light a fire so to speak to attract the judge’s attention, to then build a bridge spanning questions and understanding.  In this respect, the editors have chosen well in respect of the opening contribution, a particularly well-written chapter by Professor Wayne Morrison entitled “What is crime? Contrasting definitions and perspectives”, on pages 3-19.  Touching the form prior to addressing substance, it will be helpful to note that all chapters begin with a brief introduction, followed by a statement of background, to then review the subject matter at hand by means of well defined and superbly organized discussion pages.  Review questions are included in the body of the text and prior to the concluding paragraphs; questions for discussion follow, together with a guide to further reading, web links and references. 

In the case of this chapter, what is remarkable is the ease with which the author links real life episodes of dramatic choices leading to fatal consequences with profound academic questions marked by lofty ideals and complex questions of right and wrong.  Slavery, war crimes, crimes against humanity, industrial manslaughter, these subjects all form the backdrop to thorny issues having day to day importance to both lawyers and social scientists, and to those potential victims whose life course may be altered by the decision of black clad judges, corporate executives or political actors.  I commend in particular the discussion surrounding the issue of defining crimes to reach beyond the nation-state on pages 15-16. 

Attention is now drawn to the excellent contribution found on pages 39-59 respecting statistics and crimes, authored by Professor Tim Hope, with especial emphasis being placed on the skill shown in making this often complicated subject less daunting and far more accessible to those, such as myself, having no background in this area.  The importance of the field of insurance in animating criminal statistics is worthy of mention and the author has explained this tricky element with considerable aplomb.³  In addition, commendable is the discussion on pages 50-52 on the subject of “What do crime surveys tell us about the reporting of crime?”⁴

Chapter 5, “Just theory: theory, crime and criminal justice”, by Professor Claire Valier is the next subject that I wish to note in particular, by reason of the excellence of the arguments presented and the soundness of the conclusions reached.  No discussion of criminology is complete without a review of the matter of ethics, and the author correctly recalls the words of the philosopher Matin Buber on page 91: “[…] injustice as a means to justice renders justice unjust.”  Moreover, I commend the discussion on page 96 and following respecting “reading strategies”, that is to say techniques to make the experience of reading more effective. 

The next contribution I wish to single out was penned by Professor Mike Presdee and is entitled “’Volume crime’ and everyday life, on pages 185-201.  What I found of great assistance is the author’s valuable discussion of the sense of insecurity that is said to grip so much of the community at large and the contributions of young persons to this sense of insecurity, as well as the countervailing questions of life and activity from the perspective of young persons, including the right to visit the local shopping malls.⁵  In this respect, the writings of Martin Innes in his text Understanding Social Control are rightly cited as being influential in this respect.⁶

Finally, professor Azrini Wahidin’s chapter, “Older offenders, crime and the criminal justice system”, on pages 403-423 is also notable for its erudition, ease of exposition and the breadth of the discussion.⁷  Long a neglected area and one that cannot be further ignored, especially the question of elders in prison, we are indebted to this author for her scholarship and for pointing us in the direction of future research endeavours.  I commend in particular the question of the “risk” analysis and the need for sensitivity in sentencing lest we find far too apt the cautionary phrase: “Lost offenders in forgotten places” (Refer to pages 409-410).⁸

All in all, Criminology is a superb text, well suited for undergraduate students and well designed for the pedagogical needs of their teachers, but one which is of great assistance to other justice professionals and I recommend its purchase in the strongest terms.

¹ One notable exception being many of the contributions found in the thought provoking text, Beyond Criminology  Taking Harm Seriously, edited by Paddy Hillyard, Christina Pantazis, Steve Tombs and Dave Gordon [Fernwood Publishing: Black Point, Nova Scotia: 2004], notably “Towards a political economy of harm: states, corporations and the production of inequality”, by Paddy Hillyard and Steve Tombs on pages 30-54 and Simon Pemberton’s chapter on pages 67-83: “A theory of moral indifference: understanding the production of harm by capitalist society.”  Particular references in respect of the Canadian experience follow:  “Poisoned Water, Environmental Regulation, and Crime: Constituting the Nonculpable Subject in Walkerton, Ontario” by Dr. Laureen Snider on pages 155-184 of What is a Crime? Defining Criminal Conduct in Contemporary Society, Law Commission of Canada, UBC Press: Vancouver, 2004; “Westray and After: Power, Truth and News Reporting of the Westray Mine Disaster” by John McMullan in [Ab]using Power  The Canadian Experience, edited by S.C. Boyd, D.E. Chum and R. Menzies [Fernwood Publishing: Halifax, N.S., 2001, at pages 130-145.

² Refer to the text edited by John Pratt, David Brown, Mark Brown, Simon Hallsworth and Wayne Morrison, The New Punitiveness Trends, theories, perspectives, Willan Publishing: Cullompton, Devon, 2005.  I commend in particular the superb contribution by Dr. Loïc Wacquant, “The great penal leap backward: incarceration in America from Nixon to Clinton”, on pages 3-26 and Professor Wayne Morrison’s no less excellent article, “Rethinking narratives of penal change in global context”, on pages 290-307.

³ Additional useful references for Canadian readers include Insurance as Governance, by R.V. Ericson, A. Doyle and D. Barry, [University of Toronto Press: Toronto, 2003] and Uncertain Business: Risk, Insurance, and the Limits of Knowledge, by R.V. Ericson and A. Doyle, [University of Toronto Press: Toronto, 2004].

⁴ A very useful discussion on crime and the British Crime Survey, and how best to “crunch” numbers suggesting criminal activity and anti-social behaviour is found in Incivilities Regulating Offensive Behaviour, edited by A. von Hirsch and A.P. Simester [Hart Publishers; Oxford, 2006] on pages 239-280:  “Incivilities, Offence, and Social Order in Residential Communities” by Sir Anthony Bottoms.

⁵ I note that the late defence counsel Johnnie Cochrane is credited with the saying “If you build a mall, it must be open to one and all”.  See Tribute, by M. Hamalengwa, in For the Defence, Vol. 26(5), p. 10, (October 2005).

⁶ Refer to my review of Understanding Social Control Deviance, crime and social order”, by Martin Innes, in Revue générale de droit, 2005, Vol. 35(3), pp. 451-455.  The review is published in French.

⁷ It follows and “frames” an equally impressive contribution by Professor Derek Kirton on “Young people and crime”, on pages 385-402, which I cannot discuss further, faute d’espace, but I do wish to stress pages 396-399 touching upon “Contemporary youth justice and future directions.”  Refer as well to the complementary discussion found in Chapter 3 of Proportionate Sentencing Exploring the Principles, by Andrew von Hirsch and Andrew Ashworth [Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2005], on pages 35-49 “Proportionate Sentences for Juvenile Offenders”, especially pages 44-45: Adolescence as a time for ‘testing limits’.

⁸ Canadian readers may find profit in reviewing my text Speaking to Sentence A Practical Guide, [Carswell; Toronto, 2005], at Chapter 2(2), pages 22-33: “Elderly offenders”.