Foundations of Criminal Science Vol. 1 : The Development of Knowledge

Criminal science can best be conceptualized as the holistic and interdisciplinary study of crime and criminals. All major features of criminal development are taken into account, and all sources of data (including medical, legal, sociological, ecological, and psychological) are considered. Criminal scientists center their investigative energies on the individual offender, cognizant that this individual is part of a wider system of interacting physical, social, and psychological influences.

Presented in two volumes, this tome explores the complex interplay of variables that give rise to criminal outcomes. Volume 1 considers knowledge development as represented by research examining the contextual, empirical, and theoretical foundations of crime. Building on knowledge reviewed in the first volume, Volume 2 addresses the issue of knowledge utilization. Assessment, prediction, classification, intervention, prevention, and several other categories of application science are featured. The author addresses ways in which society can inspire pro-social behavior and criminal offenders can find noncriminal solutions to their problems--something that is in the best interests of both groups. This book will be of great value to criminologists and students of criminology/criminal justice, as well as behavioral scientists and law enforcement officials.

GLENN D. WALTERS is coordinator of the comprehensive drug program at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, New Jersey, and has served as a consultant for Mainstream Inc., Topeka, Kansas. He is the author of The Criminal Lifestyle: Patterns of Serious Criminal Conduct.