The eldofcrimeanddevianceisextensiveandevergrowing.
Asinglecollectionofarticles couldnotcapturethevariousmethods, theories,
andissuesthatcomprisethekeyconcernsofthe discipline.
Facedwiththevastarrayofpotentialtopicareasthatcouldbelegitimatelyincluded
insuchacompendium,
wedecidedtouseourownlenstofocusonareasthatwedeemtobeof
continuingimportanceandthoseinwhichimportantdevelopmentshaveemerged.
Althoughwe recognizethatmuchhasbeenexcludedfromthiscollection,
wethinkwhathasbeenincorporated
shouldbeofgreatinteresttoscholarsworkinginthe
eldandtothosestudentswhoarebecoming acquaintedwithit.
Thecompendiumisdividedintofourmajorsections:
(1)MethodologicalIssuesinCrime
Research;(2)ExplanationsofCrime;(3)CriminalJustice-RelatedIssues;and(4)SpecialTopics
inCrime. Withineachsection, wehaveendeavoredtoselectauthorswhoaremajor
guresin
theareaonwhichtheywriteorareamongthoseyoungscholarswhoaredoingsomeofthe
mostimportantworkintheirareasofexpertise.
Thisblendofseniorandup-and-comingscholars
demonstratesthecontinuingvitalityofthe
eldandwehopethatvitalityemanatesfromthe selectionswehavechosen.
PartItitled"MethodologicalIssuesinCrimeResearch"containsfourchapters.
Theissues
thataredealtwithrangefromthosethatarethesourceofcontinuingdebate(arelongitudinal
designsworththeexpenseandeffort, anddothebene
tsofcomparativestudiesoutweighthe dif
cultiesinconductingthem)aswellasissuesthatareonthecuttingedgeofcriminolo-
calresearchtoday(theuseofgroup-basedstatisticalmethodologyforanalyzingdevelopmental
trajectoriesandtheuseofincident-basedreportingsystems). A Handbook on
Crime and DeviancewouldcertainlynotbecompletewithoutaPartII
titled"ExplanationsofCrime.
"Wehavenotincludedachapteroneverytheoreticalperspective
thathasbeenpartofthedisciplinarydialogue. Rather,
wehaveselectedsomeofthetheories onwhichtherehasbeensigni
cantdevelopmentoverthepast10years. Theauthorswhohave
contributedchaptersareclearlyamongthosewhoarecurrentlydoingworktoadvanceeitherthe
theoreticaldevelopmentofthoseperspectivesortheresearchagendaonthosetheories,
orboth. v vi Preface
Theyalsowereinstructedtoemphasizethemorerecentdevelopmentsoftherespectivetheories
intheirexpositions.
PartIIIcontainschaptersaddressing"CriminalJustice-RelatedIssues.
"Thereweream- iadofissuesthatcouldhavebeenaddressedinthispart.
Wechosetoseekcontributionsonissues thatrelatetheorytopractice.
Althoughweseparatethemfromourtheorysection, thesesel-
tionscouldhaveeasilybeenincludedthere.
Wealsoincludedessaysontwoissuesthatcontinue
tobeamongthosethatareofcontinuingconcern, capitalpunishment, andthein
uenceofrace andsexintheprocessingofoffendersinthecriminaljusticesystem.
Part IV of the Handbook, "Special Topics in Crime and Deviance", is a
compilation of issuesthatcontinuetobeorhavebecome'hottopics'inour eld.
Theyrangefromgangs, guns, peers,
anddrugstoissuessuchaschildabuseanddomesticviolence, cybercrime,
andhatecrime.
Thereareexcitingtheoreticalandresearchdevelopmentsintheseareas,
manyofwhichhavebeen forwardedbytheauthorsofthesechapters.
WhenrepresentativesofSpringeraskedustoassembleacompendium, theyspeci
cally
instructedustoselectarticlesbasedonourvisionofwhatwashappeninginthe
eldtoday. Wehaveendeavoredtodothat. Moreimportantly,
insolicitingchaptersfromthecontributing authors,
weaskedthemtorelyontheirviewofwhatwasofparticularcurrentinterestintheir
areaofexpertise.
Wefurtherencouragedthemtoincorporatetheirownworkintheseareasin
ordertotakefulladvantageoftheirexpertise.
Theresultisacompendiumthatincludesan- to-dateassessmentofthestateofthe
eldonanumberofextremelyimportanttopicsinc
