Introduction to Criminology
This book is authored by Canadian scholars, including professors and doctoral students, who offer diverse, equitable, and inclusive perspectives. The contributors also share their cultural backgrounds, referencing their ancestors—a crucial aspect of ongoing debates about race, ethnicity, the history of slavery and oppression, and criminal justice. However, the book lacks critical information on criminological theories that students should be familiar with.
There are cultural and grammatical differences in the use and spelling of English terms between American and Canadian/British English.
This book provides a strong historical perspective on colonialism and slavery, highlighting their continued influence on mass incarceration and criminal justice issues today. Personally, I believe this book could serve as a supplementary textbook for undergraduate courses.
The text is well-written. It is also presented in a straight-forward, easy to read manner. But American students may need support in identifying different theoretical approaches and understanding which ones are more dominant in the U.S. criminal justice system.
The text is internally consistent in terms of format and framework. The layout of the textbook is easy to navigate, and the topics are current and relevant. However, the content lacks some consistency due to the diverse perspectives of its many authors.
The textbook contains 17 chapters, each titled to highlight key topics and dimensions of criminological theories. Additionally, each chapter begins with a Positionality Statement from the authors, introducing their viewpoints and life stories related to the theme. However, many chapters lack critical information that a theory book should cover. In some cases, the actual content (excluding the Positionality Statement) is less than one or two pages long.
As indicated by the table of contents, the topics in the text are presented in a clear and consistent manner. The uniform format and organization enable students to read with ease and efficiency. Unlike other criminological textbooks, the authors of each chapter primarily introduce their backgrounds before briefly discussing the main theories—an interesting and unique approach.
I suggest that the author include more photos, images, and charts to provide examples of the key objectives discussed in each chapter. Visual representations would help readers better understand certain methodological techniques. Additionally, I recommend adding more in-depth theoretical explanations and propositions to clarify how each theoretical perspective fundamentally differs and explains criminal behavior.
There are no typos or technical/grammatical errors that I am aware of in the textbook.
Personally, the text is not culturally insensitive or offensive, as it primarily discusses criminological theories.
Overall, this book provides a brief introduction to theories of crime, which may help students understand both historical and contemporary criminological approaches. It could serve as a supplementary textbook for undergraduate criminology or criminal justice courses.