Key Contested Issues in Criminology and Criminal Justice

Key Contested Issues in Criminology and Criminal Justice addresses the key issues within criminology and criminal justice that are strongly contested among scholars in the field.

Anthony Walsh has taught biosocial criminology, statistics, and philosophy of law for 34 years at Boise State University. He is the author of 51 previous books and over 150 articles/book chapters. He has been awarded college and university awards for his research and has been awarded lifetime achievement awards by the Biosocial Criminology Association and by the Biopsychosocial Division of the American Criminology Society.

Section 1: Philosophical Issues 1. Philosophy in Criminology/Criminal Justice 2. Ideology and Criminology 3. Human Nature and Criminology 4. The Issue of Free Will Versus Determinism Section 2: Biopsychosocial Issues 5. Integrating the Natural Sciences with Criminology 6. Behavioral and Molecular Genetics 7. The Human Brain 8. Childhood Maltreatment and Brain Development 9. Rationality or Emotion: Which One Drives the Bus? Section 3: Issues of Crime Causation 10. Social Learning v. Social and Self-Control Theories 11. Radical/Critical Idealism Versus Orthodox Realism 12. What is Intelligence and How is it Related to Crime? 13. Issues Related to Socioeconomic Status, Poverty, and Crime 14. Religion: Barrier or Bridge to Antisocial Behavior? Section 4: Issues in Criminal Justice 15. Abolish the Police: Why or Why Not 16. Issues in Criminal Punishment 17. Issues in Criminal Sentencing 18. The Death Penalty Issue