Joined by co-editors Theresa Severance and Alan Bruce, Joseph Jacoby continues to provide classic scholarly works on criminology in their original form, allowing readers to share in the discovery and unfolding of powerful ideas in the authors' own words. These writings from over the past two centuries represent the most influential approaches to, explanations of, and social responses to crime. The Fourth Edition offers seventy-five selections, thirteen of which are new to this edition. Included in this comprehensive volume are both authors whose work is widely recognized as significant in itself, and authors whose work substantially influenced the thinking of subsequent scholars.

This inclusive collection is organized into three sections, each of which opens with a brief editorial introduction to provide context. Section I, The Classic Descriptions of Crime, contains writings whose primary contribution is descriptive, although they also offer important theoretical insights. These works illuminate with great clarity certain aspects of the phenomenon of crime. Section II, Theories of Causation of Crime, covers over two centuries of theorizing about the causes of crime. Most of these writings are specifically about crime, although some emphasize larger social issues that have direct implications for criminology. Section III, The Social Response to Crime, includes writings that variously describe, theorize about, or advocate specific social responses to crime. Some of the best works on the criminal justice process as it operates internally and as it functions in its social setting are included here.