Criminal Violence: Patterns, Causes, and Prevention

Criminal Violence: Patterns, Causes, and Prevention, Third Edition, provides a current, comprehensive, and highly accessible overview of major topics, theories, and controversies within the field of criminal violence.

Using lively, straightforward language, Marc Riedel and Wayne Welsh consider diverse theoretical perspectives and present state-of-the-art prevention and intervention methods. In their discussions of various types of violence, the authors employ a consistent and coherent three-part framework that allows students to see the important relationships between research, theory, and application:

* "Patterns" describe the characteristics of victims, offenders, and offenses; places where violence occurs frequently; and trends over time.
* "Explanations" look at the major theories that are used to understand each type of violence.
* "Interventions" propose solutions for each type of violence, including diverse legal and social strategies--both proactive (e.g., prevention) and reactive (e.g., punishment).

Supplemented by an Instructor's Manual with Test Bank and PowerPoint-based lecture slides on CD, the thoroughly revised and updated third edition:

* Now integrates theory into each chapter, allowing students to better understand how theory relates to various types of violence
* Integrates a comparative perspective where appropriate
* Adds additional examples, boxes, bullet points, review questions, and case studies throughout

Marc Riedel is Professor of Sociology at Southeastern Louisiana University.

Wayne Welsh is Professor of Criminal Justice at Temple University.