Description:
The Origins of American Criminology is an invaluable resource. Both separately and together, these essays capture the stories behind the invention of criminology's major theoretical perspectives. They preserve information that otherwise would have been lost. There is urgency to embark on this reflective task given that the generation that defined the field for the past decades is heading into retirement. This fine volume insures that their life experiences will not be forgotten.
Brief description:
Freda Adler is distinguished professor emerita in the criminal justice program at Rutgers University, Newark. She is also a past president of the American Criminological Society. In addition to being co-editor of Transaction's Advances in Criminological Theory series, she is the author of numerous works, including Sisters in Crime: The Rise of the New Female Criminal and Criminology and the Criminal Justice System.
Review Quotes:
"A cavalcade of prominent and current names in criminology discusses theory from a nuanced perspective... In addition to the rather obvious value to teachers and students of theory, this volume also reveals some basic truths about academic and intellectual life, not the least of which is that intellectualism is an entirely human endeavor and does not occur in a sterile environment, but rather through the complex exercise of being human... Recommended."
--F. E. Knowles, CHOICE
"[The Origins of American Criminology] offers considerable depth, providing a detailed history of many of the influential scholars and institutions that laid the foundations for modern criminology."
--Amanda Geller, Social Service Review