four of the best - Internet Journal of Criminology

Internet Journal of Criminology © 2011 

ISSN 2045-6743 (Online) 

FOUR OF THE BEST: 

A REVIEW OF FOUR INDISPENSABLE TEXTS 

FOR CRIMINOLOGY UNDERGRADUATES 

By Cathy Phillips 1 

So, you are newly arrived at university; you have a wok and a pasta machine (which you will 

never use); some new friends; lots of beer tokens in the form of a student loan, and a huge 

reading list. What to buy? Do you need to buy anything from the reading list? 

First of all, make full use of the library, and particularly the on-line services where you have 

access to vast number of journal articles. Get your head around the e-search tools early on, 

your perseverance will be richly rewarded. Use Google scholar, not only can you access 

journal articles, but you can also view several pages of books without having to move from 

the sofa. 

Despite the above advice, you will actually have to buy some books. You will find that most 

book retailers will swap your beer tokens for them, so get them early on before the tokens run 

out at the end of term 1. 

I have just completed my criminology degree at Nottingham Trent University and I thought it 

would be useful for new students to give an indication of at least some of the books that have 

been essential over the last three years. What follows is a personal and decidedly uncritical 

view of some of the books that have been so useful that I would recommend you buy your 

own personal copy of each. I used them all for every single essay I wrote and for every 

module I studied; if they weren’t actually used in the text of an essay, they were vital as 

background reading in getting to grips with a subject. 

Criminology 

Tim Newburn: Willan Publishing 2007 

‘One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures’ 

(G.W.Bush, 2000) 

Indeed there are some great pictures in this book; there are also lots of tables, inserts and 

figures, which all break up the text making it accessible and easy to read in bite sized chunks. 

This is the book’s strength I think in that it presents the information in a visually interesting 

and engaging way ideal for first year students and as informative background to a whole host 

of topics. 

The book covers an enormous amount of material divided into six broad areas: 

� Understanding Crime and Criminology- with separate chapters on Criminology itself; 

the history of crime and punishment; crime data and trends, and crime and the media. 

1 

Nottingham Trent University 

www.internetjournalofcriminology.com 1



� Criminological theory. 

� Types of crime- its victims; white-collar crime; organised crime; violent and property 

crime, and drugs and alcohol. 

� The criminal justice system. 

� Critical issues including race; gender; terrorism, and human rights. 

� Criminological research. 

This book achieves exactly what it sets out to do for the new student, covering everything 

that is likely to be studied at undergraduate level, giving a broad overview of the topic in 

question and pointing to further reading and internet links. If there is one criticism, it is that 

the recommended reading lists are short, but this is a deliberate ploy by the author to get 

students to find the material themselves. No matter, since the book’s strength is in its 

introductory capacity, which is just as useful as a starting point for 3 rd year students faced 

with a new topic as it is for 1 st years who require an easy and interesting broad approach. 

The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (Fourth Edition) 

M. Maguire., R. Morgan., and R. Reiner. (eds): Oxford University Press 2007 

Sadly, no pictures in this book, but at well over 1000 pages adding pictures would make it 

unmanageable! This is a difficult book to read at first, not least because of the ‘academic 

speak’ in which most of the authors write. But persevere you must because in short, this book 

is the criminologist’s bible. 

The book’s strength lies in the depth and scope of each chapter which is written by a leading 

authority, and examines the relevant theory, recent research and policy developments of each 

subject. The result is a comprehensive account which is vital as a follow up to the general 

overview given in introductory texts such as Newburn’s Criminology reviewed above. 

The book is divided into five parts: Criminology: History and Theory; The Social 

Construction of Crime and Crime Control; Dimensions of Crime; Forms of Crime, and 

Reactions to Crime. However, not all subjects in an undergraduate degree are covered; 

genocide for instance is mentioned only in passing as part of the chapters on violent crime 

and victims and victimisation. This may in part be because criminology is a developing 

discipline, and has shied away from tackling state crimes as a legitimate part of the 

criminological agenda, recognising that existing frameworks and methodological issues may 

not be robust enough to deal with the complex issues involved, but such ‘marginal’ topics 

deserve serious consideration for future inclusion. 

As you begin to get to grips with this book, it may be useful to skip the mind boggling array 

of statistics often included in the first part of a chapter, otherwise there is a danger of 

becoming bogged down before you have a basic understanding of the subject. You will have 

undoubtedly been given an idea of relevant trends in lectures, and you can always return to 

the figures once you actually begin to write. 

As you progress through your degree, you will undoubtedly find that you will use the book 

more often; the language will become less impenetrable, and you may even begin to look 

forward to reading such an authoritative and scholarly collection. 


Criminological Perspectives (Second Edition) 



E. McLaughlin., J. Muncie., and G. Hughes. (eds): Open University Press 2007 

This little gem of a book may not be on your reading list, but it most certainly should be. 

Organised into six broad areas, the book covers almost every diverse strain of criminological 

theory which has contributed to the current state of criminological knowledge: 

� Part 1 Past Tense: Criminological formations, contains the works of Beccaria; 

Bonger, and Durkheim. 

� Part 2 The problem of crime 1: Causation, contains Murray; Felson, and Katz. 

� Part 3 The problem of crime 11: Criminalisation, contains Sykes and Matza; Box, and 

Becker. 

� Part 4 Crime control 1: Criminal justice and crime prevention, contains Wilson; 

Clarke, and Currie. 

� Part 5 Crime control 11: Discipline and governmentality, contains Feely and Simon; 

Garland, and Foucalt. 

� Part 6 Future Tense: Criminological transformations, contains Smart; Cohen, and 

Ferrell. 

The beauty of this book lies in the fact that such a diverse spectrum of criminological thought 

is represented, and in the fact that the book reproduces the original works of the pioneers, 

rather than another academic’s explanation of their contribution. For example, the work of 

Enrico Ferri- a disciple of Lombroso, may easily be dismissed nowadays as racist or sexist, 

but actually reading the text, which is reproduced in Part 1, leads to a greater understanding 

of how this school of thought evolved and developed, and highlights how positivist thought 

began to examine the idea of how of social justice might interact with biological factors in 

causing crime. 

The arrangement of the texts shows quite clearly how some schools of thought ‘conversed’ 

with each other and thus how criminology has developed over time. In addition, the inclusion 

of the original references shows in turn, how these pioneers have developed their own 

theoretical position. This is a fascinating and eclectic collection; and indeed should be 

‘essential’ reading for any serious student of criminology. 

An Introduction to Criminological Theory (Third Edition) 

Roger Hopkins Burke: Willan Publishing 2010 

There is an in-depth review of this book elsewhere in this journal, so this review will be brief. 

The book examines each theoretical tradition in a clear and easy to understand style, and also 

examines the political context in which these theories arose. You will return to this book 

repeatedly even after you have completed your criminological theory module. Particularly 

useful are the critical analyses which you will skim over in Year 1, but which will be vital in 

Year 3. In addition, the comprehensive suggestions for further reading will be valuable when 

searching for other viewpoints. Therefore, this book has hidden depths and should not be 

regarded as an ‘introductory’ text alone. 




Each book will be useful as background and general reading in Year 1, but in Years 2 and 3, I 

approached each module/essay/exam in exactly the same way: 

� Read the chapter in Newburn’s book 

� Read the corresponding chapter in the OHC 

� Find out how it all began in Criminological Perspectives 

� Revisit the theoretical and relevant political context in Criminological Theory 

Good luck.

four of the best - Internet Journal of Criminology

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?