Critical Criminology

Ren[ac]e van Swaaningen is a Research Fellow and Reader in criminology, penology and criminal justice at Erasmus University in Rotterdam.

• Preface - Jock YoungIntroductionThe Value of Comparative CriminologyThe Early Criminological Critique of Penal Reform Precursors of Critical CriminologyThe Patchwork of European Critical CriminologyCriminal Justice as a Social Problem The Radical Penal Lobby in EuropeWhat Has Happened to Law and Order?`Newer′ Criminologies and Social SafetyThe Role of Law and Social JusticeConclusion

`This is an excellent text that should be setreading on criminology and criminal justice degree courses. It should also be read both by critical criminologists and by those who maintain that these criminologists do not do ′real′ criminology. The level of scholarship and depth of analysis in this book provide a striking challenge to such antediluvian attitudes′ - British Journal of Criminology `This is an impressive, critical and wide-ranging narrative which will both delight and divide academic criminologists on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond′ - International Journal of Police Science & Management`The book justifies Van Swaaningen′s claims about the value of a comparative perspective, and there will be few British readers who are not a good deal clearer about contemporary European criminology at the end of the book than at the beginning′ - David Smith′This is an impressive, critical and wide-ranging narrative which will both delight and divide academic criminologists on both sides of the Atlantic, and beyond. It also sets out to give new meaning and purpose to activists in penal reform. This is an impressive contribution to the literature on critical criminology which will take some time to digest, not least because its comparative nature reveals some of the cultural limits of comparative analysis.′ Mick Ryan