Criminology/sociology book and textbook recommendations

Hi.

I'll be starting my Criminology postgraduate course soon. I would like to get my head around the (1) core theories, (2) key debates, and (3) current research areas before starting.

I know that Newburn's 'Criminology' is the go-to textbook. But it is quite thick, dense, and I find some sections a bit hard to follow.

Any book/textbook recommendations will be much appreciated that discuss (1) core theories, (2) key debates, and/or (3) current research areas. Sociology textbook recommendations are also welcome (as I don't have firm grip on sociological theories).

Thank you!

(edited 9 months ago)

Reply 1

University of Kent Reps

Official Rep

Original post by MartyBarty

Hi,
If you are trying to grasp sociological theories, for the undergraduate we used the 'Sociology: A Global Introduction' by Macionis & Plummer. This covered pretty much all the key debates and theories and you can probably find an online version somewhere. For criminology I found books on prisons to be particularly interesting, some can be quite old and written in a way that is difficult to digest so I also suggest possibly looking into extracts or specific chapters that seem relevant. For example, in criminology we had looked at Foucault's 'Discipline & Punish' a fair bit in relation to power relations and the development of modern day punishment which may come up during your course and you can find chapters of this online as well as some other useful essays written on this topic. An easier read that I recommend is 'Are Prisons Obsolete?' by Angela Davis, a popular prison abolitionist, which may help you open up your mind to alternative theories. If you would like to look into Criminology text books, I found 'Victims, Crime & Society: An Introduction' by Davis, Francis and Greer to be particularly useful in exploring victimology too.
However, the University you are attending may share a reading list with you specifically on the course to grasp more relevant information that you will be taught so I recommend that you take a look at their website to see if there are any particular readings they would like you to have looked at as if you are buying the physical copies of these books it can become expensive, especially if they will offer the digital version/ via your universities library for free.
Hope this helps!
-Malek
University of Kent Rep