Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-fqc5m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T14:57:48.205Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Preface

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2011

Brian Forst
Affiliation:
American University, Washington DC
Jack R. Greene
Affiliation:
Northeastern University, Boston
James P. Lynch
Affiliation:
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
Get access

Summary

DESCRIPTION, RATIONALE, AND SCOPE

This is a book of original essays addressing what is widely regarded as the most serious problem confronting America today and for years to come – terrorism – from a unique perspective: that of criminology. The literature on terrorism is framed typically from a geopolitical perspective and using ethnographic narratives, based on case studies that provide essential information about specific terrorist groups, their agendas, how they operate, and how they arise from and influence external political forces. Although scholarly and useful, these conventional approaches to thinking about terrorism overlook a well-developed body of knowledge on the nature and sources of aggression generally and crime in particular, and what can be done to prevent both. The criminological perspective thus provides a potentially useful complement to the standard literature on terrorism. Criminology has amassed a rich body of literature ranging from individual motivations toward crime and antisocial behavior, small-group dynamics in cultivating and reinforcing deviant subgroups, organized and networked crime syndicates and their use of technology to create and exploit criminal opportunities, and more broadly defined cultural orientations toward the social order. Criminology has also studied policies and programs to prevent and respond to crime, as well as ones aimed at mitigating the consequences of criminal behavior. This book explores the prospect of putting this alternative perspective to service to help understand terrorism and develop policies to prevent or mitigate its effects.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×