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Maguire, Morgan & Reiner: The Oxford Handbook of Criminology 4e

Chapter 02

The texts listed below have been selected as giving reviews and informed commentary across the broad field of psychology and criminal behaviour. Inevitably, some stray into legal psychology, although it is useful to see the two topics together to appreciate their similarities and differences.

Curt and Anne Bartol's text, Criminal Behaviour: A Psychosocial Approach (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2005) is now in its 7th edition and offers a considered view of the field. Dennis Howitt combines legal and criminological concerns in Forensic & Criminal Psychology (London: Prentice Hall, 2002), as does Curt and Anne Bartol's Introduction to Forensic Psychology (Thousand Oaks, Cal.: Sage, 2004). A more assertive view of the role of psychology in explaining crime can be found in the 3rd edition of The Psychology of Criminal Conduct (Cincinnati, OH: Anderson Publishing, 2003) by Don Andrews and James Bonta. Clive Hollin's books Psychology and Crime: An Introduction to Criminological Psychology (London: Routledge, 1989) and Criminal Behaviour: A Psychological Approach to Explanation and Prevention (London: Falmer Press, 1992) were written primarily for an undergraduate audience; Ron Blackburn's text The Psychology of Criminal Conduct: Theory, Research and Practice (Chichester: Wiley, 1993) reaches a more advanced readership. For a detailed exposition of personality theories, The Causes and Cures of Criminality (New York: Plenum Press, 1989) by Hans Eysenck and Gisli Gudjonsson is available. James McGuire provides an excellent text with Understanding Psychology and Crime: Perspectives on Theory and Action (Berkshire: Open University Press, 2004); while Behaviour, Crime and Legal Processes: A Guide for Forensic Practitioners (Chichester: John Wiley, 2000), edited by James McGuire, Tom Mason, and Aisling O'Kane, cuts across criminological psychology, legal psychology, and practice. A comprehensive recent overview of theory and practice with regard to treatment issues can be found in Clive Hollin's edited book, Handbook of Offender Assessment and Treatment (Chichester: John Wiley, 2001), or the more concise Essential Handbook of Offender Assessment and Treatment (Chichester: John Wiley, 2004).