Palgrave's Frontiers in Criminology Theory

This book develops an evolutionary theory of crime. Both evolutionary theory and neurocriminology are growing fields that are attracting more and more interest for criminologists and wider fields alike. This book summarises important readings that relate to retribution and punishment and presents some neurocriminological findings. In addition, the book introduces a new methodology for the study of crime: a game theory experiment adapted from the field of behavioural economics. Overall, the book synthesises the key crime literature, presents a new theory of crime in a new field of evolutionary criminology and the methodology to study it, and provides empirical results in support of the theory. For any evolutionary and neuroscientist interested in deviance, this book offers a new model which is testable using more complex methods such as MRI scanners and survival simulations.

The book provides a compelling and comprehensive explanation of the puzzling resilience of the gangs that have operated in Rio de Janeiro since the 1980s. It offers a broad overview of the history of gangs and gang alliances (factions) in the whole of the city, focussing on the evolution and consistency of these groups over time, positing the link between these and the groups’ chances of survival. It draws on more than 285 articles from 15 newspapers and media outlets across a time span covering more than 40 years, supplemented with interviews with high-ranking public security officers and secondary data. Applying a novel and composite translation of biological evolutionary concepts to a complex criminological context, it focusses on three main fields of interest: territory, relations, and internal dynamics.

Despite decades of evidence that justice-involved individuals are disproportionately affected by adversity and present with trauma-related symptoms, the links between trauma and offending and the mechanisms that explain these associations are underdeveloped within the social and psychological sciences. This book synthesises trauma and criminological literature and augments it with the author’s own experience and research. It begins by facilitating an understanding of the key concepts of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and trauma and their relevance to criminology, sociology and social policy. The book then explores the burden that is experienced by the justice involved population, analyses reasons behind the burden, and highlights areas for prevention. Importantly, the book proposes a theory of deprivation to explain the overrepresentation of trauma in the justice system, the aim of which is not to conclusively explain these observations, but rather to generate interest and further research in the area. This book addresses a significant gap in the offending and prevention of offending literature and embeds trauma and offending into routine criminological, sociological and social policy teaching.