The essays cover a wide range of topics and themes:
- the social construction of crime
- relations between class, gender, race and crime
- realities and limits of criminal justice
- juvenile delinquency and its treatment
- the success of punishment and rehabilitation
- official statistical patterns of criminalization and their relation to the state and its policies
- the increased importance of mass media and new information systems in defining, portraying, and communicating crime
- international crimes and their relation with globalization and the global social order
- the possibility of social control after a century of violenceWritten accessibly, featuring an international perspective and first-rate scholarship, this is truly the first global handbook of criminology.