'Criminology', according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary means 'the scientific study of crime'. Precisely what this phrase means is revealed by this major new one volume reference work.

This is the most comprehensive and detailed book about criminology ever published in the United Kingdom. It is designed to be immediately accessible to those interested in criminology who seek a way of familiarising themselves with the study of crime and criminality.

In over a thousand pages of carefully prepared text, and aided by dozens of figures and diagrams the Handbook sets out the main elements of the subject, the methods of research which help to shape it and the current state-of-the-art in the topics as diverse as 'Criminal Statistics', 'White-Collar Crime', 'Custodial Penalties' and 'Gender and Crime'.

The Handbook was conceived as a means of satisfying the demand that was felt to exist among students, researchers and professionals working in the criminal justice system for a thorough, scholarly and readable guide to criminology and the criminal justice system. It is an ideal book with which to teach criminology but is also recommended to anyone, from Magistrate to Prison Officer, working with or within any of the criminal justice agencies.

The Handbook is edited by three of Britain's best-known criminologists and is written by the country's leading academic experts.