Race, crime and criminal justice : international perspectives /

Twelve essays from various scholars in the social sciences discuss the ever-contentious issue of race and criminality. Two additional essays by lead editor Kalunta-Crumpton deal with the race/crime issue from a historical point of view, with a concluding essay on comparative and international perspectives. The book's subject matter has generated endless controversy throughout the globe and especially in the US. It is both refreshing and enlightening to have a transnational assessment of crime and race in nations as diverse as Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, and South Africa. As the foreword notes, "Studying race, ethnicity, immigration, and crime is exceedingly difficult, especially cross-nationally and comparatively." Kalunta-Crumpton's collected essays, however, do an admirable job of shedding new light on an international issue that has bedeviled criminologists for generations and continues to defy easy solutions at both the micro and macro levels. Copious references, both in standard and Internet citation format, generate a wellspring of knowledge for students and policy makers alike. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. J. C. Watkins Jr. emeritus, University of Alabama