Crime and criminology Books

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Book SynopsisOffers a candid, intimate memoir of the horrific repercussions of a shocking crime on one family, beginning with a nightmarish assault on the author's two cousins and brother, who managed to escape to flag down help, and following the family's odyssey.Trade ReviewPraise for A Rip in Heaven“Cummins presents a mesmerizing, highly balanced memoir....[A] compelling, novel-like account...highly admirable.”—Publishers Weekly“Cummins recounts the wrenching drama in a straightforward, expertly paced narrative that reads like a novel.”—People

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Book SynopsisA milkman shares a take-out supper with his cousin and then fatally stabs him.…A man breaks into a shelter for abused women and snuffs out the life of his wife who has taken refuge there.…A youth rapes and kills a woman on the landing of her apartment building.…The boyfriend of a single mother batters her eighteen-month-old daughter to death. . . .In Men of Blood, Elliott Leyton, described by William Langley in the London Sunday Telegraph as “probably the world's most widely consulted expert on serial killing and a godhead of modern criminal psychology,” reviews a decade's worth of real murders and analyses their common features. Sometimes surprising, often shocking, always compelling, the result is an important addition to the literature of murder.

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Book SynopsisIn the vein of the bestselling I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, this compelling work of true crime explores the aftershocks of Killer Clown John Wayne Gacy's crimes with a uniquely intimate slant, as the daughter of a key witness probes her mother's personal experiences and the legacy of murder within a family, a community, and the American psyche.“A beautifully written memoir about the haunting impact of a sensational crime. I'm still thinking about it.” —Gregg Olsen, #1 New York Times bestselling authorOn a December night in 1978, Courtney Lund O’Neil’s mother, teenaged Kim Byers, saw her friend Rob Piest alive for the last time. At the end of his shift at the pharmacy where they both worked, fifteen-year-old Rob went outside to speak to a contractor named John Wayne Gacy about a possible job.That night Rob became Gacy’s final victim; his body was later found in the Des Plaines River. Kim’s testimony, along with a receipt belonging to her found in Gacy’s house, proving that Rob had been there, would be pivotal in convicting the serial killer who assaulted and killed over thirty young men and boys.Though she grew up far from Des Plaines, Courtney has lived in the shadow of that nightmare, keenly aware of its impact on her mother. In search of deeper understanding and closure, Courtney and Kim travel back to Illinois. Postmortem transforms their personal journey into a powerful exploration of the ever-widening ripples generated by Gacy’s crimes. From the 1970s to the present day, his shadow extends beyond the victims’ families and friends—it encompasses the Des Plaines neighborhood forever marked by his horrific murders, generations of the victims’ families and friends, those who helped arrest and convict him, fandom communities, and many others.Layered and thought-provoking, Postmortem is a complex story of loss and violence, grief and guilt, and the legacy that remains long after a killer is caught.

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Book SynopsisA timely and nonpartisan book on voter manipulation and electoral corruption—and the importance of stimulating voter turnout and participationThough voting rights are fundamental to American democracy, felon disfranchisement, voter identification laws, and hard-to-access polling locations with limited hours are a few of the ways voter turnout is suppressed. These methods of voter suppression are pernicious, but in Five Dollars and a Pork Chop Sandwich, Dr. Mary Frances Berry focuses on forms of corruption including vote buying, vote hauling, the abuse of absentee ballots, and other illegal practices by candidates and their middlemen, often in collusion with local election officials.Vote buying—whether it’s for a few dollars, a beer, or a pack of cigarettes—is offered to individual citizens in order to ensure votes for a particular candidate, and Dr. Berry notes it occurs across party lines, with Republicans, Democrats, and independe

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Book SynopsisThe United States is divided about the death penalty17 states have banned it, while the remaining states have not. From wrongful convictions to botched executions, capital punishment is fraught with controversy. In The Death Penalty: What's Keeping It Alive, award-winning criminal defense attorney Andrea Lyon turns a critical eye towards the reasons why the death penalty remains active in most states, in spite of well-documented flaws in the justice system.The book opens with an overview of the history of the death penalty in America, then digs into the reasons capital punishment is a fixture in the justice system of most states. The author argues that religious and moral convictions play a role, as does media coverage of crime and punishment. Politics, however, plays the biggest role, according to the author, with no one wanting to look soft on crime. The death penalty remains a deadly political tool in most of the United States.Trade ReviewAndrea Lyon, Dean of Valparaiso University Law School in Indiana, once again brings her prodigious experience and knowledge to one of the most vexing and polarizing issues in our society, the death penalty, posing the question in her latest book:'What’s keeping it alive?' . . .Lyon’s book includes several informative charts and appendices, as well as links to the most current data on the death penalty. . . .Lyon predicts that the death penalty’s days are numbered. Current debates about its cost and effectiveness, now occurring in most states where it hangs on, support her prediction. If it ends — or, to put it hopefully, when it ends — Andrea Lyon’s reasoned, calm, yet passionate voice will have played an integral part in its demise. This book lays another blow to it. * The Champion, NACDL *A stinging indictment of the death penalty system, focusing in most closely and importantly on the role of the media, and, especially, the moral corruption that permeates many of the prosecutors' offices that regularly do death penalty cases. A must read for anyone interested in this topic. -- Michael L. Perlin, New York Law SchoolThis is an impassioned brief against the American death penalty from a knowledgeable criminal justice insider. Experienced capital defense attorney Andrea D. Lyon shows us through her own life’s work why capital punishment is—and should be—headed for history’s dustbin. -- Carol Steiker, Harvard UniversityAndrea Lyon does a superb job capturing the key issues surrounding the death penalty—past and present. Framed from the perspective of a lawyer who has litigated capital cases, Lyon presents the information with a balanced perspective and thoroughly canvasses the legal landscape of the death penalty. -- Durant Frantzen, Texas A&M University—San AntonioTable of ContentsDedication Acknowledgments Historical Timeline of the Death Penalty Countries with and without the Death Penalty States with and without the Death Penalty Preface 1: The Death Penalty Yesterday and Today 2: Moral and Religious Underpinnings of the Death Penalty 3: The Media as a Messenger of Death 4: The Death Penalty as a Political Tool 5: The Failure and Fate of Capital Punishment

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Book SynopsisConcocting a story in which Solomon Sharp had seduced and abandoned Anna, the couple transformed a sordid murder -- committed because the Beauchamps believed Sharp to be spreading a rumor that Anna had had an affair with a family slave -- into a maudlin tale of feminine virtue assailed, honor asserted, and a young rebel's revenge.

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Book SynopsisFrom weapons analysis to handwriting samples to shoe and tire impressions, Crime Science outlines the indispensable tools and techniques that investigators use to make sense of a crime scene.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction to Forensic Science and Criminalistics Crime-Scene Investigation Trace Evidence Firearms Fingerprinting Impression Analysis Questioned Documents Serology Chemistry Pathology Anthropology Afterword Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewSo far as any one book can dispel a large historical mystery, this book does it, magnificently." — Garry Wills, New York Review of Books"Lucidly written, impressively researched, closely argued... The result is formidable." — Irving Howe, New York Times Sunday Book Review "A historic event... Stunningly meticulous, a monument to the intellectual ideal of truth stalked to its hiding place." — George Will, Newsweek"The definitive account." — Reader's Catalog"The most exciting piece of history in recent memory." — William F. Buckley"The most objective and convincing account we have of the most dramatic court case of the century." — Arthur Schlesinger, Jr."[Weinstein] has gone as far as any historian could to establish the formal validity of the verdict... His treatment of the resulting material strikes one as both judicious and properly skeptical; he writes of it with clarity and restraint. ...Weinstein's contribution, then, is major and I would say definitive." — John Kenneth Galbraith"Impressive... [Weinstein] makes persuasive use of this material in a narrative that is lucid, dramatic and even handed." — Robert Kirsch, Los Angeles Times Book Review

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Book SynopsisIncludes a review of the legal initiatives undertaken to combat cyber crime, an exploration of the threat to civil aviation, analysis of the constitutional, legal, economic, and ethical constraints on use of technology to control cyber crime, a discussion of the ways we can achieve security objectives through international cooperation.

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Book SynopsisFocusing on the continued terrorist threat by jihadist groups, such as Al Qaeda and ISIS, and homegrown violent far-right and far-left extremists in the West, Terrorism and Counterterrorism investigates this form of political violence in a historical and contemporary context. In this comprehensive and highly readable text, renowned expert Brigitte Nacos clearly defines terrorismâs diverse causes, actors, and strategies; outlines anti- and counterterrorist responses; and highlights terrorismâs relationship with the public and media. Terrorism and Counterterrorism introduces students to the fieldâs main debates and helps them critically assess our understanding of, and our strategies for, addressing this complex and enduring issue.New to the Seventh Edition: The new chapter 3 reviews the history of terrorismâboth domestic and international, whereas the new chapter 4 analyses the terrorist landscape in the third decade of the 21st centuryâincluding the transnational links between violent far-right and far-left violent extremists. The discussion of religious terrorism in chapter 5 ends with an added section about QAnon as religiopolitical cult. An extended section in chapter 7 is devoted to the increasingly militant roles of females in violent far-right extremism. The revised chapter 10 starts with the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan and an account of total costs spent on the post-9/11 war against terrorism before discussing the counterterrorism strategies of presidents G.W. Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden. The failures and successes of the U.S. intelligence community in efforts to prevent terrorism at home with relevant data and case studies are new features in chapter 12. Table of Contents Introduction: Terrorist Threats at Home and Abroad PART I: TERRORISM The Perennial Debate: What is Terrorism? A Historical Review of Terrorism The Terrorism Landscape in the third Decade of the Twenty-First Century Political Violence in the Name of God The Making of Terrorists: Causes, Conditions, Influences Women, Children and Terrorism Common Threads: Goals, Targets, and Tactics Organizational Structures, State Sponsors, and the Financing of Terror PART II : COUNTERTERRORISM Terrorism and American-Led Post-9/11 National Security Strategies The Utility of Hard and Soft Power in Counterterrorism Preventing Terrorism: The Crucial Role of Good Intelligence Balancing Security, Civil Liberties, and Human Rights PART III : TERRORISM IN THE NEWS MEDIA AND ON THE INTERNET Terrorist Propaganda and the Mainstream Media Terror and Hate in Cyberspace Conclusion: Living with Terrorist Threats Appendix: Major Terrorist Incidents since the Late 1970s

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Book SynopsisStrategic Security Management, Second Edition provides security leadership and decision-makers with a fresh perspective on threat, vulnerability, and risk assessment. The book offers a framework to look at applying security analysis and theory into practice for effective security program, implementation, management and evaluation. Chapters examine metric-based security resource allocation of countermeasures, including security procedures, utilization of personnel, and electronic measures. The new edition is fully updated to reflect the latest industry best-practices and includes contributions from security industry leadersbased on their years of professional experienceincluding Norman Bates, Robert Emery, Jack Follis, Steve Kaufer, Andrew Rubin, Michael Silva, and Ken Wheatley.Strategic Security Management, Second Edition will be a welcome addition to the security literature for all security professionals, security managers, and criminal justice studenTable of Contents Chapter 1 Data-Driven Security Chapter 2 Identifying Assets in Need of Protection Chapter 3 Threat Assessments Chapter 4 Crime Analysis Chapter 5 Vulnerability Assessments Chapter 6 Risk Assessments Chapter 7 Crime Prevention Theories Chapter 8 Security Measures: Governance Chapter 9 Security Measures: Physical Security Chapter 10 Security Measures: Personnel Chapter 11 Project Management Chapter 12 Gaining Support for Security Programs Chapter 13 Forensic Security Consultants and Security Liability Chapter 14 Workplace Violence Prevention Chapter 15 Security Risk Modeling Chapter 16 Security Program Leadership

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Book SynopsisBestselling CRIMINOLOGY: THEORIES, PATTERNS, AND TYPOLOGIES, now in its Twelfth Edition, delivers the most comprehensive, in-depth analysis of criminological theory and crime typologies available. This book is also unrivaled in its strong research base and currency, with detailed coverage of cybercrime, green crime, and transnational crime--three of the hottest issues in the field today. Packed with real-world illustrations, the Twelfth Edition includes cutting-edge seminal research, up-to-the-minute policy, newsworthy examples, and hundreds of new references. A proven author and authority in criminology and criminal justice, Dr. Renowned for his unbiased presentation of theories, issues, and controversies, Siegel encourages readers to weigh the evidence and form their own conclusions.

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Book SynopsisHe examines how the machine emerged as a technology of truth, transporting readers back to the obscure origins of criminology itself, ultimately concluding that the lie detector owes as much to popular culture as it does to factual science.Trade ReviewAny with an interest in criminal justice or general social issues will find this a compelling account. Midwest Book Review To paraphrase Dragnet, there are many histories to tell of the lie detector; this is a good one. -- Ken Adler History of Science SocietyTable of ContentsIntroduction: Plotting the Hyperbola of Deception1. "A thieves' quarter, a devil's den": The Birth of Criminal Man2. "A vast plain under a flaming sky": The Emergence of Criminology3. "Supposing that Truth is a woman—what then?": The Enigma of Female Criminality4. "Fearful errors lurk in our nuptial couches": The Critique of Criminal Anthropology5. "To Classify and Analyze Emotional Persons": The Mistake of the Machines6. "Some of the darndest lies you ever heard": Who Invented the Lie Detector?7. "A trick of burlesque employed . . . against dishonesty": The Quest for Euphoric Security8. "A bally hoo side show at the fair": The Spectacular Power of ExpertiseConclusion: The Hazards of the Will to TruthAcknowledgmentsNotesEssay on SourcesIndex

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Book SynopsisThis sociologically focused text is intended for the juvenile delinquency course taught in criminal justice, criminology, and sociology departments at both four year and two year institutions.

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Book SynopsisCombines the traditional concepts taught in undergraduate criminal law courses with thought-provoking cases and engaging learning tools.Trade Review"Greatest strengths for this book in no particular order: (1) the author selected very interesting and timely cases that college students would find to be compelling examples of the chapter concepts; (2) instructor & student online resources available through the Sage website; (3) this book well lives up to its title of focusing on the most recent (contemporary) and controversial aspects of substantive criminal law! " -- Lisa Clayton "This book contains the right balance of informative text and illustrative case law. The Questions for Discussion and You Decide segments are very helpful for teachers and students." -- Frank A. Zera, J.D.Table of ContentsPreface Chapter 1. The Nature, Purpose, and Function of Criminal Law Appendix: Reading and Briefing Cases Chapter 2. Constitutional Limitations Chapter 3. Punishment and Sentencing Chapter 4. Actus Reus Chapter 5. Mens Rea, Concurrence, Causation Chapter 6. Parties to Crime and Vicarious Liability Chapter 7. Attempt, Conspiracy, and Solicitation Chapter 8. Justifications Chapter 9. Excuses Chapter 10. Homicide Chapter 11. Criminal Sexual Conduct, Assault and Battery, Kidnapping, and False Imprisonment Chapter 12. Burglary, Trespass, Arson, and Mischief Chapter 13. Crimes Against Property Chapter 14. White-Collar Crime Chapter 15. Crimes Against Public Order and Morality Chapter 16. Crimes Against the State Notes Glossary Case Index Subject Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"[The Big Ideas Simply Explained books] are beautifully illustrated with shadow-like cartoons that break down even the most difficult concepts so they are easier to grasp. These step-by-step diagrams are an incredibly clever learning device to include, especially for visual learners." — Examiner.com"The visual layout promotes browsing with illustrations, pull quotes, and simple mind maps to explain concepts quickly." — Library Journal"Accessible guide to the great thinkers." — School Library Journal"[I]f you dig anything crime related this is for you." — CrimeSpree Magazine

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Book SynopsisNot just one type of bad girl, but the complete range, in one volume

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Book SynopsisThe never-before-told true account of the serial killers who terrorized Nashville’s music scene for decades—and the cold-case Murder Squad determined to bring an end to their sadistic sprees. Nashville—a haven for aspiring musicians and a magnet for country-music fans. By the time Pat Postiglione arrived there in 1980, it was also the scene of an unsolved series of vicious sex slayings that served as a harbinger of worse to come. As Postiglione was promoted from street-beat Metro cop to detective sergeant heading Music City’s elite cold-case Murder Squad, some of America’s most bizarre, elusive, and savage serial killers were calling Nashville home. And during the next two decades, the body count climbed. From Vanderbilt University to dive bars and out-of-the-way motels, Postiglione followed the bloody tracks of these ever-escalating crimes—each enacted by a different psychopath with the same intent: to murder without motive or remorse. But of all the investigations, of all the monsters Postiglione chased, few were as chilling, or as game changing, as the Rest Stop Killer: a homicidal trucker who turned the interstates into his trolling ground. Next stop, Nashville. But Postiglione was waiting.Trade Review“Aficionados of true-crime histories should enjoy learning about Postiglione’s formidable career.” —Publishers Weekly “Arntfield writes capably about investigatory forensics and behavioral science theory in clarifying the motivations of these sadistic murderers, as well as the tactics developed over time by smart cops like Postiglione…A fevered yet mostly engrossing narrative of urban predators and the hardworking detectives who try to stop them.” —Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisWhat do the Catholic Church, college sports, Hollywood, prisons, the military, fraternities and politics have in common? All have extraordinarily high rates of sexual and intimate partner violence and child sexual abuse. Sexual and intimate partner violence is part of the landscape that women and children live with. Women and children are subjected to high levels of sexual and intimate partner violence and in the era of #metoo, Gender, Power and Violence provides a nuanced analysis of the ways in which the organizational structure of an institution, like a college campus or Hollywood, can create an environment ripe for sexual and intimate partner violence and even child sexual abuse. Gender, Power, and Violence looks at the problem of sexual and intimate partner violence through cases, observing the role that institutions play in facilitating and perpetuating gender based violence, and provides a more complex understanding about the ways in which institutional structures create an environment that facilitates and perpetuates gender based violence. Angela J. Hattery and Earl Smith touch on current events that have highlighted the pervasiveness of gender based violence across the institutions they interrogate throughout the book, but also in the entertainment industry, the government, and television journalism. Gender, Power, and Violence gives the reader a better understanding of what factors shape who will be perpetrators, who will be victims, and how organizations respond (or not) when sexual or intimate partner violence or child sexual abuse is reported. It also offers recommendations for transforming these institutions so that they are safe for women and children of all genders.Trade ReviewHattery and Smith’s timely book is a searing, incisive look at how and why gender-based violence persists, the institutions that enable it, and the impact that it has on various groups in society. This accessible, powerful book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand this pervasive problem—and more importantly, for anyone who wants to start thinking about solutions. -- Adia Harvey Wingfield, Washington University in St. LouisToo often we choose to engage in complicit silence and numbness in response to the rampant gender-based violence that seeps through our country, particularly through our male-dominated institutions. But this book reminds us that we must do more. Each chapter is a timely rallying point for not only saying #MeToo, but for saying #LetsAct to create a cultural shift where gender-based violence is eliminated once and for all. -- Holly Kearl, Author of Stop Street Harassment: Making Public Places Safe and Welcoming for WomenIn Gender, Power and Violence, Angela J. Hattery and Earl Smith illuminate the empirical connections between gender-based violence and homosocial organizations—especially those that glorify boys’ and men’s violence. The book’s timely and important message is that ending gender-based violence requires moving beyond sensitivity training and social media campaigns, to serious efforts at institutional transformation. -- Michael A. Messner, Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies, University of Southern CaliforniaAngela Hattery and Earl Smith's book, Gender, Power, and Violence, is an excellent introductory text for courses on gender based violence. The authors present a comprehensive intersectional analysis how sexual and intimate partner violence is supported by institutional structures—an analysis that is necessary, if we are to truly end the epidemic of violence and the devastating impact of its concomitant trauma. -- Claire N. Kaplan, PhD, Program Director, Gender Violence and Social Change and Men's Leadership Project, University of VirginiaThis book contributes to the literature on sexual and gender based violence by examining the institutions in which these phenomena occur and the power structures that justify and facilitate this type of violence. The authors attempt to situate violence within the context of power and oppression. This analysis is timely and necessary in order to understand interpersonal violence from a macro perspective. Written in an accessible and engaging manner, this book will be a useful tool for students and laypersons alike who seek to understand the complexities of gender based violence and who wish to prevent future occurrences of violence and harm. -- Karen Holt, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, Michigan State UniversityThis book is a must-read for anyone who is interested in understanding the power dynamic of institutional gender-based violence and the role of institutions in perpetuating sexual violence. For decades, people pointed the finger primarily at Athletes and Frat Guys. "Gender Power and Violence" outlines the role of ALL institutions in perpetuating, permitting and protecting offenders of all types of sexual violence. From the Catholic Church to Congress, from prisons to parliament, from Hollywood to The Hague, from Boy Scouts to band leaders, from the military to media moguls - institutions have played a major role in harboring predators, providing them with a steady stream of prey and in protecting repeat offenders 'for the sake of the institution.' " Fortunately, the #MeToo movement has pulled the curtain back to expose the power dynamics that exist within hierarchical institutions. As a former Division 1 Athlete, I am certainly not pointing the finger at ALL athletes or all actors or all priests or all politicians. However, institutions possess inherent power dynamics that the 10% of bad guys are drawn to. Rape is about power and control - phenomena that exist in all institutions from Penn State to prison to politics. As a result of wanting to maintain that power, institutions put their reputation before individual people - often at the expense of victims. The epidemic of gender-based violence will continue until institutions are willing to admit they have a problem. It is up to Hollywood, Washington, DC and Wall Street to put people before profits and to STAND up for the lowest member of the totem pole at any institution. When institutions are willing to treat the custodian with the same respect as the CEO or hold the Pope just as accountable as his parishioners then - and only then - will we see change. The President should be held to an even higher degree of ethical standards than the peasant.. Like the Homeland Security slogan says, "if you see something, say something" - it is up to us to live by the mantra that "if you see something, DO something" especially when it comes to institutions. Only then will we, as a society, be able to protect victims and help them to truly become survivors. -- Keith Labelle, PhD, Assistant Director of Bystander Intervention Training, University of Rhode IslandThis is a compelling, accessible, and polemical interrogation of rape culture and gender based violence in U.S. institutions. Rather than simply describing male abuse of power the authors end each chapter with potential strategies and solutions for each institution, ending with a “call to arms” in the final chapter to change institutional practices to change society. -- Jennifer Marchbank, Professor, Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, Simon Fraser UniversityIn an analysis that is both broad and incisive, Gender, Power and Violence provides a fresh vantage point on an epidemic that is anything but new. Zooming out from individual victims and perpetrators to the institutions where gender-based violence is rampant, Hattery and Smith connect the dots, arguing compellingly that these structures have the power to either perpetuate or address a devastating social problem. -- Lauren B. Cattaneo, Associate Professor, George Mason UniversityTable of ContentsPREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2: THEORY, HISTORY, AND TERMINOLOGY CHAPTER 3: FRATERNITIES CHAPTER 4: THE MILITARY CHAPTER 5: PRISONS CHAPTER 6: SPORTSWORLD CHAPTER 7: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CHAPTER 8: HOLLYWOOD, WASHINGTON, AND THE #METOO MOVEMENT CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSIONS AND A CALL TO ACTION

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Book SynopsisAny murder causes pain and suffering that ripple through families and communities—of both the victims and the perpetrators—but premeditated murders cause the worst kind of damage. The Allure of Premeditated Murder is about the worst kinds of premeditated homicide in which the perpetrator plans an attack over a period of days, weeks, or months, leaving behind massive carnage and unspeakable suffering. Drawing on extensive research and interviews with murderers, sociologists Jack Levin and Julie B. Wiest help readers understand why such vicious murders occur and what we can do to minimize their incidence. Throughout the book, they examine why people engage in acts of premeditated murder—planning and implementing terrible violence against others—from the perpetrator’s viewpoint. By juxtaposing the motivations for these hideous homicides against everyday social circumstances, these often-baffling crimes are explained in an easy-to-understand manner that paves the way for promising solutions. In the process of examining the characteristics of premeditated murder, the book also addresses those questions that are commonly asked about this kind of violent crime but usually unanswered. How could a killer have enjoyed his murderous rampage when he committed suicide right afterward? Why do sadistic killers sometimes regard their murders as great accomplishments? What can be done to effectively reduce the likelihood of this kind of homicide? As violence remains such a prominent and troubling topic nationwide, The Allure of Premeditated Murder successfully explores the reasons behind the worst violence as well as the most promising solutions.Trade ReviewThis is, by far, one of the most comprehensive and well-researched scholarly works I have come across in quite some time. It is clever, masterfully written, and even a bit risky. This book is a 'must' for anyone who is interested in the systematic study of murder, both experts and non-experts alike. Levin and Wiest cover a wealth of material that is sure to be an invaluable resource for homicide researchers, criminal justice practitioners, policymakers, and students. I highly recommend this book. -- Robert Worley, Associate Professor and Director of Criminal Justice, Lamar UniversityThe recent arrest of ex-policeman Joseph James DeAngelo, 72, of Sacramento, reputed to be a serial killer in the 1970s and 1980s, propels The Allure of Premeditated Murder into the spotlight as a very relevant book. This text includes meticulous research of a wide variety of murders, insights into the motives of the murderers, and most, importantly, how well planned they are over months if not years. This book is an outstanding resource for law enforcement, students, clinicians, and community leaders as gun violence, especially of strangers, becomes more of a reality in America. The lessons learned in this book will advance murder investigations as well as provide serious debate over prevention of such crimes. -- Ann Wolbert Burgess, Professor, Boston CollegeFocusing on the myriad of benefits killers derive from their crimes—benefits that outweigh the possible pains of punishment in the calculus of deterrence—Levin and Wiest offer a fascinating and unique look into the mindset of murderers. With a blend of criminological perspicacity and journalistic flair, they have produced a provocative and exceptionally readable addition to any library on violence. I, for one, shall keep this volume within reach on my bookshelf of favorites and often-cited works. -- James Alan Fox, PhD, The Lipman Family Professor of Criminology, Law and Public Policy at Northeastern University; author of Violence and Security on Campus: From Pre-School through CollegeLevin and Wiest offer a fascinating argument that some mass murderers get more pleasure from planning their crimes than from actually committing them. If more people would realize this, maybe their violent fantasies would stay safely in their imaginations and no longer have such devastating consequences for the rest of us. -- Adam Lankford, Criminology Professor, The University of AlabamaIn their new book The Allure of Premeditated Murder, Jack Levin and Julie Wiest offer insight into the most insidious form of homicide, first degree murders where killers plan their violence in advance. These types of murders may seem more difficult to understand than emotion-driven crimes of passion, but Levin and Wiest reveal the many ways in which these crimes may be better understood by analyzing the viewpoints of the perpetrators themselves. By considering the roles of fantasy, thrill, power, greed, infamy, revenge, sadism, and hate in premeditated killing, this book is a major contribution to the literature on homicide. -- Eric Madfis, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Washington TacomaThe Allure of Premeditated Murder: Why Some People Plan to Kill offers a fascinating compendium history of serial killings and mass murders from the 1940’s to present day, many of which made national headlines. I was reminded of many of the events that received national attention and learned some details that revealed the potential reasons as to how & why such atrocities could occur. The authors not only provide summaries of these events and offer points of views from both the perpetrators and investigators, but they also offer opinions as to what solutions may and may not work to prevent the future development of serial killers and mass murderers. I recommend this book to all those involved in discussions and legislation on public safety issues. If it is true that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” (George Santayana), it is essential that they consider the facts and opinions provided by these authors. -- Dennis Hilliard, Director RI State Crime Laboratory; Adjunct Professor, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RILevin and Wiest provide a unique exploration of a subject that has dominated the public’s attention for years. The ample, detailed examples used to illustrate the motivations and contexts of different types of premeditated murder contribute significantly to our understanding of this relatively rare but greatly feared social problem. The authors deliver a candid discussion of both the strategies that are likely to be effective in reducing premeditated murder and those that are not. The book is a must read for homicide scholars, policy makers, and the general public. -- Wendy Regoeczi, Professor and Chair, Cleveland State UniversityTable of ContentsAcknowledgments The Most Hideous Homicides: An Introduction Chapter 1: Planning Is the Payoff Chapter 2: Going Out in a Blaze of Glory Chapter 3:The Thrill of the Hunt Chapter 4: Mind over Murder Chapter 5: Justice Is in the Weapon of the Beholder Chapter 6: Helping Yourself to Murder Chapter 7: Death for Dollars Chapter 8: Prevention: What Works and What Doesn’t Work Chapter 9: An Epidemic of Epidemic Thinking About the Authors

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Book SynopsisThe case was closed, but for journalist Nancy Rommelmann, the mystery remained: What made a mother want to murder her own children? On May 23, 2009, Amanda Stott-Smith drove to the middle of the Sellwood Bridge in Portland, Oregon, and dropped her two children into the Willamette River. Forty minutes later, rescuers found the body of four-year-old Eldon. Miraculously, his seven-year-old sister, Trinity, was saved. As the public cried out for blood, Amanda was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to thirty-five years in prison. Embarking on a seven-year quest for the truth, Rommelmann traced the roots of Amanda’s fury and desperation through thousands of pages of records, withheld documents, meetings with lawyers and convicts, and interviews with friends and family who felt shocked, confused, and emotionally swindled by a woman whose entire life was now defined by an unspeakable crime. At the heart of that crime: a tempestuous marriage, a family on the fast track to self-destruction, and a myriad of secrets and lies as dark and turbulent as the Willamette River.Trade Review“Rommelmann employs compassion and emotional honesty in her investigation to try to comprehend the motivations behind the crime and its aftermath.” —Publishers Weekly “A painstaking and meticulous exploration of all the facts and conjectures surrounding a disturbing case.” —Kirkus Reviews “[To the Bridge] is a remarkable work: not a whodunit but an inquiry into why. Rommelmann doesn’t find an easy solution, but neither does she settle for platitudes about the unknowability of the human heart.” —Willamette Week “A painstaking and meticulous exploration of all the facts and conjectures surrounding a disturbing case.” —Willamette Week “What is particularly engaging isn’t so much the crime but Rommelmann’s look at why Stott-Smith did what she did.” —Bustle “What is offered…is a chance to understand the why and a real examination of how we hold killers accountable, but not always all those responsible. True crime readers or anyone interested in compelling nonfiction will find this an interesting read leaving them with a lot to think about long after they finish the book.” —Independent Publisher “An emotionally honest, meticulous examination of a confluence of circumstances that culminated in a deadly act, and the complicity of our own city and culture in its aftermath.” —Portland Monthly “…Rommelmann’s research and attention to detail often lead her to write sentences that feel like literary short stories all on their own…The book does usefully complicate a story that seemed, on its face, uncomplicated or impenetrable to many, helpfully reminding us to resist jumping to conclusions, even when the villain seems easy to spot.” —The Stranger “In To the Bridge, Nancy Rommelmann takes what many consider the most unforgivable of crimes—a mother set on murdering her own children—and delivers something thoughtful and provocative: a deeply reported, sensitively told, all-too-relevant tragedy of addiction and codependency, toxic masculinity, and capricious justice. You won’t be able to look away—nor should any of us.” —Robert Kolker, New York Times bestselling author of Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery “Rommelmann’s investigation…manages to be both a tonic meditation on the limits of knowledge and a bracing defense of its pursuit.” —Reason, “The Best of 2018” “How do you understand the not understandable and forgive the unforgivable? So asks one of the characters in this clear-eyed investigation into something we all turn away from. To the Bridge is a tour de force of both journalism and compassion, in the lineage of such masterpieces as In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song. Word by word, sentence by sentence, Rommelmann’s writing is that good. And so is her heart.” —Nick Flynn, PEN/Martha Albrand Award–winning author of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City

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Book SynopsisThis riveting sequel to My Bloody Life traces Reymundo Sanchez’s struggle to create a “normal” life outside the Latin Kings, one of the nation's most notorious street gangs, and to move beyond his past. Sanchez illustrates how the Latin King motto “once a king, always a king” rings true and details the difficulty and danger of leaving that life behind. Filled with heartpounding scenes of his backslide into drugs, sex, and violence, Once a King, Always a King recounts how Sanchez wound up in prison and provides an engrossing firsthand account of how the Latin Kings are run from inside the prison system. Harrowing testaments to Sanchez’s determination to rebuild his life include his efforts to separate his family from gang life and his struggle to adapt to marriage and the corporate world. Despite temptations, nightmares, regressions into violence, and his own internal demons, Sanchez makes an uneasy peace with his new life. This raw, powerful, and brutally honest memoir traces the transformation of an accomplished gangbanger into a responsible citizen.Trade Review"Riveting sequel to 'My Bloody Life'." -- Zona Latina."The pseudonymous author must be enthusiastically applauded for his struggle to extract himself from the jaws of the monster." -- KirkusReviews"A slow-motion riot of drugs, sex and gunplay." -- Publishers Weekly on My Bloody Life"A survivor who turned his life around, Sanchez writes plainly and powerfully, and what is shocking about his tragic tale is not the barbaric actions of young gangbangers but the appalling collusion of adults, from criminally abusive parents to mercenary gun dealers and immoral cops." -- Booklist on My Bloody Life"Sanchez carefully traces his own transformation from an inner-city Puerto Rican boy who likes to play baseball into an accomplished gangbanger in Chicago's notorious Latin Kings--someone for whom pulling the trigger was becoming second nature." -- The Washington Post on My Bloody Life

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Book SynopsisDrawing on declassified documents and extensive firsthand research, The Politics of Cocaine takes a hard look at the role the United States played in creating the drug industry that thrives in Central and South America. Author William L. Marcy contends that by conflating anti-Communist and counternarcotics policies, the United States helped establish and strengthen the drug trade as the area’s economic base. Increased militarization, destabilization of governments, uncontrollable drug trafficking, more violence, and higher death tolls resulted. Marcy explores how the counternarcotics policies of the 1970s collapsed during the 1980s when economic calamity, Andean guerrilla insurgencies, and Reagan’s anti-Communist struggle with Nicaragua and Cuba became conflated as part of the War on Drugs. The book then explores how the U.S. invasion of Panama and narcotics related violence throughout Andean region during the 1990s led to the militarization of the War on Drugs as a way to confront narcotics production, narco-traffickers, and narco-guerrillas alike. Marcy brings to the reader up to the end of the George W. Bush administration and explains why to this date the United States remains unable to control the flow of cocaine into the United States and why the War on Drugs appears to be spiraling out of control. The Politics of Cocaine fills in historical gaps and provides a new and controversial analysis of a complex and seemingly unsolvable problem.

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Book SynopsisAn emotional, page-turning account of unhealed trauma and personal transformation that will break your heart and change your mind, in the tradition of Somebody's Daughter, A Piece of Cake, and Jesmyn Ward's Men We ReapedRiveting, honest, and raw, I Can Take It From Here recounts Lisa Forbes's harrowing journey into darkness — including a fourteen-year-long stint in a maximum-security prison — and her fierce resolve to understand the effects of the trauma she endured, to take personal responsibility for her actions, and to ensure that her history does not dictate her destiny.The youngest of six children, Lisa grew up in a Chicago housing project where she endured sexual, religious, and emotional abuse as a little girl. A voracious reader, she graduated high school at 15 and went to work as a secretary in a downtown insurance office, became pregnant at 16 and, at 19, unexpectedly and uncharacteristically committed a violent act, stabbing and killing the father of her daughter. Providing powerful insights into what we as a society need to learn and confront in the ongoing epidemic of mass re-incarceration, Lisa is a stunning example of an individual who through determination, knowledge, and hard work has been able to reclaim her own life.The book ends with Lisa's rousing call to action to support the people—as well as the shorthanded employers—who need the help, and need each other, more than ever.

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Book Synopsis

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Book Synopsis

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