Visions of Human Nature: An Introduction
by Anthony Walsh, Craig Hemmens
Category: Social Science

A unique text/reader that takes a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to the study of criminology Providing an affordable alternative to the standard textbook, this new edition of the authors’ popular text/reader provides instructors and students the best of both worlds – authored text with carefully selected accompanying readings. Now thoroughly updated with new articles, new content, and new statistics, tables, and figures, this Second Edition provides an interdisciplinary perspective on crime and criminality that incorporates the latest theories, concepts, and research from sociology, psychology, genetics, evolutionary biology, and the neurosciences. The new edition is divided into 15 sections that mirror chapters in a typical criminology textbook. New to This Edition: A new Section 11 on Mass Murder and Terrorism makes coverage of these high-interest topics even more accessible. Section 10 now focuses only on murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and domestic violence, making it easier for students to absorb the material. New articles appear in the structural theories section, the sections devoted to violent crime, and throughout the text/reader as needed. The authors now more closely link sections on types of crime to sections on theory to give readers a more cohesive understanding of the connections between the two. Contemporary criminologists’ favored theories (drawn from a survey of 770 criminologists) now appear in a table to give readers insight into the professional opinion today on criminological theories. Features: Each Section has a 15-page introduction (a "mini-chapter”) that contains vignettes, photos, tables and graphs, end-of-chapter questions, and Web exercises, followed by three to four supporting readings. Theory Section introductions contain a unique table that compares and contrasts the theories presented, while theory concluding sub-sections focus on policy and crime prevention. A "How to Read a Research Article" guide (which appears prior to the first reading) illustrates key aspects of a research article. The book’s readings are drawn from carefully selected, edited journal articles appropriate for an undergraduate audience.