The eldofcrimeanddevianceisextensiveandevergrowing. Asinglecollectionofarticles couldnotcapturethevariousmethods,theories,andissuesthatcomprisethekeyconcernsofthe discipline. Facedwiththevastarrayofpotentialtopicareasthatcouldbelegitimatelyincluded insuchacompendium,wedecidedtouseourownlenstofocusonareasthatwedeemtobeof continuingimportanceandthoseinwhichimportantdevelopmentshaveemerged. Althoughwe recognizethatmuchhasbeenexcludedfromthiscollection,wethinkwhathasbeenincorporated shouldbeofgreatinteresttoscholarsworkinginthe eldandtothosestudentswhoarebecoming acquaintedwithit. Thecompendiumisdividedintofourmajorsections:(1)MethodologicalIssuesinCrime Research;(2)ExplanationsofCrime;(3)CriminalJustice-RelatedIssues;and(4)SpecialTopics inCrime. Withineachsection,wehaveendeavoredtoselectauthorswhoaremajor guresin theareaonwhichtheywriteorareamongthoseyoungscholarswhoaredoingsomeofthe mostimportantworkintheirareasofexpertise. Thisblendofseniorandup-and-comingscholars demonstratesthecontinuingvitalityofthe eldandwehopethatvitalityemanatesfromthe selectionswehavechosen. PartItitled"MethodologicalIssuesinCrimeResearch"containsfourchapters. Theissues thataredealtwithrangefromthosethatarethesourceofcontinuingdebate(arelongitudinal designsworththeexpenseandeffort,anddothebene tsofcomparativestudiesoutweighthe dif cultiesinconductingthem)aswellasissuesthatareonthecuttingedgeofcriminolo- calresearchtoday(theuseofgroup-basedstatisticalmethodologyforanalyzingdevelopmental trajectoriesandtheuseofincident-basedreportingsystems). A Handbook on Crime and DeviancewouldcertainlynotbecompletewithoutaPartII titled"ExplanationsofCrime. "Wehavenotincludedachapteroneverytheoreticalperspective thathasbeenpartofthedisciplinarydialogue. Rather,wehaveselectedsomeofthetheories onwhichtherehasbeensigni cantdevelopmentoverthepast10years. Theauthorswhohave contributedchaptersareclearlyamongthosewhoarecurrentlydoingworktoadvanceeitherthe theoreticaldevelopmentofthoseperspectivesortheresearchagendaonthosetheories,orboth. v vi Preface Theyalsowereinstructedtoemphasizethemorerecentdevelopmentsoftherespectivetheories intheirexpositions. PartIIIcontainschaptersaddressing"CriminalJustice-RelatedIssues. "Thereweream- iadofissuesthatcouldhavebeenaddressedinthispart. Wechosetoseekcontributionsonissues thatrelatetheorytopractice. Althoughweseparatethemfromourtheorysection,thesesel- tionscouldhaveeasilybeenincludedthere. Wealsoincludedessaysontwoissuesthatcontinue tobeamongthosethatareofcontinuingconcern,capitalpunishment,andthein uenceofrace andsexintheprocessingofoffendersinthecriminaljusticesystem. Part IV of the Handbook, "Special Topics in Crime and Deviance", is a compilation of issuesthatcontinuetobeorhavebecome'hottopics'inour eld. Theyrangefromgangs,guns, peers,anddrugstoissuessuchaschildabuseanddomesticviolence,cybercrime,andhatecrime. Thereareexcitingtheoreticalandresearchdevelopmentsintheseareas,manyofwhichhavebeen forwardedbytheauthorsofthesechapters. WhenrepresentativesofSpringeraskedustoassembleacompendium,theyspeci cally instructedustoselectarticlesbasedonourvisionofwhatwashappeninginthe eldtoday. Wehaveendeavoredtodothat. Moreimportantly,insolicitingchaptersfromthecontributing authors,weaskedthemtorelyontheirviewofwhatwasofparticularcurrentinterestintheir areaofexpertise. Wefurtherencouragedthemtoincorporatetheirownworkintheseareasin ordertotakefulladvantageoftheirexpertise. Theresultisacompendiumthatincludesan- to-dateassessmentofthestateofthe eldonanumberofextremelyimportanttopicsinc 
