Scarpitti and Nielsen's comprehensive anthology offers a collection of student-accessible, highly readable reprinted articles intended to introduce core issues in understanding crime. Unlike many criminology readers, this book covers not only theories of crime--but includes articles with an emphasis on types of criminals and defining crime. Also featured are conceptualizations, extensions, and applications of contemporary works designed to ease instruction in the classroom. The reader is divided into six sections: Defining Crime, The Extent of Crime, Correlates of Crime, Explaining Crime, Types of Crime, and Responses to Crime. Each section begins with a thought-provoking introduction by the editors that provides a general overview and frames each selection in a larger context, which helps the reader understand the relevance of the selections that follow. These introductions also identify and explain central issues, key concepts, and relationships among topics. Each selection opens with a short introduction and concludes with discussion questions.