The fifth edition of Kate Williams' Textbook on Criminology continues to provide a comprehensive consideration of theoretical, practical, and political aspects of crime and criminology. Including a new chapter on state and terrorism and major revisions to several other chapters, this new edition aims to give the reader guidelines on the issues at stake and help on how to best find the answers using biological, psychological and sociological theories. The book deals with the major questions of criminology, such as 'How do you define a crime?', 'Why do people become criminals?' and 'What should we do to prevent crime and deal with criminals?'. Each question is studied from an objective and academic viewpoint and encourages greater social, political, and philosophical awareness of crime, criminals, and society's response to them. The fifth edition is substantially updated and revised and maps out the changes in crime control and societal expectation in relation to crime control as the move has been made from a welfare to a neo-liberal state.
It also focuses more clearly on certain aspects of crime and criminology, such as terrorism and state crimes, which have come to the fore in recent years.