This is a uniquely sociologically oriented Criminology text designed to help students cultivate their own "sociological imagination" about crime and criminal justice. The book takes a critical approach and places questions of social inequality and power at the center of criminological inquiry. It views class, race/ethnicity, and gender as pivotal organizing principles of social life--prisms through which we come to know ourselves and our social world and as central mechanisms by which social relationships are patterned. The text offers instructors and students an approach that is interesting and innovative, yet organized to fit into conventional course formats. The authors write in an engaging manner that is accessible to students, and they include many real-life anecdotes and quotes from offenders, victims, and criminal justice personnel to help illustrate concepts and make the material more interesting to read.

With the text students have access to PowerWeb, a password-protected course-specific Web site that offers current articles about criminology (refereed and selected by criminology instructors), research tools, refereed Web links, student study tools, and interactive exercises.