Psychological Criminology explores what is it about individuals and their experiences that causes them to commit crime and/or to become criminal.

Fully updated to include the latest theories and research, this new edition provides comprehensive coverage of psychological theories of crime and criminality. It arranges theories in temporal sequence, from distal to proximal causes of crime, and is organised under three key headings:

• theories that focus on factors present at birth (human nature, heredity);
• theories that focus on factors that influence the offender over the lifespan (learning and development);
• theories that focus on factors present at the crime scene.

The book emphasises the connections among the different approaches, and demonstrates how, taken together rather than as rival explanations, they provide a more complete picture of crime and criminality.

Psychological Criminology highlights the contributions that psychological theory can make to the broader field of criminology. It is essential reading for students, academics, researchers, and practitioners in both criminology and forensic psychology.

Richard Wortley began his career as a prison psychologist and has subsequently taught the psychology of crime and criminality for many years in criminology schools. He is currently Professor at the Jill Dando Institute of Security and Crime Science at University College London and at the New Zealand Institute for Security and Crime Science at the University of Waikato.