ABSTRACT

Despite a shared focus on crime and its ‘extended family’, forensic scientists and criminologists tend to work in isolation rather than sharing the data, methods and knowledge that will broaden the understanding of the criminal phenomenon and its related subjects.

Bringing together perspectives from international experts, this book explores the intersection between criminology and forensic science and considers how knowledge from both fields can contribute to a better understanding of crime and offer new directions in theory and methodology.

This handbook is divided into three parts:

  • Part I explores the epistemological and historical components of criminology and forensic science, focusing on their scientific and social origins.
  • Part II considers how collaboration between these disciplines can bring about a better understanding of the organizations and institutions that react to crime, including the court, intelligence, prevention, crime scene investigation and policing.
  • Part III discusses the phenomena and actors that produce crime, including a reflection on the methodological issues, challenges and rewards regarding the sharing of these two disciplines.

The objective of this handbook is to stimulate a ‘new’ interdisciplinary take on the study of crime, to show how both forensic and criminological theories and knowledge can be combined to analyse crime problems and to open new methodological perspectives. It will be essential reading for students and researchers engaged with forensic science, criminology, criminal behaviour, criminal investigation, crime analysis and criminal justice.

part I|57 pages

Criminology and forensic science

chapter 1|11 pages

Twin sciences?

The history of forensic science and criminology

chapter 2|12 pages

Criminology and forensic science as a Unitas Multiplex

An epistemological approach

chapter 4|8 pages

A method that combines criminology and forensic science

Considering the case of antiterrorism

chapter 5|14 pages

A rendezvous between forensic science and criminology

Toward a public forensic criminology?

part II|112 pages

Forensic practices and crime regulation

chapter 6|12 pages

Forensic-led regulation strategies

Are they fit for security problem-solving purposes?

chapter 7|9 pages

Forensic practices and policies

chapter 10|13 pages

The CSI effect

chapter 12|13 pages

Forensic intelligence

chapter 13|11 pages

Prevention and forensic science

How forensic evidence supports prevention

chapter 14|15 pages

Evaluating the consumption of illicit drugs via wastewater analysis

How forensic indicators are used in open and confined settings

part III|89 pages

Forensic science and crime analysis

chapter 17|7 pages

The forensic science of place

chapter 18|13 pages

Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis Methodologies (ESDA)

How they can be used to analyse forensic case data

chapter 20|11 pages

Online crime monitoring