Defining and Surveying Crime

what brings a citizen to the attention of the law and sets in motion a process that at some stage involves contact with a forensic psychologist? in the vast majority of instances, it will be because the individual in question has been charged with or convicted of a criminal offence. we devote the opening chapters of this book to understanding ‘crime’, because it is an act considered to belong in that category that triggers someone’s entry to the ‘system’ of legal, penal, mental health and social work services and agencies within which forensic psychologists work. much of what happens throughout the entire process that is then set in motion will be influenced by the nature, severity and frequency of that initial offending. Part 1 of the book (comprising Chapters 1–5) therefore gives an overview of the role that psychology plays in the study of crime and of antisocial behaviour more generally.