Author Message to Instructors

This textbook provides an introduction to the origins, evolution, and current field of criminology. It differs from other similar textbooks in a few key ways. This textbook is student and teaching-centered without sacrificing rigor. All contributing authors are both scholars and educators who have experience engaging students in the classroom, so many of the activities included in this textbook have been piloted in many classrooms. This book was written from a lens of equity, diversity, and inclusion. The text explicitly acknowledges and highlights the positionality of theorists who created concepts and theories that built the field of criminology. Criminological theories are contextualized in time, place, and culture to help students understand what biases may be inherent in their formation and the policies that followed. Each core theory chapter includes a “modern application” section at the end to help students see how the theories are relevant now. The text also invites students to reflect on their own positionality, identities, and biases that they bring to the study of criminology.

Students often feel challenged by the content of their first introduction to theory course—thus, each chapter utilizes relevant and current examples to make the material more accessible. There are multiple links and references to popular streaming shows, podcasts, films, and more to engage a variety of learning styles. Additionally, each chapter includes activities and discussion questions that have been used in undergraduate classrooms.

Specifically, this textbook features:

• Multiple choice and true/false H5P activities (auto-graded formative assessments) at the end of each Pressbook page to help students assess their learning (and can be drawn upon for quizzes/exams)
• Figures and images with captions that prompt students to think deeply about the text
• “Learn More” and “Activity” sections in each chapter can be used for class discussion, homework/online assignments, or to prompt student exploration
• “Modern Application” sections in the core theory chapters that discuss the relevance of the theories now and/or how they might inform current crime policy
• Supplemental resources that can assist students in research for projects or papers
• Links to media sources such as podcasts, documentaries, TV shows, or YouTube videos that can be used in assignments or class discussion
• Activities, resources, and discussion questions that prompt students to critically reevaluate definitions of crime through the lens of equity, diversity, and inclusion

About Course Packs

This book includes openly licensed course materials, also known as open course packs, for future educators to review, use, and adapt to their own teaching. An open course pack is an aligned and accessible set of openly licensed course materials that fully integrate with the open textbook. Anyone can retain, revise, remix, reuse, and redistribute them. Best of all, future instructors can build on existing learning pathways that are fully aligned with textbook learning outcomes and content.

Oregon instructors designed each course pack in consultation with an instructional designer and, in most cases, revised each course pack based on feedback from Oregon students and an advisory board of workforce members. In each course pack, you will find a complete course map, an instructor guide, and ancillary materials including assignment prompts, rubrics, and suggested activities.

Open course packs from Open Oregon Educational Resources are designed with an equity lens. This means that they center the voices and experiences of underserved student populations. They are designed with equity-minded pedagogies, including Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT), and Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT), and Open Educational Practices (OEP).

[Link to course pack site]

Last Update

This book was last updated on September 22, 2024. This second version has several exciting changes, including new chapters focused on criminological theorizing in the 21st century, updated resources and supplemental materials to improve student understanding, and equity-focused revisions designed to support students from all backgrounds.

Licenses and Attributions

Author Message to Instructors by Elizabeth B. Pearce is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

About Course Packs by Open Oregon Educational Resources is licensed under CC BY 4.0.