Crime and Social Control provides a basic overview of the ways in which the state intervenes in the lives of offenders, victims, and members of the wider community. It introduces the key players in the criminal justice system, shows how state agencies and social institutions respond (and create) offensive behaviour, surveys the strengths and weaknesses of existing forms and methods of crime control, and describes the development of general theories and practices of criminal justice over time. Substantially revised and updated, the new edition of Crime and Social Control retains its reader-friendly style and incorporates new material and references consistent with the changes to institutions and the criminal justice system. New material covered in the book includes private policing, police accountability, ethnic minority young people, zero tolerance policy, and the Courts.