Like the fifth, sixth, and seventh editions, which I prepared, this eighth edition of Criminology is a direct extension of the work done by Professor Edwin H. Sutherland in the earlier editions. Since this textbook first appeared, in 1924, it has always been more than a mere set of lesson plans or lectures for students. In his preface to the fourth (1947) edition, Professor Sutherland said: "Much factual information regarding crime has been accu- mulated over several generations. In spite of this, criminology lacks full scientific standing. The defects of criminology consist princi- pally of the failure to integrate this factual information into con- sistent and valid general propositions." Like the earlier editions, the eighth attempts to correct some of these defects.

Criminology has always been designed to place emphasis upon the organization and systematization of knowledge, and this edi- tion adheres to that tradition. In fact, it was the task of writing earlier editions of this book that led Professor Sutherland to formulate his differential association theory, a principle which a number of social scientists have found useful for putting order into a wide range of data on delinquency and crime causation. When preparing the fifth edition, I found this principle to be useful, also, for organizing the research materials on the effective- ness of various systems and techniques for rehabilitating crim- inals-probation, parole, group therapy, vocational training, and so forth-and this system of organization has continued into the eighth edition.

Part 1 examines facts of crime and delinquency and relates them to the differential association, differential social organiza- tion, and other theories. The factual data examined include variations of crime and delinquency rates with age, sex, race, poverty, educational status, urbanization, and other variables, as well as the incidence among criminals and delinquents of various biological, psychological, and social traits, characteristics, and processes. The differential association theory and alternative theories of crime causation are evaluated in the light of their comparative capacity to "make sense" of the facts.

In part 2 factual materials pertaining to control of crime are related to sociological and psychological theories of punishment and treatment, as well as to the differential association and differential social organization theories. Imprisonment, proba- tion, parole, corporal punishment, group therapy, and psycho- analysis, for example, are identified as societal reactions to crime; variations in these societal reactions are observed; and