Barak - Criminology: an Integrated Approach

After four decades of doing criminology there are far too many persons who have influenced my criminological journeys to acknowledge. In terms of my integrated journey I would like to thank and acknowledge three personsBruce Arrigo, Stuart Henry, and Paul Leightonfor their conversations and exchanges of ideas. Over the years, each one of them has helped to sustain and nurture my enthusiasm for integration. As for the writing of this book, there are some other people that I wish to thank.

First and foremost, I want to acknowledge Robert Bohm and Lynn Chancer. Out of friendship and loyalty they both had the misfortune of reading the first draft of chapters 1-10, which I compulsively knocked out in less than six months. Much of what makes this book work was still in my integrated mind and not in the premature text that Bob and Lynn read. However, thanks to their criminological imaginations they could see where I was headed. What is more, they had to endure pages of barely coherent ramblings and poorly constructed sentences I had struggled to spew out at much too fast a pace. Their critiques used together, whether or not they always agreed, was exactly what this author needed to make the manuscript jell the way that I believe it has. All of their comments were taken to heart and mind and I believe that I have tended to their criticisms/suggestions on virtually every critical point raised. In short, this text has benefited enormously from Bob and Lynn and I owe them each a debt of gratitude. I hope that they are as pleased with this final product as they were critical of their first reads.

Next, I would to thank a former graduate assistant of mine, Lisa Kruse, who did much of the library and Internet searching and retrieving of material for inclusion in this book. Without Lisas pursuit of the latest data and relevant analyses, this book would not be as timely as it is. I would also like to extend thanks to the graduate students in my Winter 2008 theory seminar for their general discussion and especially for their collective reading and feedback on chapter 11, Integrated Models in an Age of Globalization and Transdisciplinarity. Once again, I wish to thank Eastern Michigan University for release from my teaching duties for the Fall semester 2007, in order that I could devote undivided time toward completing this manuscript. Lastly, there is Alan McClare, a vice president at Rowman & Littlefield, whom I would like to thank for his support of a variety of academic writing adventures over the past five years, including the Rowman & Littlefield/Lexington joint book series, Issues in Crime & Justice, of which I am series editor. Finally, I would especially like to thank Elaine McGar-raugh, production editor, at Rowman & Littlefield, for her splendid yeoman services.

Gregg Barak, Ann Arbor

Summer 2008