"A book for university and general readers alike who are interested in the fields of Criminology and criminal justice . Each chapter is written by Australia's most respected authorities on criminology and answers questions such as: What is crime? How much crime is there in a community? Why do people offend? How do we prevent crime? The text explores popular knowledge and understanding about crime, contrasting it with what we know about crime from official sources. The authors present and analyse the various ways crime is defined and measured. The many and varied dimensions of crime and the broad range of theories offered to explain crime."--Provided by publisher.