International Journal on Criminology Volume 5, Number 2, Winter 2017/2018 | Page 4

International Journal on Criminology • Volume 5, Number 2 • Winter 2017/2018
Foreword: Criminology in a Crime Prone Time
In the wake of recent American school shootings, the need for more considered
examination of such topics as gun control, the unsettled relation of mental
health to mayhem, the differences between national criminal cultures, education
of law enforcement officers, the role of gun control and numerous other topics
have been getting intense attention.
Some of the proposed solutions, such as arming school teachers or flooding
school buildings with smoke underline by their impracticality the need for more
rational and academic approaches—which is precisely what this journal sets out
to do.
It is an overly optimistic approach to suggest that a journal can solve all the
problems that now challenge us. Narcotics alone present enough dilemmas for
filling every issue with articles, let alone the resurgence of kidnaping and slavery,
the counterfeiting of technology, and ingenious examples of white collar crime.
What we certainly know is that universities and think tanks have been remiss
in the attention being paid by the classroom and curriculum to this long list
of issues.
So this issue and future issues are witness to the need for an international
scholarly approach to an infection of our society which if not challenged can further
destabilize democracy. A society where the public safety is challenged as it is
today is an endangered society. We must insist that the topics discussed here be
given the importance that the current turmoil demands.
Paul Rich
President, Policy Studies Organization
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