book review.

I love books. That is pretty much all I can say about my love of books. I just love them. But I don't love not having money to spend on books.

But I have found a way to combat that too! Blogging for Books is a website that I signed up with recently. They will send you a book of your choosing (FOR FREE) and all you have to do is read it and write a review of it on your blog. Easy peasy.

So here is my first book review. I read Inside the Criminal Mind because as a sociologist, crime and motivation has always interested me.

Inside the Criminal Mind by Stanton E. Samenow is an interesting look into the inner workings and thought processes of a criminal. This research gives a completely new perspective on the study of why criminals behave the way they do.

The main research idea behind this book is that the criminal motive is not based on nature vs nurture or that societal pressures mold a person. There is a lot of contrary research to combat these theories. Samenow is proposing that the criminal mind is complex and conscious; he is saying that there is such thing as a criminal personality that can be identified by observable factors. 

First published in 1984, Inside the Criminal Mind is now in its third edition and is including new societal norms into the basic ideas and conclusions from the first two editions. The addition of cyberbullying, the Internet, drug trafficking, and terrorism have all broadened the basis of Samenow's research and brought it up to date for our society. Samenow establishes that the criminal mind has not changed and does not evolve, rather "society provides new avenues for the criminal mind to express itself" (xiii). 

I have personally studied crime and read other research about the criminal mind and motivations. This book is definitely one of the better ones that I have encountered. Samenow presents his research in a logical and organized way while explaining theories and ideas in understandable terms. He simplifies everything so that those of us without a PhD can still understand and form an opinion on what he is saying. It is an easy read and very interesting to delve into the minds of actual criminals. 

**I received a complementary copy of the book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.**