Guided by a broad definition of violence that includes interpersonal harms, human rights and psychological abuse, racism, state terrorism, environmental disasters and war, this book offers a state of the art of international research in the field.

Violence is a serious public health problem. The number of violent deaths tells only part of the story, and many more survive violence and are left with permanent physical and emotional scars. Violence also erodes communities by reducing productivity, decreasing property values, and disrupting social services. In recent years, scholars have broadened their definitions of violence beyond the realm of interpersonal harms such as murder, armed robbery, and male-to-female physical and sexual assaults in intimate relationships, to include behaviors often ignored by the criminal justice system, such as human rights violations, racism, psychological abuse, state terrorism, environmental violations, and war. Guided by this broader definition of violence, this handbook offers state of the art research in the field and brings together international experts to discuss empirical, theoretical, and policy issues.

'A comprehensive, yet accessible volume, this handbook is an excellent resource for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of long-standing and emergent issues of violence. It is an outstanding contribution to criminology: it synthesizes and extends theoretical, methodological, and policy approaches to violence by featuring a range of analyses that illuminate how interlocking inequalities inform violence in complicated ways. In doing so, the collection demonstrates how a critically informed criminology is an important-and arguably essential-partner in addressing complex and pressing public health concerns.'

Kathryn Henne, Canada Research Chair in Biogovernance, Law and Society, University of Waterloo, Canada, and Associate Professor of Regulation and Governance, The Australian National University, Australia