Inspired by the fear of pervasive violence in the world, authors Alex Alvarez and Ronet Bachman address the various legislative, social, and political efforts to curb violent behavior. They expertly incorporate a wide range of the most current cases to help readers interpret the nature and dynamics of a variety of different, yet connected, forms of violence. While most texts of this type simply cover individual acts of violence, this book offers readers a broader perspective, covering more collective violence activities such as terrorism, mob violence, and genocide.
Alex Alvarez, PhD, is a professor in the department of criminology and criminal justice at
Northern Arizona University. From 2001 until 2003, he was the founding director of the
Martin-Springer Institute for Teaching the Holocaust, Tolerance, and Humanitarian Values.
In 2017–2018, he served as the Ida E. King Distinguished Visiting Scholar in Holocaust and
Genocide Studies at Stockton University. His first book, Governments, Citizens, and Genocide,
was published by Indiana University Press in 2001. His other books include Murder American
Style (2002), Genocidal Crimes (2009), Native America and the Question of Genocide (2014), and
Unsteady Ground: Climate Change, Conflict, and Genocide (2017). He has also served as an editor
for the journal Violence and Victims, was a founding coeditor of the journal Genocide Studies
and Prevention, and is an editor for Genocide Studies International. He has been invited to speak
and present his research across North America and Europe.
Ronet D. Bachman, PhD, worked as a statistician at the Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S.
Department of Justice, before going back to an academic career; she is now a professor in the
Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware. She is coauthor
of Statistical Methods for Criminology and Criminal Justice and coeditor of Explaining Criminals
and Crime: Essays in Contemporary Criminal Theory. In addition, she is the author of Death and
Violence on the Reservation and coauthor of Stress, Culture, and Aggression; Murder American
Style; and Violence: The Enduring Problem, along with numerous articles and papers that examine
the epidemiology and etiology of violence, with particular emphasis on women, the elderly,
and minority populations as well as research examining desistance from crime. Her most recent
federally funded research was a mixed-methods study that examined the long-term desistance
trajectories of criminal justice involved drug-involved individuals who have been followed with
both quantitative and interview data for nearly thirty years. Her current state-funded research is
assessing the needs of violent crime victims, especially those whose voices are rarely heard such
as loved ones of homicide victims.
