"[This book provides] students not only with a...policy framework through which they can understand and examine the use of criminal laws as a means for social control but also analytic tools to understand and apply important criminal law doctrines. Instead of presenting the elements of various crimes in a disjointed fashion, [this book] focuses on having students develop an...understanding of the underlying principles, rules, and policy rationales that inform all criminal laws. A cases-and-notes pedagogy along with scholarly excerpts, questions, and notes, provides students with a rich foundation for not only the academic examination of criminal laws but also the application of the law to real-world scenarios."--