CONFESSIONS OF A CRIMINOLOGIST

About the Book

Lew Yablonsky's story is about a youth who was involved in various delinquent activities as a teenager, and later in life, after serving in the Navy, went through a dramatic change to become a noted Professor of Criminology. His favorite commentary about his life change on various national TV programs and in news media about his professional life was: "In my early years some of my best friends were criminal sociopaths, and I learned more about crime from them than I learned from acquiring my Ph.D. at NYU." His autobiography details his early years, and how his personal life entwines with the 20 books he has researched and written about crime, drug addiction, and other social issues. The following quote from a review of his first book "The Violent Gang" in the Los Angeles Times describes his writing style "...a powerful and incisive writing in the field of sociology...an important and imensely useful work.

About the Author

Lewis Yablonsky grew up in Newark, New Jersey. He served in the Navy during WW2. He graduated from Rutgers University and later received a Ph.D. in Sociology and Criminology from New York University in 1958. Dr. Yablonsky has taught sociology and criminology at the University of Massachusetts, Columbia, Harvard and UCLA. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Criminology at California State University-Northridge. He has lectured, taught, and consulted throughout the world on social issues. Among his 20 published books in the U.S. and Europe are The Violent Gang (1962), Synanon: The Tunnel Back (1965), The Hippie Trip (1968), Criminology (2000), Gangs in Court (2008); and The Emotional Meaning of Money and The Extra-Sex Factor published by IUniverse in 2009.