NCJ Number
99197
Date Published
1985
Length
355 pages
Annotation
Following an examination of issues in criminology, this text examines crime statistics, victims, and theories of crime, as well as how the criminal justice and corrections systems deal with crime.
Abstract
After a consideration of personal and governmental anticrime policy decisions, Part 1 reviews some of the forces that shape our views about crime in our society and our ideas of how best to fight it. The structure of crime problems is examined in terms of the costs of fear of crime for the individual, society, the economy, and procedural rights. Part 2 looks at crime statistics and the problems involved in accurately assessing dimensions of crime from both official and unofficial statistics. Correlates of behavior, patterns of victimization, and stereotypes of criminals and victims are examined in Part 3. Part 4 examines causes of crime in terms of causal variables and assesses formal theories of causation. Assumptions about crime causation and impacts on policy formulation are discussed. Part 5 emphasizes that society causes crime by its decisions about when, how, and against whom to make and enforce laws. The negative role played by corrections sytems is also addressed. The book by corrections sytems is also addressed. The book concludes with a reemphasis on the need for a critical approach to crime statistics and theories and their use in policymaking. Each chapter includes a summary, references, and suggested readings. Author and subject indexes are also provided.