NCJ Number
149475
Date Published
1994
Length
393 pages
Annotation
Exploring in detail crime committed by the general public in Canada, the United States, and other countries, this volume challenges the prevailing stereotype of the criminal by documenting the extent to which ordinary citizens violate the law, exhibit dishonesty, or engage in actions harmful to their fellow citizens.
Abstract
Focusing on both conventional violent and property crimes as well as technological crimes and those committed by persons in positions of authority, the text notes that ordinary citizens account for a large proportion of many kinds of crime. These include theft, fraud, tax evasion, assault, sex offenses, business scams, political and corporate crime, environmental crime, technological crime, and mass lawlessness such as looting and vigilantism. Crime by police and other authorities in the criminal justice system are also discussed and illustrated using case examples. By discussing the justifications and excuses ordinary people provide for their transgressions, the author presents a parallel between those justifications and the ones provided by chronic or hard-core criminals. Experimental and other data are presented to reveal that members of the public are often not firmly committed to society's laws or the legal system. Using existing theories together with an original, interdisciplinary theoretical model, the discussion indicates why criminality is so widespread, why it varies among individuals and settings, why some crimes are more prevalent than others, and why some people are less likely to be labeled and processed as criminals. The discussion concludes with recommended approaches for dealing with widespread criminality. Photographs, illustrations, figure, tables, chapter reference notes, and index