NCJ Number
171072
Editor(s)
I H Marshall
Date Published
1997
Length
259 pages
Annotation
These 10 papers present theoretical and empirical findings regarding racial and ethnic minorities, noncitizens, foreigners, immigrants, and crime in Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the United States.
Abstract
The papers examine law enforcement priorities; punishment philosophies and practices; media coverage; and political, scholarly, and public discussions of these issues. The authors live and work in the countries they discuss. An introduction by the editor notes that despite national variations in concepts, the common feature of the groups discussed are their marginal social position in society in terms of employment, education, housing, and political influence and their distinct ethnic-cultural position, characterized by prejudice and stereotyping, self-identification, and shared customs. Individual chapters focus on research findings and issues in each country. The concluding chapter examines common concerns relating to minorities and crime in Europe and the United States. It concludes that ethnicity, race, citizenship, or national origin are of only secondary importance in understanding newly evolved patterns of criminality. Instead, a broader theoretical framework is needed that focuses on macrolevel economic, political, and social processes that shape newly emerging crime forms such as transnational drug production and distribution, international terrorism, transnational organized crime, electronic international fraud, and trafficking in people. Figures, tables, chapter notes and reference lists, and index