Social Reality of Violence and Violent Crime

• NCJ Number: 184704
• Author(s): Henry H. Brownstein
• Date Published: 2000
• Length: 218 pages
• Sale Source: Allyn and Bacon, Inc
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Building on the theoretical perspective that reality is socially constructed, this book illustrates from the American experience those "stories" that have been used in the social construction of drug-related violence, violence by the poor and minorities, and violence in the workplace.

Abstract

To tell these stories, the book weaves together official statistics, media reports, and research findings, including the author's personal accounts from interviews conducted for his own research with people who have experienced violence as victims, offenders, and witnesses. The first chapter describes and explains the process by which violence is socially constructed. It shows how and why American society has come to define and measure violence primarily in terms of violent crime. Chapter 2 reviews the various claims about violence by people who use drugs and shows how these claims have caught the attention of the American public during the 20th century. These claims are contrasted with the evidence of research, official statistics, and history. In Chapter 3, stories about the violent adventures of drug dealers are considered in the context of government reports, media accounts, and research findings, so as to address the issue of how drug trafficking and drug markets are related to violence and how American society views that relationship. Other chapters examine stories associated with the "innocent bystander" in violent incidents, the emergence of family violence as a central concern in American society, the myth of the "liberated" woman as a purveyor of violent offending, and public perceptions of the "superpredator" (violent juveniles). Remaining chapters focus on perceptions of poor and minority violent offenders, as well as violence in the workplace. The concluding chapter examines why people make claims about the nature and level of violence in American society that are not supported by empirical data. Implications of this circumstance are drawn for public policy. Chapter notes, 414 references, and a subject index