NCJ Number
60745
Date Published
1978
Length
87 pages
Annotation
THE FINAL REPORT AND TWO TASK FORCE REPORTS OF THE U.S. NATIONAL COMMISSION ON THE CAUSES AND PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE ARE CRITIQUED IN THIS AUSTRALIAN STUDY.
Abstract
ESTABLISHED IN 1968 BY PRESIDENT JOHNSON, THE COMMISSION'S FINAL REPORT RELATES THE CAUSES OF CRIME TO AMERICA'S HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT, TARGETING THE 'REVOLUTION OF RISING EXPECTATIONS' AS A MAJOR CAUSE OF INDIVIDUAL FRUSTRATION OFTEN LEADING TO VIOLENCE. ALSO DISCUSSED ARE GROUP VIOLENCE, URBAN CRIME, SUBCULTURAL THEORY, AND CRIME PREVENTION. THE TASK FORCE REPORTS FOCUS ON VIOLENCE FROM HISTORICAL AND COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES AND ON INDIVIDUAL ACTS OF YOUTHFUL VIOLENCE ACCORDING TO RECIDIVISM RATES, SOCIOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLIGICAL VIEWS, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOANALYTIC VIEWS. OUTCOMES OF THIS POLICY PERSPECTIVE ARE CRITICIZED, PARTICULARLY THE MOST NOTABLE CONCLUSION THAT TARGETS A 'CRIMINAL CLASS' OR POLICY ACTION, BASED ON A STATISTICAL PROFILE. THE IDEA OF A CRIMINAL CLASS HINDERS UNDERSTANDING BY OBSCURING ACTIONS BEHIND GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS AND BY REINFORCING THE QUESTIONABLE PREJUDICES OF ANNTIURBANISM, ETHNOCENTRISM, AND XENOPHOBIA. SUCH NOTIONS CAN ACTUALLY CONTRIBUTE TO THE PROBLEM BY STIGMATIZING CERTAIN GROUPS AND, THEREFORE, CREATING A SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY, AND ALSO BY IGNORING THE INFLUENCE OF THE ECONOMICALLY POWERFUL IN DEFINING THE NATURE OF CRIME IN SOCIETY. VIOLENCE SHOULD BE EXPLAINED AS A HUMAN ACTION FOR WHICH THERE IS HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY. FOOTNOTES ARE INCLUDED. (WJR)