Crime As Structured Action

James W. Messerschmidt’s groundbreaking book Crime as Structured Action demonstrates that to understand crime, we must understand how crime operates through a complex series of gender, race, sexual, and class practices. In the second edition of this powerful book, Messerschmidt updates both structured action theory as well as several of the original case studies, and he includes a new case study that further brings structured action theory to life. The book also features expanded discussions of whiteness and sexuality, and their relationships to crime.

The author of this volume skillfully demonstrates that a vital component to understanding crime is to be able to view it as more than a single activity. James W. Messerschmidt argues that crime operates subtly through a complex series of gender, race and class practices and these interwoven elements must be seen as part of all social existence, not viewed independently.

The author of this volume skillfully demonstrates that a vital component to understanding crime is to be able to view it as more than a single activity. James W. Messerschmidt argues that crime operates subtly through a complex series of gender, race and class practices and these interwoven elements must be seen as part of all social existence, not viewed independently.

The author of this volume skillfully demonstrates that a vital component to understanding crime is to be able to view it as more than a single activity. James W. Messerschmidt argues that crime operates subtly through a complex series of gender, race and class practices and these interwoven elements must be seen as part of all social existence, not viewed independently.

Challenging the common masculinist character of criminological research, James W. Messerschmidt develops an elaborate scrutiny of the gender roles that, along with class and race, influence the occurrence and types of crimes in our society.

This book provides a unique conceptualization of: 1) embodiment as a lived aspect of gender, 2) how masculine practices may be constructed by both boys and girls, 3) how such embodied social actions are related to violence and nonviolence, and 4) the fallacy of the mind-body, sex-gender, and gender difference binaries.

In The Name of Hate is the first book to offer a comprehensive theory of hate crimes, arguing for an expansion of the legal definitions that most states in the U.S. hold. Barbara Perry provides an historical understanding of hate crimes and provocatively argues that hate crimes are not an aberration of current society, but rather a by-product of a society still grappling with inequality, difference, fear, and hate.

Explores the role of stories in criminal culture and justice systems around the world Stories are much more than a means of communication—stories help us shape our identities, make sense of the world, and mobilize others to action. In Narrative Criminology, prominent scholars from across the academy and around the world examine stories that animate offending. From an examination of how criminals understand certain types of crime to be less moral than others, to how violent offenders and drug users each come to understand or resist their identity as ‘criminals’, to how cultural narratives motivate genocidal action, the case studies in this book cover a wide array of crimes and justice systems throughout the world. The contributors uncover the narratives at the center of their essays through qualitative interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, and written archives, and they scrutinize narrative structure and meaning by analyzing genres, plots, metaphors, and other components of storytelling. In doing so, they reveal the cognitive, ideological, and institutional mechanisms by which narratives promote harmful action. Finally, they consider how offenders’ narratives are linked to and emerge from those of conventional society or specific subcultures. Each chapter reveals important insights and elements for the development of a framework of narrative criminology as an important approach for understanding crime and criminal justice. An unprecedented and landmark collection, Narrative Criminology opens the door for an exciting new field of study on the role of stories in motivating and legitimizing harm.