Crime In The United States

Fear of Crime in the United States: Causes, Consequences, and Contradictions examines the nature and extent of crime-related fear. The authors describe and evaluate key research findings in the specific areas of methodology; gender, age, race and ethnicity, and socioeconomic status; contextual predictors; and the consequences of fear of crime. They discuss the improvement of fear of crime measures over time; the consistent finding that women are more afraid of crime; the impact of age, race and ethnicity, and socioeconomic status on fear; and the importance of environmental factors (such as witnessing crime and perceptions of diversity, disorder, and decline) and indirect victimization (through acquaintances and the media) on fear. The book also describes the physical, psychological, behavioral, and social effects of fear of crime. In the end, the authors tie the findings together to suggest important policy and research implications from the wealth of available research. There is no other book of which I am aware that so masterfully reviews empirical studies on fear of crime during the past half century to show how the research has changed and will continue to evolve. As long as there is crime, there will be perceptions of risk and fear of victimization; and Lane et al. help one to sift through the research with conceptual precision to formulate the most scientifically valid conclusions about the phenomena. The book is a hedgehog view of the research but points the way to needed research on topics such as fear of terrorism and how social context shapes perceptions of crime. The book is must-reading for those involved in research on victimization or fear of crime. - Kenneth F. Ferraro, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center on Aging and the Life Course, Purdue University This book consolidates the literature on fear of crime in a way that is unprecedented and that lends much-needed coherence to the area. It is

A compelling case can be made that violent crime, especially after the 1960s, was one of the most significant domestic issues in the United States. Indeed, few issues had as profound an effect on American life in the last third of the twentieth century. After 1965, crime rose to such levels that it frightened virtually all Americans and prompted significant alterations in everyday behaviors and even lifestyles. The risk of being mugged was a concern when Americans chose places to live and schools for their children, selected commuter routes to work, and planned their leisure activities. In some locales, people were afraid to leave their dwellings at any time, day or night, even to go to the market. In the worst of the post-1960s crime wave, Americans spent part of each day literally looking back over their shoulders. The Rise and Fall of Violent Crime in America is the first book to comprehensively examine this important phenomenon over the entire postwar era. It combines a social history of the United States with the insights of criminology and examines the relationship between rising and falling crime and such historical developments as the postwar economic boom, suburbanization and the rise of the middle class, baby booms and busts, war and antiwar protest, the urbanization of minorities, and more.

This book traces the position of the United States of America on aggression, beginning with the Declaration of Independence up to 2020, covering the four years of the Trump Administration. The decision of the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court to activate the Court's jurisdiction over the crime of aggression in 2018 has added further value to a book concerning the position and practice of one of the most influential states, a global military power and permanent member of the UN Security Council. Organized along chronological lines, the work examines whether, or to what extent, the US position has evolved over time. The book explores how the definition of the crime can impact upon the US, notwithstanding its failure to ratify the Rome Statute. It also shows that the US practice and opinio iuris about the law applicable to the use of force might influence, as it has done in the past, the law itself. The work will be a valuable guide for students, academics and professionals with an interest in International Criminal Law.

Anyone living or working in a city has feared or experienced street crime at one time or another; whether it be a mugging, purse snatching, or a more violent crime. In the U.S., street crime has recently hovered near historic lows; hence, the declaration of certain analysts that street life in America has never been safer. But is it really? Street crime has changed over past decades, especially with the advent of surveillance cameras in public places—the territory of the street criminal—but at the same time, criminals have found ways to adapt. This encyclopedic reference focuses primarily on urban lifestyle and its associated crimes, ranging from burglary to drug peddling to murder to new, more sophisticated forms of street crime and scams. This traditional A-to-Z reference has significant coverage of police and courts and other criminal justice sub-disciplines while also featuring thematic articles on the sociology of street crime. Features & Benefits: 175 signed entries within a single volume in print and electronic formats provide in-depth coverage to the topic of street crime in America. Cross-References and Suggestions for Further Readings guide readers to additional resources. Entries are supported by vivid photos and illustrations to better bring the material alive. A thematic Reader's Guide groups related entries by broad topic areas and, within the electronic version, combines with Cross-References and a detailed Index for convenient search-and-browse capabilities. A Chronology provides readers with a historical perspective of street crime in America. Appendices provide sources of data and statistics, annotated to highlight their relevance.

Fresh twists on notorious trials are the focus of True Crime Stories: Cases That Shocked America, a special edition of PEOPLE magazine. A companion to the new Investigation Discovery network series People Magazine Investigates, this edition explores crimes that have remained a mystery for years, the 1996 murder of toddler pageant contestant JonBenet Ramsey, the disappearance of little Lisa Irwin from her Kansas home in 2011, and reports on the latest efforts to solve them. Also featured are the reasons behind new murder trials awaiting Robert Durst, the millionaire profiled on the HBO mini-series The Jinx, and Adnan Syed, the subject of the podcast Serial. ItIs a new look at more than 25 crimes, and the people who have overcome unthinkable tragedies to help their communities in the name of lost loved ones."

In Crime is Not the Problem, Franklin Zimring and Gordon Hawkins revolutionize the way we think about crime and violence--by forcing us to distinguish between crime and violence. The authors reveal that compared to other industrialized nations, in most categories of nonviolent crime, American crime rates are comparable--even lower, in some cases. Only when it comes to lethal violence does the United States outpace other Western nations, with homicide rates many, many times greater. London and New York City have nearly the same number of robberies and burglaries each year, but robbers and burglars kill 54 victims in New York for every victim death in London. Why are the risks so much greater that victims will be killed or maimed in the United States? And what can be done to bring the death rate from American violence down to tolerable levels? The authors show how the impact of television and movie violence on rates of homicide is wildly overrated, but emphasize the paramount importance of guns. By making the crucial distinction between lethal violence and crime in general, the authors clear the ground for a targeted, far more effective response to the real crisis in American society. Crime is Not the Problem will reshape the debate about crime control in the United States.