Understanding Crime

Understanding Crime: Analyzing the Geography of Crime is the principal book for fully explaining how to use both theory and technique to study the geographic analysis of crime.

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.

In 1982 the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation created a small committee-the Justice Program Study Group (whose membership is listed at the end ofthis preface)-and posed to it what can hardly be regarded as an easy ques tion: "What ideas, what concepts, what basic intellectual frameworks are lack ing" to understand and to more effectively deal with crime in our society? Those who are acquainted with the work of the members of the Study Group will appreciate how many divergent views were expressed-divergent to the degree that some of us came to the conclusion that we were not a Study Group at all but rather a group being studied, an odd collection of ancient experimental animals serving some dark purpose of the Foundation. Eventually, however, a surprisingly strong concurrence emerged. We found we were impressed by the extent to which in our discussions we placed heavy reliance on the products of two types of research: first, those few longitudinal studies related to juvenile delinquency and crime that had been pursued in this country and, second, a few experimental studies that had sought to measure the consequences of different official interventions in criminal careers. These two research strategies had taught us much about crime and its control. Other strategies-case studies, cross-sectional surveys, participant observations, and similar techniques-had indeed been productive, but it was the longitudinal and experimental designs that firmed up the knowledge that the others helped to discover.

In Understanding Crime Statistics, Lynch and Addington draw on the work of leading experts on U.S. crime statistics to provide much-needed research on appropriate use of this data. Specifically, the contributors explore the issues surrounding divergence in the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which have been the two major indicators of the level and of the change in level of crime in the United States for the past 30 years. This book examines recent changes in the UCR and the NCVS and assesses the effect these have had on divergence. By focusing on divergence, the authors encourage readers to think about how these data systems filter the reality of crime. Understanding Crime Statistics builds on this discussion of divergence to explain how the two data systems can be used as they were intended - in complementary rather than competitive ways.

Explores the interdisciplinary nature and potential of the field of criminology, covering the fields of sociology, economics, psychology, biology, philosophy and religious studies. The conclusion demonstrates various theoretical approaches for policy development and discusses opportunities for incorporating academic contributions into the political process.

Changes over time in the levels and patterns of crime have significant consequences that affect not only the criminal justice system but also other critical policy sectors. Yet compared with such areas as health status, housing, and employment, the nation lacks timely information and comprehensive research on crime trends. Descriptive information and explanatory research on crime trends across the nation that are not only accurate, but also timely, are pressing needs in the nation's crime-control efforts. In April 2007, the National Research Council held a two-day workshop to address key substantive and methodological issues underlying the study of crime trends and to lay the groundwork for a proposed multiyear NRC panel study of these issues. Six papers were commissioned from leading researchers and discussed at the workshop by experts in sociology, criminology, law, economics, and statistics. The authors revised their papers based on the discussants' comments, and the papers were then reviewed again externally. The six final workshop papers are the basis of this volume, which represents some of the most serious thinking and research on crime trends currently available.

Examines the growing crime problem in Jamaica and explores the relationship between crime, politics and the economy and analyses the impact of crime on tourism. The articles collected here provide a comprehensive analysis of the causes, consequences and control of crime, and they point the way to solving Jamaica's escalating criminal activity.

Crime prevention benefits everyone, including would-be criminals saved from the negative consequences of offending. Yet much of today’s policy on preventing crime is driven by political ideology and anecdotal evidence, with insufficient planning and evaluation. Improving the practice of crime prevention is vital to ensure communities are safe and productive for all who live in them. However, crime is complex, the causes of crime are complex and, consequently, diverse methods are required to make the very large reductions in offending urgently needed around the world. This book contributes to improved practice in crime prevention, primarily through the lessons from successful projects. It provides an overview of current research in the field, and an exposition of some of the best case-studies from the past — including in the areas of property crime, fraud, violence and disorder — which demonstrate large-scale successes in prevention. The book is a must-read for security practitioners, crime prevention and community safety officers, police, research and policy officers, politicians, and students and academics in the field. Featuring an impressive list of contributors, Understanding Crime Prevention covers a wide spectrum of topics and approaches, designed to address crime problems from multiple angles. These include: • standards in crime prevention • policing, deterrence and incapacitation • offender management and rehabilitation • developmental interventions • community-based prevention • situational crime prevention • crime prevention through environmental design • security management • physical security and people management, and • the security industry.