NCJ Number
224319
Date Published
2008
Length
287 pages
Annotation
This book examines the evidential basis of claims of links between inequality and crime, and the theoretical explanation of why such relationships might be expected.
Abstract
Crime and Inequality examines the state of inequality in contemporary society and its relationship to offending and social policy developments that are, at least in part, thought of as having potential impacts upon offending. The book is comprised of eight chapters; the introduction is chapter 1. Chapter 2 explores theoretical approaches that explain connections between crime and inequality and the evidence that suggests a link between the two. Chapter 3 focuses on young men, and argues that the predominant explanation of offending and antisocial behavior of young men, in recent years, has been the various versions of the crisis of masculinity’ thesis. Chapter 4 examines the current political and policy interest in relationships between parenting, and offending and antisocial behavior. Relationships between women, crime, and inequality are examined in chapter 5. Chapter 6 explores relationships between crime, inequality, and ethnicity. In chapter 7, the victimization of poor people is examined focusing on a group of street homeless people that is particularly vulnerable to crime. The concluding chapter, chapter 8, focuses on the use of financial penalties. The aim of the book is to develop the understanding of students of criminology in relation to the socioeconomic and social policy contexts of offending and antisocial behavior and state reactions to it, and to develop the understanding of students of social policy with regard to the concerns that help shape social policies in Britain and the tensions that frame them. Tables, glossary, references, and indexes