NCJ Number
176880
Editor(s)
P O'Malley
Date Published
1998
Length
516 pages
Annotation
This volume presents 23 journal articles and book chapters focusing on crime, policing, and justice in what is called the risk society, a society that is organized in significant ways around the concept of risk and that increasingly governs its problems in terms of discourses and technologies of risk.
Abstract
The introduction notes two main approaches to the concept of the risk society. The first approach focuses on historically unique risks and dangers epitomized by nuclear radiation and environmental pollution. The second approach has been more influential in criminology. It focuses on risk in the probabilistic sense as a framework for defining and dealing with problems through government. Individual papers focus on theories of the risk society, with emphasis on crime control. Additional papers focus on policing strategies, insurance, random drug testing, and other methods of policing the risk society. Further papers examine corrections policies and issues, including selective incapacitation, punishment, dangerousness, incapacitation, and actuarial justice. The final section presents papers on the politics of crime risk management, including police advice related to women's safety, risk and criminal victimization, probation and parole decision-making, the use of bleach for AIDS prevention among injection drug users, and drug policies. Tables, figures, footnotes, chapter reference lists, and index