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Masculinities, Crime and Criminology: Men, Heterosexuality and the Criminal(ised) Other

NCJ Number
177544
Author(s)
R Collier
Date Published
1998
Length
219 pages
Annotation
This volume explores the reasons why crime is overwhelmingly a male activity in Great Britain and other countries, and discusses men as offenders, victims, criminal justice professionals, and criminologists.
Abstract
The analysis questions the current concept of masculinity in relation to crime and suggests an alternative perspective based on the concepts of sexual difference, sex-specific corporeality, and sexed subjectivity. The book's initial chapters explore the epistemological, methodological, and political foundations of criminology; the past criminological representations of the maleness of crime; and an alternative perspective for understanding the relationship between masculinities and crime. Further chapters focus on juvenile delinquency, schooling, and urban disorder; violence in men; the relationship between family breakdown, fatherhood, and crime; and issues related to criminal justice, crime control, and crime prevention. The author argues that the reported crisis of masculinity is actually emblematic of broader tensions surrounding ideas of heterosexuality, family, and social disorder in postmodern society. Chapter notes, index, and approximately 450 references