NCJ Number
118925
Editor(s)
N A Weiner,
M E Wolfgang
Date Published
1989
Length
236 pages
Annotation
This anthology of studies of violent crime addresses drugs and violent crime, alcohol and interpersonal violence, sexual criminal violence, mental disorder and violent crime, the intergenerational transmission of violence, and the experiences of violent and serious victimization.
Abstract
The opening study reviews what is currently known about the causal and correlative relationship between drugs and violent crime, sets that knowledge within a systematic conceptual framework, and presents recommendations for future research. The second study examines evidence supporting a relationship between alcohol use and interpersonal violence, followed by a review of the historical forces that have shaped current thinking and response to sexual violence. The latter study also examines contemporary research on this topic in the United States and other nations. A review of studies on the relationship between mental disorder and violent crime finds little evidence of a correlation, much less a casual connection between the two. An examination of the hypothesis that violence breeds violence finds methodological flaws in the research but considers the possible pathways by which the intergenerational transmission of violence might occur. The concluding study contrasts the emphases of the victim's movement regarding violent victimization and the foci of criminological research and the criminal justice system. Chapter notes and references.