Law and Order
An Honest Citizen's Guide to Crime and Control
Themes for the 21st Century Series
1. Auflage Oktober 2007
168 Seiten, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Law and order has become a key issue throughout the world. Crime
stories saturate the mass media and politicians shrilly compete
with each other in a race to be the toughest on crime. Prisons are
crammed to bursting point, and police powers and resources extended
repeatedly. After decades of explosive increase in crime rates,
these have plummeted throughout the Western world in the 1990s. Yet
fear of crime and violence, and the security industries catering
for these anxieties, grow relentlessly.
This book offers an up-to-date analysis of these contemporary
trends by providing all honest and concerned citizens with a
concise yet comprehensive survey of the sources of current problems
and anxieties about crime. It shows that the dominant tough law and
order approach to crime is based on fallacies about its nature,
sources, and what works in terms of crime control. Instead it
argues that the growth of crime has deep-seated causes, so that
policing and penal policy at best can only temporarily hold a lid
down on offending.
The book is intended to inform public debate about these vital
issues through a critical deconstruction of prevailing orthodoxy.
With its focus on current policies, problems and debates this book
is also an excellent introduction to criminology for the growing
numbers of students of the subject at all levels.
2. An Inspector Calls: Putting Crime in its Place.
3. A Mephistophelean Calculus: Measuring Crime Trends.
4. Permissiveness v. Political Economy: Explaining Crime
Trends.
5. A New Leviathan?: Law and Order Politics and Tough Crime
Control.
6. Conclusion: Law and Order - A 2020 Vision.
References
effects of current crime control policies."
Tribune
"A fascinating and engaging review of the contemporary politics of
law and order and a sustained critique of neo-liberalism."
Criminology and Criminal Justice
"In this strong and deeply felt book, Robert Reiner makes the
case that both rising crime and the increasingly punitive response
to it in many countries are reflections of the larger thrust toward
neoliberal economic and social policies around the world. It's a
convincing argument, and though Reiner's examples are drawn mainly
from the British experience, it is an argument that is very
relevant for other countries as well."
New Criminal Law Review
"Reiner reviews a very large body of criminological literature,
and his detailed arguments, along with the bibliography he offers,
constitute an important source for students and researchers.
"
Times Higher Education Supplement
"An unusual but insightful book from an author who's been around
long enough to critically comment with authority on the recent
evolution of modern crime and crime control."
Surveillance and Society
"An illuminating discussion ... some new thinking is desperately
needed, and this book is a good place to start."
Times Literary Supplement
"Reiner is an able guide, and concisely navigates theory,
policy, empirical research findings, official records and media
reporting to deliver a tightly argued thesis."
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology
"Citizens wanting to separate fact from fiction on the subject
of crime control now have the reliable guide that they so badly
need. Robert Reiner is Britain's most informed and insightful
commentator on law and order and this fact-packed book presents his
critical wisdom in prose that is concise, direct, and always
entertaining."
David Garland, New York University
"This is a timely, well-organized and coherent treatment of an
important topic. It is characterized throughout by the author's
trademark ability to distill a large of amount of factual material
and criminological theory and research into a lively,
thought-provoking and accessible narrative."
Ian Loader, University of Oxford
