This book examines the US crime problem and the resulting policies as a political and cultural issue. It draws
on a wide range of scholarship, including the representation of crime in political discourse, the mass media, and
public opinion. It proposes that the punitive turn in crime policy is not just the result of a worsening crime
problem or an increasingly fearful and vengeful public, but reflects efforts by national politicians to shift public
policy on a variety of social problems toward harsher, more repressive solutions.
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments for the Second Edition
Criminal Justice Expansion
p. 1
Crime in the United States
p. 13
Murder, American Style
p. 25
The Politics of Crime
p. 45
Crime in the Media
p. 73
Crime and Public Opinion
p. 103
Activism and the Politics of Crime
p. 129
Crime and Public Policy
p. 161
Alternatives
p. 189
Notes
p. 205
References
p. 217
Index
p. 243
About the Authors
p. 263
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