Readings in Crimes of the Powerful (Readings in Criminology and Criminal Justice Series) - Hardcover

Whyte, Dave

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0335223893 ISBN 13: 9780335223893

Publisher: Open University Press, 2008

Synopsis

Crimes of the powerful - the crimes committed by state institutions and private business organizations or corporations – are often overlooked by Criminology, or are treated at best as a mildly interesting diversion from the real business of crime and criminal justice. Indeed, academic Criminology in the main tends to reinforce the idea that the real problems of society can be located in the lower strata of society and is yet to come to terms with overwhelming evidence that crimes of the institutionally powerful kill, rip off and steal from more people than crimes committed by individuals.

This exciting Reader introduces debates on crimes of the powerful with a selection of 45 extracts from key authors. Each section of the book is introduced with an original essay to contextualize the readings and explain their importance for rethinking the relationship between crime and power.

The book is organised into the following sections:

• State, Violence and Crime
• Partners in Crime
• Capitalism and Crimes of the Powerful
• Law and the Corporation
• Explanations
• Definitions
• The Problem of Criminalization

If we are to fully understand the crimes of the powerful, it is crucial to recognise that the process of criminalisation is profoundly influenced by state institutions and corporations – and more importantly, by the relationship between them. The readings in this book show how their ability to both make and break the law remains a key source of power for those institutions.

Crimes of the Powerful explores how law and 'crime' provide a framework for configuring and reproducing social relations of power, in doing so, provides criminology, sociology, politics and international relations students with new insights into a subject of growing importance.

About this title

Synopsis:

Criminal behaviour can be summarised in many different ways, but one method of evaluating different types of criminal behaviour is to look at its stratification, this would divide crime crudely in to three levels: blue collar crime; white collar crime; and, corporate/state crimes - that is, crimes of the powerful. While it's more likely that blue collar and white collar crime are reported and punished, crimes of the powerful are less likely to be reported or punished. In this Reader, Dave Whyte brings together key readings on crimes of the powerful. Thematically ordered sections will look at the origins of thinking about crimes of the powerful, capitalist states and the powerful, modernity and crimes of the powerful, the problem of criminilisation and crimes of the global order.

About the Author:

David Whyte is Reader in Sociology at the University of Liverpool, UK, where he teaches and researches the crimes of the powerful.

About this edition

• Publisher: Open University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0335223893
• ISBN 13: 9780335223893
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 280