Crime and the American Dream

by Messner, Steven F.; Rosenfeld, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780534562779
• ISBN10: 0534562779
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-12-05
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

PREFACE. 1. A Society Organized for Crime. 2. By Any Means Necessary: Serious Crime in America. 3. Ships in the Night: Theoretical Perspectives in Contemporary Criminology. 4. Culture, Institutional Structure, and Social Control: A Sociological Explanation of Crime. 5. Strengthening Social Institutions and Rethinking the American Dream. REFERENCES. INDEX.

Table of Contents

Preface	viii
Acknowledgments	xiii
A Society Organized for Crime	1	(89)
Crime and Responses to Crime in America	2	(3)
The Nature and Level of Criminal Violence	3	(1)
Fear of Crime	4	(1)
Crime Control	4	(1)
The Virtues and Vices of the American Dream	5	(5)
Evolution of the Concept of the American Dream	6	(1)
The Dark Side of the American Dream	7	(1)
Monetary Success and Noneconomic Roles	7	(1)
Universalism and Economic Inequality	8	(2)
The Rise, Fall, and Revival of the Anomie Perspective	10	(6)
Core Ideas, Assumptions, and Propositions	10	(1)
The ``Golden Age'' of Anomie Theory	11	(1)
Decline and Revival	12	(1)
Unfinished Business	13	(3)
By Any Means Necessary
Serious Crime in America	16	(2)
Cross-National Comparisons of Crime	18	(8)
Robbery and Homicide Rates in International Context	18	(3)
Gun-Related Crime	21	(2)
Has It Always Been This Way?	23	(2)
Race and Criminal Violence	25	(1)
White-Collar Crimes	26	(2)
Serious Crime and the Quality of Life	28	(9)
Taking Precautions by Any Means Necessary	29	(1)
Life in a War Zone	30	(1)
The Struggle for Institutional Control	31	(6)
Ships in the Night
Theoretical Perspectives in Contemporary Criminology	37	(1)
The Scope Conditions of Contemporary Criminological Theories	38	(6)
Levels of Explanation	38	(4)
Serious Crimes	42	(2)
The Unfulfilled Promise of the Sociological Paradigm	44	(16)
Cultural-Social Learning Explanations of Crime	46	(2)
Disorganization-Control Explanations of Crime	48	(3)
The Common Origins of Cultural Deviance Theory and Social Disorganization Theory	51	(1)
Anomie-Strain Explanations of Crime	52	(2)
Criticisms of Anomie Theory	54	(6)
Culture, Institutional Structure, and Social Control
A Sociological Explanation of Crime	60	(1)
The Value Foundations of the American Dream	61	(3)
Achievement	62	(1)
Individualism	63	(1)
Universalism	63	(1)
The ``Fetishism'' of Money	63	(1)
The Institutional Structure of American Society	64	(12)
The Nature and Functioning of Social Institutions	65	(3)
The American Dream and the Institutional Balance of Power	68	(2)
Devaluation	70	(2)
Accommodation	72	(3)
Penetration	75	(1)
Social Organization and Crime	76	(14)
Anomie and the Weakening of Institutional Control	76	(3)
The Social Distribution of Crime: Gender and Race	79	(4)
Kids, Drugs, Guns, and Violence	83	(7)
Strengthening Social Institutions and Rethinking the American Dream	90	(23)
Conventional Strategies for Crime Control	92	(9)
The Conservative Camp: The War on Crime	92	(1)
Mandatory-Minimum Sentencing and the Drug War	93	(1)
The Expansion of Punitive Social Control	94	(1)
Unintended Consequences of Expanded Punitive Control	95	(1)
The Liberal Camp: The War on Poverty and on Inequality of Opportunity	96	(1)
Effects of Liberal Policies on Crime Rates	97	(1)
Unintended Consequences of Liberal Reform	98	(1)
Beyond Liberalism and Conservatism	99	(2)
Crime Reduction through Social Reorganization	101	(7)
Institutional Reform	101	(1)
The Family and Schools	101	(3)
The Polity	104	(2)
Social Stratification and the Economy	106	(2)
The Task of Cultural Regeneration	108	(1)
An Intellectual Foundation for Change	109	(1)
Toward a Mature Society	110	(3)
References	113	(13)
Index	126