The Social Reality of Crime

by Quinney,Richard

• ISBN13: 9780765806789
• ISBN10: 0765806789
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2001-01-31
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Richard Quinney's The Social Reality of Crime remains an eloquent and important statement on crime, law, and justice. At the time of its appearance in 1970, Quinney's theory not only liberated the field from a recitation of the practices of the police, courts, and corrections, it also represented a marked departure from traditional analysis which viewed criminal behavior as pathological. Quinney not only advanced criminological thought, he inspired scores of students of crime and criminal justice to reorient their perceptions of the justice system.The Social Reality of Crime swept the criminological community and motivated an entire generation of researchers to question definitions of crime and labels of criminality. The book's popularity quickly turned Quinney into a criminologist with an international reputation. Excerpts from the book's first chapter, which is devoted to the theory of the social reality of crime, are now routinely reprinted in anthologies on criminology and deviant behavior. The theory itself is discussed in most criminology textbooks.This new edition of The Social Reality of Crime will renew inspiration for Quinney's unique critical-social constructionist perspective that has been so significant to the development of theoretical work in the fields of criminology, social problems, and the sociology of law.

Author Biography

Richard Quinney is professor of sociology at Northern Illinois University. A. Javier Trevino is assistant professor of sociology at Wheaton College

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Transaction Edition	p. ix
Preface	p. xxiii
A Theory of Crime
The Social Reality of Crime	p. 3
Assumptions: Explanation in the Study of Crime
Assumptions: Man and Society in a Theory of Crime
Theory: The Social Reality of Crime
A Theoretical Perspective for Studying Crime
Formulation of Criminal Definitions
Criminal Law in Politically Organized Society	p. 29
The Study of Criminal Law
From Sociological Jurisprudence to Sociology of Criminal Law
Law in Politically Organized Society
The Interest Structure
Formulation and Administration of Criminal Law
Interests in Contemporary Society
Interests in the Formulation of Criminal Laws	p. 43
Emergence of Criminal Law
Criminal Law in Colonies and Territories
Protection of the Political Order
Religious Foundations of Criminal Law
Sunday Law
The Law of Theft
Antitrust Laws
Pure Food and Drug Laws
Sexual Psychopath Laws
Protection of Morality and Public Order
Application of Criminal Definitions
Enforcement of Criminal Law	p. 101
Police Discretion
Legal Regulation of Law Enforcement
Law Enforcement Systems
Community Context of Law Enforcement
Police Organization and Law Enforcement
Police Ideology and Law Enforcement
The Encounter Between Police and Citizens
The Offense Situation and Selective Law Enforcement
Administration of Criminal Justice	p. 137
Politicality of Justice
Discretion and Decision-Making in the Judicial Process
Prosecution and Nontrial Adjudication
The Criminal Lawyer in the Adversary System
The Criminal Trial and the Jury
Judicial Sentencing
Penal and Correctional Administration	p. 169
Organization and Supervision of Probation
Social Organization of Penal Custody
Administration of Institutional Treatment
Administration of Capital Punishment
Parole Decisions and Supervision
Prevention Programs in the Community
Removal of Criminal Definitions
Development of Behavior Patterns in Relation to Criminal Definitions
Societal Organization and the Structuring of Behavior Patterns	p. 207
Segmental Organization of Society
Behavior Patterns and Probability of Criminal Definitions
Structuring of Behavior Patterns
Ecology of Behavior Patterns and Criminal Definitions
General Cultural Themes in Segmental Society
Action Patterns of the Criminally Defined	p. 234
Achievement of Self
Association, Identification, and Commitment
Personal Action Patterns as Responses to Criminal Definition
Behavior Systems of the Criminally Defined
Personal Meaning of Action
Construction of Criminal Conceptions
Public Conceptions of Crime	p. 277
Social Reaction to Crime
Diffusion of Criminal Conceptions
Social Types in the World of Crime
Public Attitudes Toward Crime
Public Attitudes Toward the Control of Crime
Consequences of Criminal Conceptions
The Politics of Reality	p. 303
Periodic Investigations of Crime
The President's Crime Commission
The Law and Order Challenge
Crime and Legitimacy of Authority in a Free Society
Conclusion
Index to Names	p. 319
Index to Subjects	p. 325
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