Crime, The Mystery of the Common-Sense Concept

Crime is a source of endless fascination and fear. Yet behind the apparent consensus that crime must be fought, there is considerable conflict about what should or should not be treated as criminal, and even the most shocking crimes can inspire divisive debate. This concise book explores the seemingly simple, common-sense concept of crime revealing the huge complexities, ambiguities and tensions that lie beneath it. Criminal law is often at odds with different moral perspectives and the practices of different cultures. The mass media distort the picture profoundly, as do politicians in pursuit of law and order votes. The criminal justice system tackles only a limited range of crimes almost entirely ones committed by the poor and relatively powerless while often neglecting the most dangerous and harmful activities of corporations and states, from the carnage of unjust wars to the tragedies engendered by austerity. It is only by examining the multiple and varied perspectives on crime that we can begin to understand and respond appropriately to this social phenomenon. Written by a world-leading criminologist, this insightful book will be an invaluable and captivating introduction for students and interested readers of criminology, law, sociology and politics.

Review: "This book displays in abundance the hallmarks of Robert Reiner's work: it synthesizes a vast amount of literature and data into a remarkably accessible and compelling narrative, and it is both sociologically dispassionate and morally serious about its subject matter. The result is an accomplished introduction to the concept of crime." Ian Loader, University of Oxford "'Crime' is a keyword in contemporary politics and culture: widely used, powerfully consequential, and for all its seeming simplicity deeply complex and contested. In this masterly account, Robert Reiner traces the concept's multiple meanings and ramifications, its role in criminological theory and political discourse, and its intimate association with the history of capitalism. This is an essential, eye-opening guide to one of the central issues of our time." David Garland, New York University

Author Biography: Robert Reiner is Professor of Criminology at the London School of Economics and Political Science

* Introduction. Crime: Conundrums of a Common-Sense Concept * Chapter One. Legal Conceptions of Crime * Chapter Two. Moral Conceptions of Crime * Chapter Three. Everybody's Doing It: Social Conceptions of Crime and Deviance * Chapter Four. How Do They Get Away With It? The Non-Criminalization of the Powerful * Chapter Five. The Criminal Justice Process and Conceptions of Crime * Chapter Six. Media, Crime and the Politics of Law and Order * Chapter Seven. Whodunnit and Why? Criminological Conceptions of Crime * Conclusion. Crime: A Capital Concept