Questioning Crime and Criminology

This is a text for criminology students designed to take them to the heart of the contradictions, confusions and blurred boundaries around the subject of crime, about what crime is, about social regulation and control, and about social responsibility. It focuses on the key questions and issues underpinning them in contemporary definitions, representations and explanations of crime. It aims to question the platitudes and cliches surrounding public discussion of crime, by acknowledging the individual, social and political frameworks within which we explore crime and criminality. <p>Introduction: crime is exciting but what of criminology? 1. Capturing criminology 2. Crime and the media: public narratives and private consumption 3. Racing to conclusions: thinking sociologically about police race relations 4. Inequality and crime 5. Burning issues: fire, carnival and crime 6. Drugs and society 7. Explaining changing patterns of crime 8. Everyday surveillance: personal data and social classifications Conclusions</p>