Bad Guys and Good Guys: Moral Polarization and Crime - Couverture rigide

Claster, Daniel S.

 
9780313284892: Bad Guys and Good Guys: Moral Polarization and Crime
Couverture rigide
ISBN 10 : 031328489X ISBN 13 : 9780313284892
Editeur : Praeger Publishers Inc, 1992

Synopsis

Are victims good guys and criminals bad guys? Sometimes--but, often, the public's stereotypes and perceptions of offenders, victims, and groups are quite complex. In spite of widespread concern about crime, there is great resistance on the part of the public and its elected representatives to certain measures that would seem to be sensible ways of ameliorating the problem. How can this resistance be explained? At the same time, measures like community service, shock probation, determinate sentencing, and reality therapy are embraced by the public. Claster shows how these contradictions are not mutually exclusive and explains the importance of moral polarization in the way the public perceives crime and victims.

Claster begins by examining the various ways crime is perceived moralistically. He then examines stereotypes about the participants in a crime, which are illustrated by references to popular fiction as well as scholarly analysis, to the media, to public opinion surveys, and to statements of public officials. After examining the criminal as bad guy and good guy he reviews the positive as well as the negative stereotypes of victims' groups (gangs, families, and immigrant and occupational subcultures). Claster then examines psychological and sociological explanations of the process underlying these stereotypes; he provides cases to illustrate how pervasive the process, of what he calls moral polarization, is; and he concludes by exploring the practical implication of moral polarization. This work will be of considerable interest to scholars in criminology as well as those involved with criminal justice policy.

Les informations fournies dans la section « Synopsis » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

À propos de l?auteur

DANIEL S. CLASTER is associate professor of Sociology, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. He has served as co-editor of Social System Perspectives in Residential Institutions.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
Praeger Publishers Inc
Date d'édition
1992
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
031328489X
ISBN 13 
9780313284892
Reliure
Relié
Numéro d'édition
1
Nombre de pages
320
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
gpsr@libri.de
gpsr@libri.de

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