Author: Edited by Michael Tonry
ISBN No: 978-0-19-53361
Review date: 14/06/2026
No of pages: 654
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year of publication: 11/09/2012
Brief:
The Oxford Handbook of Crime and Public Policy offers an US-slanted examination of crimes as public policy subjects.
The only UK contributor is the Cardiff Prof Michael Levi, writing on fraud. As with other such collections, for your money you do in effect get several books in one. An intiguing chapter – next to one on organised crime – covers โorganisational crimeโ. Rather than looking at crime (such as violence or robbery) done by someone, Neal Shover and Jennifer Scroggins make the points that people do many crimes while at work, and organisations โfacilitate or in other ways increase the odds of criminal choiceโ, whether in a white-collar business, a charity, or the military. Examples of such crimes may be price fixing, illegally disposing of hazardous materials, and corruption and contract or other fraud. The authors argue that explaining some crime or misconduct in terms of โthe pathologies of individualsโ fails. In a word, an organisation might be crimogenic. Organised and organisational crime can overlap, they write, as a business may serve โas nothing more than a respectable-appearing shellโ. While this line of study may be a way to tar corporate firms as evil and arrogant, it could be a fruitful way to link individual wrong-doing with culture. For instance, does โorganisational crimeโ fluctuate with the business cycle – in a slump, are businesses more anxious and do desperate workers feel pushed towards dishonesty? Who or what are career criminals?
The book aims to provide an overview of knowledge about the nature, scale, and effects of diverse forms of criminal behaviour and of efforts to prevent and control them. Michael Tonry, a US authority on criminology, has brought together 24 scholars in the field to cover violent crimes, property crimes, crimes against morality, transactional crimes, and transnational crimes. Chapters cover traditional topics such as firearms violence, financial crimes, and organised crime as well as emerging subjects like terrorism, crimes against humanity, and internet child pornography.
Richard Rosenfeld: Homicide and Serious Assaults
2: Lisa Sample: Sexual Violence
3: Firearms Violence
4: Philip J. Cook: Robbery
5: Denise Hines: Domestic Violence
6: Kathie Malley-Morrison and Denise Hines: Child Abuse
Part II. Property Crime
7: Wim Bernasco: Burglary
8: Michael Cherbonneau and Richard Wright: Auto Theft
9: Michael Levi: Financial Crimes
10: Heith Copes and Lynne Vieraitis: Identity Theft
Part III. Transactional Crime
11: Neal Shover and Jennifer Scroggins: Organisational Crime
12: James Finckenauer: Organized Crime
13: Peter Yeager and Sally Simpson: Environmental Crime
14: Michael Levi and Peter Reuter: Money Laundering
15: Valerie Braithwaite: Tax Evasion
Part IV. Transnational Crime
16: Edward R. Kleemans: Human Smuggling
17: Laura Dugan: Terrorism
18: A.J.G. (Edgar) Tijhuis: Trafficking in Cultural Artifacts
19: Samuel C. McQuade III: Cybercrime
Part V. Crimes against Morality
20: Robert J. MacCoun and Karin D. Martin: Drug Abuse
21: Valerie Jenness: Hate Crimes
22: Jody Miller: Prostitution
23: Michael Tonry and Harriet Bildsten: Anti-social Behavior
24: John Dombrink: Gambling
