Politics, Crime Control and Culture

Booknews

A collection of 20 journal articles written in the 1990s exploring how, why, and with what consequences the politics of crime and punishment proceeds as it does. Section I focuses on the relationship between policy and politics, with particular reference to punitive preferences. Part II shifts to analysis of public attitudes driving punitive policy choices. Part III turns to cultural forces and institutions that mediate among politics, policy, and public opinion. Topics include Washington state's Community Protection Act, Americans' views on the death penalty, African American conspiracy theories and the social construction of crime, and the dynamics of news coverage of police use of force. No index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.