“The four authors of this concise volume provide an authoritative introduction to diverse key concepts about crime and its relationship to society. Each chapter starts with a definition (e.g., deviance, social control, normalization), providing readers with the vocabulary and conceptual framework for fully understanding chapter contents... a very good way to expose students and the public (and scholars from outside fields) to definitions, ideas, and theories of crime and society.” - K. Evans, Indiana State University, Choice Key Concepts in Crime and Society offers an authoritative introduction to key issues in the area of crime as it connects to society. By providing critical insight into the key issues within each concept as well as highlighted cross-references to other key concepts, students will be helped to grasp a clear understanding of each of the topics covered and how they relate to broader areas of crime and criminality. The book is divided into three parts: • Understanding Crime and Criminality: introduces topics such as the social construction of crime and deviance, social control, the fear of crime, poverty and exclusion, white collar crime, victims of crime, race/gender and crime. • Types of Crime and Criminality: explores examples including human trafficking, sex work, drug crime, environmental crime, cyber crime, war crime, terrorism, and interpersonal violence. • Responses to Crime: looks at areas such as crime and the media, policing, moral panics, deterrence, prisons and rehabilitation. The book provides an up-to-date, critical understanding on a wide range of crime related topics covering the major concepts students are likely to encounter within the fields of sociology, criminology and across the social sciences.

Fear and the Fear of Crime

Fear and the Fear of Crime

Definition: The fear of crime and its study is a consideration of the ways that people have anxiety or worry about the chances of being exposed to (usually violent) crime – either personally, by close others or ‘in society’ more generally. Closely related to notions of victimisation, fear of crime is often seen as producing an individual or group response that is disproportionate to the ‘real’ level of risk, and for some groups (e.g. the elderly) as relatively disabling as one personal response may be to stop going out alone. The fear of crime, however, cannot be understood within a conceptual vacuum and by simply comparing it to levels of crime alone. ...

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