Crime: Twenty-Eight Leading Experts Look at the Most Pressing Problem of Our Time

by James Q. Wilson (Editor), Joan Petersilia (Editor)

The number one issue of concern to Americans today is predatory crime, and we are pouring billions of dollars into programs designed to combat its threat. But how have these measures succeeded - or failed - in fighting crime? Now, Crime provides the authoritative evidence we need to understand the consequences of our policy choices. In one volume, preeminent criminologists Wilson and Petersilia have assembled leading experts from a variety of disciplines, philosophies, and political viewpoints for the most important evaluation of crime prevention and control strategies in more than a decade. Crime systematically grapples with the most persistent and controversial questions in the study of crime and violence: Why do some people become chronic, ungovernable criminals? Can gun control laws reduce violent crime? Does televised violence cause real violence? Do community alternatives to prison make matters better or worse? All the central issues in today's crime debate are covered in this book, including the effects of biomedical, family, neighborhood, and economic factors on criminality; how prosecutors and judges deal with offenders; the special problem of juvenile crime and gangs; the growth in prison populations and its effects - and much more. Many of the policies now being implemented do not reflect the current state of knowledge about what works and what doesn't in crime control. Crime explores reality-based alternatives that have the potential to restore the confidence in public safety that is essential to a strong civil society.

Genres: Crime

631 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

James Q. Wilson was one of the leading contemporary criminologists in the United States. Wilson, who has taught at several major universities during his academic career, has also written on economics and politics during his lengthy career. During the 1960s and 1970s, Wilson voiced concerns about trying to address the social causes of crime. He argued instead that public policy is most effective when it focuses on objective matters like the costs and benefits of crime. Wilson views criminals as rational human beings who will not commit crimes when the costs associated with crime become impractical.

James Q. Wilson most recently taught at Boston College and Pepperdine University. He was Professor Emeritus of Management and Public Administration at UCLA and was previously Shattuck Professor of Government at Harvard University. He wrote more than a dozen books on the subjects of public policy, bureaucracy, and political philosophy. He was president of the American Political Science Association, and he is the only political scientist to win three of the four lifetime achievement awards presented by the APSA. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, in 2003.

Professor Wilson passed away in March of 2012 after battling cancer. His work helped shape the field of political science in the United States. His many years of service to his American Government book remain evident on every page and will continue for many editions to come.