The Criminal Classes (Hardback)
Who Does Society Fear and Why?
Imprint: Pen & Sword True Crime
Pages: 224
ISBN: 9781399067102
Published: 14th February 2024
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| Other formats available | Price |
|---|---|
| The Criminal Classes ePub (6.8 MB) Add to Basket | £8.99 |
We explore why the idea of the criminal class came into being. Starting with garrotters lurking in dark Victorian alleyways, the fiend Jack the Ripper stalking London’s streets to the menace of violent gangs, the ‘Scuttlers’, Peaky Blinders, and Liverpool’s High Rip, all the way through to 1970s joyriders, 1990s ravers, and the modern drug trade that brings guns and knives to our streets. It describes the actions taken to control the hard-core group – increasingly harsh punishments, executions, floggings, long prison sentences and the ways that society learns about crime, dangerous areas, and the people who habitually offend against society. How do we know what dangers apparently lurk in the inner cities? What part did the newspapers, authors and social investigators play in sensationalising some crimes, and were they right to do so? The book compares real-life criminals (and their lives) with fictional accounts, such as the Artful Dodger, Pinkie in Brighton Rock, and the scenes that social investigators such as Henry Mayhew dragged back from the criminal rookeries to entertain and frighten respectable people. Perhaps most importantly, the book shows which groups have been targeted as the criminal classes, particularly the young, as well as ethnic and racial minorities, and concludes by asking, “Who are the new criminal classes likely to be?“
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
NetGalley, Jamie Carter Park
As a sociologist, or someone with the degree anyway, I naturally need to scoop books like this up. I learned a lot!
I will recommend this to my other soc nerd friends.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
NetGalley, Ink Reads
The Criminal Classes is very well thought out and would be ideal for students of not just criminology, but Social Psychology, History, Literature and media studies. The reason I point to these areas, is because the book skillfully employs examples from each of these diciplines to support the points made.
The most fascinating I found, was the effect of the media of the time on behaviours of more affluent classes. A small amount of robberies would be exaggerated exponentially by the media, misrepresenting the poor as criminals, creating a hysteria of sorts (oh how this has carried on to this day!)
The use of original etchings and prints is a fascinating insight to the perception and recording of crime throughout history an a really nice touch is the comparisons drawn between the environments of today (high concentration council estates) and the rookeries of the Victorian era. The excerpts from newspapers, court records, literature and even Punch cartoons are a great illustration to a thought provoking, very well researched and presented discussion
The trends are certainly there, but how far can we trust these records in making forecasts as to what the future will bring? A fascinating book and certainly highly recommended.
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