A Philosophy of the Social Construction of Crime

by David Polizzi

Overview

It is well known that the social definition of individuals and ethnic groups helps legitimize how they are addressed by law enforcement. The philosophy of the social construction of crime and criminal behaviour reflects how individuals, such as police officers, construct meaning from the perspective from which they emerge, which in turn influences their law enforcement outlook. In the field, this is generally viewed through a positivist frame of reference which fails to critically examine assumptions of approach and practice.

Written by an international specialist in this area, this is the first book which attempts to situate the social construction of crime and criminal behaviour within the philosophical context of phenomenology and how these constructions help inform, and ultimately justify, the policies employed to address them. Challenging existing thinking, this is essential reading for academics and students interested in social theory and theories of criminology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781447327349
Publisher:	Policy Press
Publication date:	11/19/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	104
File size:	398 KB

About the Author

David Polizzi is Associate Professor in the Criminology&Criminal Justice department at Indiana State University. He has taught as an adjunct at a variety of Pittsburgh area colleges since 1990. He received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Duquesne University in 2002 and worked therapeutically with offender populations both in the community and in a maximum security penitentiary setting. He is the Editor in Chief of The Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology.
Dr. Polizzi has worked as a forensic psychotherapist in the Pittsburgh area since 1989. Prior to his current position with Indiana State University, he was a full-time psychotherapist with the Center for Psychiatric and Chemical Dependency Services. Dr. Polizzi taught at a variety of Pittsburgh area colleges and worked therapeutically with offender populations both in the community and in a maximum security penitentiary setting.

Table of Contents

Phenomenology, Social Construction, and Criminality: Some Beginning Observations;

The Phenomenology of the Social Construction of Crime: Social Context and Structural Realities, and the Meaning of being;

The Social Construction of Criminal Behavior: toward a phenomenology of strain;

Some closing reflections.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"There is nobody else who could so commandingly occupy the disciplines of criminology, philosophy and psychology to write such a book. It will become the standard text." Anthony Amatrudo, Middlesex University

Editorial Reviews

There is nobody else who could so commandingly occupy the disciplines of criminology, philosophy, and psychology to write such a book. It will become the standard text.

Anthony Amatrudo