Dynamics of Political Crime [Hardcover]

Jeffrey Ian Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2002 | ISBN-10: 0803970447 | ISBN-13: 978-0803970441

In The Dynamics of Political Crime, Jeffrey Ian Ross provides the most comprehensive and contemporary discussion of the phenomenon of political crime -- crimes committed both by and against the state -- in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom during the past three decades.

 

Ross discusses both violent and nonviolent oppositional crimes, as well as state crimes such political corruption, illegal domestic surveillance, and human rights violations. Written by a recognized critical criminologist, this volume develops a new theory of political crime and thoroughly reviews definitional and conceptual issues, causes of political crimes, and ways to control it, and effects of different types of political crime.

Recommended for both scholarly and classroom use at either the upper-division undergraduate or graduate levels.

Editorial Reviews

Review

a voice of moderation and reason...readability, succinctness, explanations of terminology, and structuring of concepts... attractive for students...other audiences ...as well as the interested lay person...a valuable contribution....well researched, smart, but graphic, clear and friendly. Tim Prenzler Australian Journal of Politics and History

"This book is not only an excellent and up-to-date review of the literature on political crime, but it also builds on the strengths of previous research in developing an interdisciplinary explanation that implicates individuals, situations, organizations, and resource adequacies. The book is a well-informed, balanced, and compelling presentation of traditional and contemporary theoretical concerns that confront directly the interaction between antisystemic crime and state crime. This book is a superb engagement that finally moves crime research well beyond its ethnocentric borders toward a more inclusionary framework of comparative thought." (Livy Visano )

"Ross's book will likely provide hours of discussion and opportunities for students and readers to deconstruct the text and to ascribe meaning to it." (Christopher A. Simon )

About the Author

Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D
is an Associate Professor, School of Criminal Justice, College of Public Affairs, and a Research Fellow at the Center for Comparative and International Law at the University of Baltimore. He has conducted research, written, and lectured on national security, political violence, political crime, policing, and corrections for over fifteen years. His work has appeared in many academic journals and books, as well as articles in popular magazines. He is the author of Making News of Police Violence (Praeger, 2000), co-author (with Stephen C. Richards) of Behind Bars: Surviving Prison (Macmillan, 2002), editor of Controlling State Crime (2nd Ed.) Transaction Books, 2000), Violence in Canada: Sociopolitical Perspectives (Oxford University Press, 1995), Cutting The Edge: Current Perspectives in Radical/Critical Criminology and Criminal Justice (Praeger, 1998), Varieties of State Crime and its Control (Criminal Justice Press, 1999), and the coeditor (with Stephen C. Richards) of Convict Criminology (Wadsworth, 2002). In 1986 Ross was the lead expert witness for the Senate of Canada's Special Committee on Terrorism and Public Safety. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Colorado and was a Social Science Analyst with the National Institute of Justice, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice before coming to the University of Baltimore.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803970447
• ISBN-13: 978-0803970441
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,370,357 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jeffrey Ian Ross, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminal Justice, College of Public Affairs, and a Research Fellow of the Center for International and Comparative Law at the University of Baltimore.

He has researched, written, and lectured on corrections, policing, political crime (esp., terrorism and state crime), violence (esp., criminal, political, and religious), cybercrime, extreme/abnormal criminal behavior, and crime and justice in Indian Country for over two decades. Ross' work has appeared in many academic journals and books, as well as popular media. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of sixteen books.

Ross is a frequent and respected subject matter expert for local, regional, national and international news media. He has made live appearances on CNN, CNBC, and Fox News Network. Additionally Ross has written op-eds for The (Baltimore) Sun, The (Maryland) Daily Record, The Gazette (weekly community newspapers serving Maryland's Montgomery, Frederick, Prince Georges and Carroll counties), the Baltimore Examiner, and the Tampa Tribune.

From 1995-1998, Ross was a social science analyst with the National Institute of Justice, a division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2003, he was awarded the University of Baltimore's Distinguished Chair in Research Award. During the early 1980s Jeff worked almost four years in a correctional institution. His website is www.jeffreyianross.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Political crime and various ways to control it, March 10, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dynamics Of Political Crime (Paperback)

Written by an experienced criminologist Jeffrey Ian Ross (Assistant Professor, Division of Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Social Policy, Center for Comparative and International law, University of Baltimore, Maryland), The Dynamics Of Political Crime is an extensive look at the concept of political crime and various ways to control it. Studying both violent and nonviolent political crime including corruption, illegal domestic surveillance, human rights violation, bribery and more, The Dynamics Of Political Crime is an involved and informative account which is especially recommended for Criminology and Political Science reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Elementary, March 6, 2011

By 

A. Clark - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Dynamics of Political Crime (Hardcover)

I had to read this book for a graduate level course and was quite disappointed. I felt that the book was quite elementary and really should not be used at the college level at all. It is very superficial, lacking the analysis needed at higher levels. Additionally, the book is only about 200 pages yet covers a wide variety of issues in political crime, resulting in a vague descriptions and explanations. The book is also ethnocentric. Ross seems to favor Western cultures making false claims such as "It is clear that although human rights violations are rare occurrences in the Anglo American democracies, they take place at alarming rates throughout the world in countries that have totalitarian or authoritarian regimes," (Ross 122). I guess he forgot about the treatment of various minority groups in the U.S. Overall, the book is probably good for the high school level or as a supplement to other books at a college level, but this book should not be that primary text for any college student to receive their information in political crime.

The paperback copy of this book is only about $15, so don't pay big money for the hard cover!!!