Customer Reviews

Dynamics of Political Crime

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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.

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!!!