Customer Reviews

The Mythology of Crime and Criminal Justice

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a good introduction to the misinformation and mythology that pervades our knowledge of crime and criminal justice. I have used this book as a required text when I teach CJ classes. It is perfect as a complement to traditional textbooks and a good read in itself. While I wish the authors would tighten up some sections and extend their coverage to more topics, this is the best book of its type available. The Mythology of Crime and Criminal Justice shows how much of what we think we know just isn't so!

If the measure of a good book is ability to stimulate thought then this is a good book! The authors systematically examine a range of common beliefs held about the criminal justice system and illustrate these are either wrong, or at least should be closely scrutinized. They undoubtedly adopt a critical perspective in their analysis, which is very refreshing and a valuable counter to media sensationalism over mythical "superpredators" and other common images. The authors' claims are based on freely available evidence rather than haphazard appeals to "common sense" and as such is a valuable resource to stimulate debate on crime issues.

When it comes to the Criminal Justice system misconceptions abound. This book does a great job of breaking down some of those myths and dispelling them. It is presented in a very readable format and covers a wide variety of Criminal Justice topics. It helps the reader have a better and more valid understanding of the system and how it works in real life.

Outstanding book...also bought this book for one of my graduate classes. It's an easy reader and very informative. Overrall, I highly recommend people read this book just to gain common knowledge.

I use this book in a general education course "Crime and Justice". It gets the students going and keeps them interested. For those of you who say it is one-sided, challenge yourself or your students to present evidence to the contrary. One of the best I have used in a long time!

This book has a mixture of great writing and interesting content. It's very easy to read, and enhances understanding of problems with propaganda and crime.

Two things really stick in my mind:
1) There are seven black people in prison for every white one.
2) There are nearly a factor of ten more Americans in jail than Europeans
( the USA has more people in jail than South Africa with that history of
oppression).
The impression this book gives is that the people in power
want the laws the way they are and the people scared.
That crime is under control and the drug problem on the decline
even in minority communities is not information
popular with the industry that supplies materials to
police agencies.
The book leaves you with the impression that corporate /
white collar crime like pollution and fraud are more
the current social problem than child abuse
or mass murders.
This book should be required reading for Republicans?

The book arrived pretty quick and was pretty much brand new for the purchased price... Thank you. Great Job!!!

there is a definite bias to this book. But since when is that bad if your trying to read about another opinion other than your own? it describes many of the Marxist liberal interpretations of the justice system. Is great as a criminologist's tool.

In attempting to start a meaningful dialogue about the criminal justice system in the United States (a discussion which is worth having), V. E. Kappeler and Gary Potter manage to descend to the level of holier-than-thou activist high school students, spouting the most contrived, predictable "arguments" against what they see as dangerous legal and political institutions that negatively impact all sectors of society except the one that is to be reviled the most: the rich, white male upper class that dominates America and oppresses everyone with anything less than a six figure income.

The pros: "the Mythology of Crime and Criminal Justice" is written in clear, accessible language that just about anyone can understand. As far as propaganda is concerned, this book is some of the best I've ever read.

The cons: pretty much everything else. Here are the basic tenets of the worldview promoted by the authors of this book: behaviors that are defined as "crime" are only designated as such because they are the common activities of societally disadvantaged groups and the rich white male power structure perceives them as threats; it is irrational to fear being the victim of a crime - for instance, only a very small percentage of people are ever murdered, so a person should not worry about being killed (unless it is by a rich white male such as Lee Iacocca, who was, according to the authors, personally responsible for the deaths of every single person who died in accidents involving the Pinto); the justice system is of course institutionally racist, as demonstrated by the fact that minorities are overrepresented in prison populations (which is certainly not due to the fact that minorities commit more crimes but rather that rich white males are simply never prosecuted for theirs); that concepts such as "the law" and "the justice system" are simply mechanisms for social control by (who else?) rich white males; and that the very concept of crime itself must be reinterpreted in several social contexts, ignoring the bourgeois ethics of rich white males.

There is a chapter on the death penalty written by Gary Potter's wife, whom I will not identify by her own name because I am a bigoted, intolerant person (and because I no longer own the book). Again, a discussion about the death penalty is definitely one worth having (it is, after all, the ultimate punishment and is not perfect) but the chapter relates truly very little to exposing any "myths" about the death penalty and instead concentrates on tugging at the reader's heart strings with anecdotes about children and minorities being put to death. She then asserts that the death penalty must be considered as an entire institution rather than on an individual basis, ironically throwing out any reason the reader might have had to consider the section with individual examples that I just mentioned.

Sarcasm and joking aside, "the Mythology of Crime and Criminal Justice" does its readers a disservice by claiming that it is a meaningful contribution to the debate about the American criminal justice system. There are very real questions that deserve to be seriously addressed, but the authors seem to have no desire to do this, preferring instead to throw around slogans taken from the likes of Zinn, Chomsky, and Nader, in an effort to establish genuine liberal credentials. Avoid this book unless you are (a) researching propaganda in American higher eduction or (b) already a "true believer" in the claims brought up in "the Mythology of Crime and Criminal Justice."