As the Sanford, FL city commission voted “no confidence” in their police chief following the shooting of teen Trayvon Martin, this article is instructive in what legal scholars like Donald Black call violent “self-help”—a tactic vigilante citizens may use when they feel their government is not providing control and protection. In a classic piece, Smith and Uchida test this ideas, finding higher weapon ownership in areas in which police are perceived as ineffective and citizens report feeling vulnerable.
inequality
“Dire Forecast: A theoretical model of the impact of climate change on crime,” Theoretical Criminology, 2011 (forthcoming in print)
This article, published online in advance, makes a convincing case that climate change could become a driving force of crime rates over the next century. Agnew argues that changes in climate—heat, extreme weather events, food/water shortages—are likely to increase crime by increasing strain and conflict, weakening social supports and social controls, and increasing criminal opportunities.
Sidewalk, 1999
A public speaking engagement Friday night found me invoking this text as I discussed a 1980s photo of an infamous Minneapolis streetcorner. In the grand tradition of urban sociology, Sidewalk introduces the workings of life and commerce of New York streets (as well as to dozens of images from Pulitzer-prize winning photographer Ovie Carter). The book remains as relevant for students and scholars today as it does for, well, a south Minneapolis art gallery crowd on a snowy weekend night.
One of the main points of this 2009 book is that, in spite of frequent political allusions to “class warfare,” Americans—even rank-and-file Republicans—have both a reasonable awareness of inequality and a desire to minimize it through policy. As Occupy Wall Street and other movements continue alongside election season, it will be interesting to see how inequality takes shape as a voters’ issue.
The Civil Rights Movement reached far beyond MLK, influencing everything from public discourse to, as Andrews explores in this article, the implementation of “war on poverty” policies. For more on this, you can also listen to our recent podcast with Prof. Joe Soss, who discussed his new book on race, poverty, and America today.
“Dire Forecast: A theoretical model of the impact of climate change on crime,” Theoretical Criminology, 2011 (forthcoming in print)
This article, published online in advance, makes a convincing case that climate change could become a driving force of crime rates over the next century. Agnew argues that changes in climate—heat, extreme weather events, food/water shortages—are likely to increase crime by increasing strain and conflict, weakening social supports and social controls, and increasing criminal opportunities.
Sidewalk, 1999
A public speaking engagement Friday night found me invoking this text as I discussed a 1980s photo of an infamous Minneapolis streetcorner. In the grand tradition of urban sociology, Sidewalk introduces the workings of life and commerce of New York streets (as well as to dozens of images from Pulitzer-prize winning photographer Ovie Carter). The book remains as relevant for students and scholars today as it does for, well, a south Minneapolis art gallery crowd on a snowy weekend night.
One of the main points of this 2009 book is that, in spite of frequent political allusions to “class warfare,” Americans—even rank-and-file Republicans—have both a reasonable awareness of inequality and a desire to minimize it through policy. As Occupy Wall Street and other movements continue alongside election season, it will be interesting to see how inequality takes shape as a voters’ issue.
The Civil Rights Movement reached far beyond MLK, influencing everything from public discourse to, as Andrews explores in this article, the implementation of “war on poverty” policies. For more on this, you can also listen to our recent podcast with Prof. Joe Soss, who discussed his new book on race, poverty, and America today.