"Everybody does it!" : crime by the public / Thomas Gabor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gabor, Thomas, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Criminal behavior.

Criminal behavior--Canada.

Criminal behavior--United States.

United States.

Canada.

Genre:

Livres numeriques.

e-books.

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (395 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Toronto, [Ontario] ; Buffalo, [New York] ; London, [England] : University of Toronto Press, 1998.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

This is the first book to explore in detail crime committed by the general public. Thomas Gabor challenges the prevailing stereotype of the criminal by documenting the extent to which ordinary citizens (those who are not habitually in conflict with the law) violate the law, exhibit dishonesty, or engage in actions harmful to their fellow citizens. He shows that so-called respectable citizens account for a large proportion of many kinds of crime: theft, fraud, tax evasion, assault, sex offences, business scams, political and corporate crime, environmental crime, technological crime, and mass lawlessness such as looting and vigilantism. He also discusses crime by police and other authorities in the justice system. Case studies provide concrete examples and raise crucial questions about law enforcement. By discussing the justifications and excuses ordinary people provide for their transgressions, Gabor draws a parallel between those justifications and the ones provided by chronic or hard-core criminals. He shows, through experimental and other evidence, that members of the public are often not firmly committed to society's laws or the legal system. Using existing theories in conjunction with an original, interdisciplinary theoretical model, he shows why criminality is so widespread, and why it varies from person to person, and from one milieu to another. He shows why some crimes are more prevalent than others, and why some people are more immune to being labelled and processed as criminals within the criminal justice system. He concludes with a discussion of approaches for dealing with widespread criminality.

Contents:

Contents

Preface

Part I: Crime by the Public: The Issue in Context

1 Introduction

2 'Pictures in Our Heads': Our Stereotypes of the Criminal

3 Is Everyone Doing It? The Extent of the Public's Criminality and Dishonesty

Part II: The Crimes Committed by 'Law-Abiding' Citizens

4 'The Root of All Evil': Property Crime

5 'Flesh and Blood So Cheap': Violent and Sex Crimes

6 'There Is Nothing Wrong with Greed': Corporate Crime

7 'What's Good for the Goose ... ': Crime by Society's Leaders and Law Enforcers

8 Other Crimes

Part III: Explaining the Transgressions of the Public9 'Everybody Does It': Rationalizations, Justifications, and Excuses for Criminal Behaviour

10 'Our Brother's Keeper?' The Commitment of the Public to Society's Rules

11 Understanding the Widespread Criminality of the Public

12 Predicting the Prevalence of Different Crimes in Society

Part IV: Dealing with Widespread Criminality

13 'The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison': Why Most 'Respectable' Lawbreakers Avoid Prosecution

14 Dealing with Crime by the Public

Notes

Photo Credits

IndexA

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-282-05644-1

9786612056444

1-4426-7469-5

OCLC:

666921702