The mythology of crime and criminal justice / Victor E. Kappeler, Mark Blumberg & Gary W. Potter.

Contents:

1. The Social Construction of Crime Myths
Criminal Mythmakers
Media as Mythmaker
Government as Mythmaker
Merging Mythmakers
Creating Crime Myths
etc.

2. Crime Waves, Crime Fears and the Social Reality of Crime
How much crime is there?
The Reality of crime
Crime images
Conclusion

3. The Myth and Fear of Child Abduction
Sensational Images
Creating Reality through Misleading Statistics
Latent Functions of prevention
Legal Reform: Creating crime and Criminals
Conclusion

4. Myth and Murder the serial killer Panic
Creating a Myth
The Lucas Case
The Reality of serial murder
Explaining a panic
Conclusion

5. Of Stalkers and Murder Spreading Myth to Common Crime
Constructing the Myth of Stalking
Officialising the Myth
Measuring the Reality of Stalking
Consequences of Criminalization
Conclusion

6. Blue Smoke and mirrors the "War" on Organized Crime
The official Myth of Organized Crime
Historical Myths of Organized Crime
Empirical Evidence and Organized Crime
Headhunting
Controlling Organized Crime

7. Myths That Justify Crime a look at corporate Crime in the United States
'Real' Crime and Corporate Crime
The costs of Corporate Crime
Corporate Crime and Criminal Intent
The Criminogenic Corporation
Law Enforcement and White-Collar Crime, etc.

8. Drug War Cowboys
The Demonization of IlIicit Drugs
Drugs and Crime
Law Enforcement Strategies in the war on Drugs
Measures of Success in the war on Drugs
Racism and the drug war, etc.

9. Juvenile Superpredators the Myths of Killer Kids, Dangerous Schools and a Youth Crime Wave.
Cracking Down on Juvenile Crime
Lock'em up and Throw Away the key
The Myth of a Juvenile Crime wave
Dangerous Schools and Violent Students
The Impact of Treating Juvenile as Adults, etc.


10. Battered and Blue Crime Fighters Myths and Misconceptions of Police work
Real Police work
Myth of Police Stress
Living the Crime Fighter Myth
Conclusion

11. Order in the Courts the Myth of Equal Justice
The Role of law in society
Celebrity Cases
The Bias of Arrest
The Bias of Trial
The Bias of sentencing, etc.

12. Cons and Country Clubs the Mythical utility of Punishment
Who does the crime determines the time
Mythical Assumptions: Unrelenting consequences
Behind Bars
The Pains of Imprisonment, etc.

13. The Myth of a lenient Criminal Justice System
International Comparison
The Trend Toward Greater Punitiveness in the United States
The Crime Rate in the United states
Conclusion

14. Debunking the Death Penalty Myths of Crime Control and Capital Punishment
The Myth of General Deterrence
The Cost of the Death Penalty
Incapacitation
Fighting Crime
The Juvenile Death Penalty
Conclusion

15. Merging Myths and Misconceptions of Crime and Justice
Recycled Frameworks
The Electronic Echo Chamber
Of politics and Demagogues
Fallout from Crime Myths
Masking Social Problems with Myth, etc.

References : p. 311-338 . _ Index : p. 339-354