| Description |
xii, 199 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm |
|
text txt rdacontent |
|
unmediated n rdamedia |
|
volume nc rdacarrier |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 181-190) and index. |
| Contents |
Introduction: the cultural work of American crime narratives -- 1. The face of crime, a killer body: imagining the criminal type -- 2. "I had to have her, if I hung for it": impulse, repression, and repetition compulsion -- 3. Reforming the "bad" boy: juvenile delinquency, intervention, and choice -- 4. The criminal as a self-made man -- Conclusion: the crime narrative in late capitalism. |
| Summary |
"Using modernism as a lens, Stephen Brauer examines Americans' understanding of criminality in the twentieth-century and how the powerful figure of the criminal is key to exploring cultures, social norms, and, ultimately, laws"-- Provided by publisher. |
|
The emergence of the social sciences in the mid- to late nineteenth century had a substantial bearing on how researchers, academics, and the general public thought about criminal behavior. Using modernism as a lens, Stephen Brauer examines how these disciplines shaped Americans' understanding of criminality in the twentieth century and how they provide a new way to think about culture, social norms, and laws. In theory, laws act as articulations and codifications of a community's beliefs, values, and principles. By operating outside the bounds of acceptable behavior, the criminal serves as a useful figure for understanding the values at stake in a culture, what the central issues in that culture might be, and what its fears and anxieties are. Criminality serves as a lens through which we can read ourselves as well as how the criminal, operating as a cultural figure, signifies the problems we negotiate in our lives and in our communities. Brauer focuses on two main concepts, central to the very idea of modernism, to explore criminality: contingency (the idea that the individual might not be in control of their own deviance) and agency (the notion that the criminal makes a conscious choice to use crime as a means of economic success). This book will be of interest to students and scholars in criminology, sociology, cultural studies, literary studies, history, and many other fields--back cover. |
| Subject |
Criminals -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
|
|
Criminology -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
|
|
Crime -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
|
|
Crime. (OCoLC)fst00882984
|
|
Criminals. (OCoLC)fst00883516
|
|
Criminology. (OCoLC)fst00883566
|
|
United States. (OCoLC)fst01204155
|
| Chronological Term |
1900-1999
|
| Genre/Form |
History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
|
| Added Title |
Contingency and agency in 20th-century America |
| ISBN |
9781793608444 (hardcover) |
|
179360844X (hardcover) |
|
9781793608451 electronic publication |
| Standard No. |
40030943258 |
|
