Policing Urban Poverty PDF
Preview Policing Urban Poverty
Policing Urban Poverty Chris Crowther crowther/89664/crc 11/10/99 9:39 am Page 1 Policing Urban Poverty This page intentionally left blank crowther/89664/crc 11/10/99 9:39 am Page 3 Policing Urban Poverty Chris Crowther Lecturer in Criminology Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College High Wycombe Foreword by Alan Walker Professor of Social Policy University of Sheffield Consultant Editor: Jo Campling crowther/89664/crc 11/10/99 9:39 am Page 4 First published in Great Britain 2000 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0–333–74858–1 First published in the United States of America 2000 by ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ISBN 0–312–22846–5 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Crowther, Chris, 1968– Policing urban poverty / Chris Crowther ; foreword by Alan Walker ; consultant editor, Jo Campling. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–312–22846–5 (cloth) 1. Urban poor. 2. Poverty. 3. Crime. I. Campling, Jo. II. Title. HV4028.C76 1999 364.4—dc21 99–40401 CIP ©Chris Crowther 2000 Foreword ©Alan Walker 2000 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P0LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire pupa1-1.fm Page v Monday, September 27, 1999 2:23 PM For Mum and Dad This page intentionally left blank pupa1-1.fm Page vii Monday, September 27, 1999 2:24 PM Contents Foreword by Alan Walker ix Acknowledgements xi 1 Introduction 1 2 Historical Perspectives on Poverty and Crime 19 3 Debating Poverty and Crime in the US: from Moynihan to Murray 41 4 Poverty and Crime in Britain 64 5 From Theory to Practice 87 6 The Police Policy Process in Modern Society 107 7 Policing and the Power of Public Debate 132 8 Policing Poor Communities 157 9 The Changing Nature of Crime and the Workless Society 181 10 Conclusion 203 Appendix 223 Bibliography 224 Index 251 vii This page intentionally left blank pupa1-1.fm Page ix Thursday, September 30, 1999 1:58 PM Foreword This important and timely book focuses on the policing of the urban poor and examines in painstaking detail the relationship between dis- courses on crime and poverty and practical issues of policy. The scope of the book is very wide – encompassing historical and contemporary analyses of the ‘underclass’, discussion of the debate on crime and pov- erty in the US, a rare analysis of the policy-making process in the police service, police responses to the riots in the 1980s, and recent criminal- justice policies. Chris Crowther successfully marshals this potentially overwhelming brief by building a firm theoretical foundation from sociological theory, particularly social constructionism and the analysis of power, and by addressing a consistent theme, the ‘underclass’, throughout the book. The result is an exemplary integration of social analysis and social policy and a clear demonstration that there is noth- ing as practical as good theory. Chris Crowther’s book is unusual in locating the discussion of crime and disorder in the context of an analysis of poverty and social exclu- sion. Moreover he brings the operation of the police service back within the purview of social policy, where it has been neglected for too long. The book also includes compelling verbatim extracts from his inter- views with senior police officers. His book emphasises that ideas about poverty and crime have very practical consequences with regard to police attitudes and behaviour. Thus the ‘underclass’ debate is part of the received wisdom with which police officers interpret everyday events and, in this case, interact with the urban poor. But, as Chris Crowther shows, there is not a simple cor- respondence between academic interpretations of the problematic con- cept of ‘underclass’ and those espoused by different strata of the police service. Furthermore, in practice, this notion may be employed by the service, at different times and in different locations, to justify contrast- ing approaches emphasising control or community development. Chris Crowther traces discourses on poverty and crime from the nine- teenth century to the present day, showing how the explanations employed by policy-makers have remained remarkably consistent even if the labels have changed. But it also reveals that senior police officers do not necessarily accept uncritically all that their political masters tell them. The simplistic and dogmatic contention that there were no links ix
The list of books you might like
