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Book Cover
Book
Author Johnson, Eric A. (Eric Arthur), 1948-

Title Urbanization and crime : Germany, 1871-1914 / Eric A. Johnson
Published New York : Cambridge University Press, 1995

Copies

Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 W'PONDS  364.943 Joh/Uac  AVAILABLE
Description x, 246 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Contents 1. The Criminal Justice System: Safe Streets in a Well-organized Police State -- 2. Popular Opinion: Crime as a "Foreign" Concept -- 3. Long-Term Trends: The Modernization of Crime and the Modernization of German Society? -- 4. Urban-Rural Differences, Ethnicity, and Hardship: Cities Are Not to Blame -- 5. Criminals and Victims: The Crucial Importance of Gender -- 6. Conclusion: Crime Rates, Crime Theories, and German Society
Summary Criticizing as largely conservative and elitist in origin the notions that cities cause crime, the book demonstrates that the real roots of crime in German society are to be found in a mix of economic hardship, ethnic bias, and political repression - conditions that conscious political decisions, law, and legal officials either can help overcome or indeed can make even worse. In examining how the crime drama was played out in Imperial Germany, the book credits German law, judges, police, and populace for their technical expertise, high intellectual level, and orderly nature. It also indicts them for launching Germany on a dangerous path that would allow German judges and police in the mid-twentieth century to claim that they were acting only in the well-respected tradition of legal positivism
This book represents the most rigorous, social-scientific study to date demonstrating that neither urban environments themselves nor the change in modern societies from predominantly rural to urban "causes" crime. Focusing on Germany between 1871 and 1914, the period of its industrial revolution and emergence as a world power, this volume explores crime patterns, criminal justice institutions and practices, and popular and elite attitudes toward crime, criminals, and criminal justice authorities
Notes Includes index
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Subject Crime prevention -- Germany -- History -- 19th century.
Crime -- German -- History -- 19th century
Crime -- Germany -- History -- 19th century.
Criminal justice, Administration of -- Germany -- History -- 19th century.
Urbanization -- Germany -- History -- 19th century.
LC no. 94045503
ISBN 052147017X (hardback)