Author: Bruce A. Jacobs
File Type: pdf
Street criminals live in a dangerous world, but they cannot realistically rely on the criminal justice system to protect them from predation by fellow lawbreakers they are on their own when it comes to dealing with crimes perpetrated against them and often use retaliation as a mechanism for deterring and responding to victimization. Although retaliation lies at the heart of much of the violence that plagues many inner-city neighborhoods across the United States, it has received scant attention from criminologists. As a result, the structure, process, and forms of retaliation in the real world setting of urban America remain poorly understood. Street Justice Retaliation in the Criminal World, first published in 2006, explores the face of modern day retaliation from the perspective of currently active criminals who have experienced it first hand, as offenders, victims, or both.ReviewWhat do criminals do when they become victims? Surprisingly, criminologists have never systematically addressed this simple but important question - until now. Drawing on a sample of active street criminals, male and female, Jacobs and Wright reveal the powerful attractions of aggressive retaliation for those to whom law is effectively unavailable. What the legal system records as a homicide, an assault, an arsonor a theft is often, on the ground, an act of justice exacted by an indignant victim of wrongdoing. Yet for all its appeal, retaliation poses taxing challenges and is never automatic, resulting, rather, in a complex and varied set of street-level behaviors. Impressively researched, elegantly written, and filled with striking cases and arresting quotes, this book provides a vivid portrait of the myriad and ingenious ways that people embroiled in illegal activity get even. Scholars and students alike will benefit from the light that Jacobs and Wright shine on this long- neglected corner of criminal reality. -Mark Cooney, University of GeorgiaStreet Justice Retaliation in the Criminal Underworld makes important contributions to the limited literature in this area. The interviews and quoted material are rich and interesting, and the conceptual frameworks advance the field. -Bruce Johnson, National Development and Research InstitutesDrawing on more than 50 interviews with active street criminals, Jacobs and Wright have produced a groundbreaking study of the sources, manifestations, and consequences of criminal retaliation. No researcher who studies violence, punishment, or deterrence can ignore this important work. The book offers riveting descriptions of street vengeance that suggest uncomfortable parallels with the get tough movement in formal criminal justice. The last thing we should want to do is make the horrific conditions of life described in these pages even more violent than they already are. A deeply fascinating and disturbing account of the criminal underworld. -Richard Rosenfeld, University of Missouri St. Louis Book DescriptionStreet criminals live in a dangerous world, but they cannot rely on the criminal justice system to protect them from predation by fellow lawbreakers they often use retaliation as a mechanism for deterring and responding to victimization. This 2006 book explores retaliation from the perspective of those who have experienced it first hand.