Everybody Does It! : : Crime by the Public / / Thomas Gabor.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Archive 1933-1999
• VerfasserIn: Gabor, Thomas,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2016]; ©1994
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (378 p.)

This is the first book to explore in detail crime committed by the general public. Thomas Gabor challenges the prevailing stereotype of the criminal by documenting the extent to which ordinary citizens (those who are not habitually in conflict with the law) violate the law, exhibit dishonesty, or engage in actions harmful to their fellow citizens. He shows that so-called respectable citizens account for a large proportion of many kinds of crime: theft, fraud, tax evasion, assault, sex offences, business scams, political and corporate crime, environmental crime, technological crime, and mass lawlessness such as looting and vigilantism. He also discusses crime by police and other authorities in the justice system. Case studies provide concrete examples and raise crucial questions about law enforcement.By discussing the justifications and excuses ordinary people provide for their transgressions, Gabor draws a parallel between those justifications and the ones provided by chronic or hard-core criminals. He shows, through experimental and other evidence, that members of the public are often not firmly committed to society's laws or the legal system. Using existing theories in conjunction with an original, interdisciplinary theoretical model, he shows why criminality is so widespread, and why it varies from person to person, and from one milieu to another. He shows why some crimes are more prevalent than others, and why some people are more immune to being labelled and processed as criminals within the criminal justice system. He concludes with a discussion of approaches for dealing with widespread criminality.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Part I. Crime by the Public: The Issue in Context -- 1. Introduction -- 2. 'Pictures in Our Heads': Our Stereotypes of the Criminal -- 3. Is Everyone Doing It? The Extent of the Public's Criminality and Dishonesty -- Part II. The Crimes Committed by 'Law-Abiding' Citizens -- 4. 'The Root of All Evil': Property Crime -- 5. 'Flesh and Blood So Cheap': Violent and Sex Crimes -- 6. 'There Is Nothing Wrong with Greed': Corporate Crime -- 7. 'What's Good for the Goose ...': Crime by Society's Leaders and Law Enforcers -- 8. Other Crimes -- Part III. Explaining the Transgressions of the Public -- 9. 'Everybody Does It': Rationalizations, Justifications, and Excuses for Criminal Behaviour -- 10. 'Our Brother's Keeper?' The Commitment of the Public to Society's Rules -- 11. Understanding the Widespread Criminality of the Public -- 12. Predicting the Prevalence of Different Crimes in Society -- Part IV. Dealing with Widespread Criminality -- 13. The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison'1: Why Most 'Respectable' Lawbreakers Avoid Prosecution -- 14. Dealing with Crime by the Public -- Notes -- Photo Credits -- Index