Abstract
This book describes itself as the ‘first comprehensive and accessible text to address the economics of crime within the study of crime and criminology’ (back cover) and to paraphrase a rather famous advert – ‘it does exactly what it says on the back’.
The text is aimed at a diverse range of individuals; undergraduates and postgraduates in the disciplines of criminology and economics as well as those working within a range of roles in the criminal justice system. The authors presume no existing knowledge of either discipline and manage to convey an understanding of both to the reader without appearing patronising or overwhelming. Despite having previously studied criminology, I still found these sections interesting and informative and the authors’ approach consistently related the criminological theories to economics rather than just providing a more standardized history of the development of the discipline. Having no experience of economics, these chapters were a more challenging read but the structure of the book introduced concepts gently and with continual reference to ‘real-life’ criminal justice examples to aid understanding and application. This thus provides the opportunity for scholars in either discipline to consider well known theories and approaches from a new perspective and enhance their existing knowledge base. Such an opportunity is invaluable in the uncertain times ahead for the probation service, where competition, payments by results and the notion of a purchaser/provider split are looming ever more closely on the horizon; providing a real reminder of the importance of economics to criminal justice.
The book is split into eleven chapters and is structured in a building block approach, whereby knowledge gained in the previous chapter is developed and enhanced as you continue to read. As such, I would suggest that a reader would struggle to ‘dip into’ isolated chapters unless they had a reasonable knowledge of both subject areas. That being said, the final two chapters offer a detailed case study approach to discuss the contribution economics has made to the understanding of organized crime and illicit drug use and would make interesting and informative reading in isolation.
The book commences with a brief introduction to economic theory; this provides the foundations for the rest of the book and develops the reader’s awareness of the economic concepts that have been developed to aid our understanding of the social world. This chapter will dispel any myths that economics is simply akin to maths and highlight its centrality to the successful function of society. In the next chapter we are introduced to Becker’s (1968) seminal work on the role economics can play in enhancing understanding of offending behaviour and the ways in which it can be reduced. The subsequent chapter develops the concept of rational choice theory as a means to explain criminality and suggests that if society can adjust either the costs or rewards of offending, a consequent reduction in offending behaviour could be achieved.
Having developed the reader’s understanding of economic and criminological theories and concepts, the authors now increasingly focus on applying these to real-world examples. The first of these explores the relationship between the labour market, poverty and crime, questioning the validity of established theories from both disciplines to explain this link. Chapters 6 and 7 are of particular relevance in the current political climate and discuss a range of methods to determine the costs of interventions and the benefits they create. The tensions in attributing values to the various outcomes of crime, such as victims, is highlighted as is the difficulty in determining whether an intervention ‘causes’ a reduction in crime or whether this is achieved by other factors.
The subject matter for Chapters 8 and 9 will be familiar to criminology students and consider methods to prevent crime occurring in the first place and to reduce the likelihood of offenders committing further offences respectively. These subjects were chosen because of the contribution economics can make to the development of criminal justice policy. Chapter 9 may be of particular interest to practitioners with its focus on the effectiveness (or otherwise) of prisons as a means of reducing offending behaviour and exploration of the emerging notion of justice reinvestment.
Whilst I would see the main appeal of this book being to students in both disciplines, I found this book to be both interesting and challenging and of particular relevance to the changing nature of the probation service. It is without doubt an academic text but the approach the authors have adopted ensures that practitioners would be able to readily apply the concepts covered to their work.