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  • © 2021

Crime and Power

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Adopts a broad definition of 'power' and incorporates the study of macro, meso and micro levels of power including chapters on race, religion, class, gender, age etc. to provide a more rounded assessment of how crime, power and victimisation intersect
  • Includes questions, figures and glossary terms throughout
  • Seeks to explain the relationship between social divisions and law-breaking, criminalisation and victimisation

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
  2. Crime and Power: Introduction

    • Pamela Davies, Tanya Wyatt
    Pages 1-17
  3. What Is Power and Who Are the Powerful?

    • Pamela Davies, Tanya Wyatt
    Pages 19-37
  4. The Invisibility of Crimes of the Powerful

    • Pamela Davies, Tanya Wyatt
    Pages 39-58
  5. Part I

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 59-66
    2. Class, Status and Elites

      • Pamela Davies, Tanya Wyatt
      Pages 67-84
    3. Race and Ethnicity

      • Pamela Davies, Tanya Wyatt
      Pages 85-106
    4. Religion

      • Pamela Davies, Tanya Wyatt
      Pages 107-123
    5. Gender

      • Pamela Davies, Tanya Wyatt
      Pages 125-142
    6. Age

      • Pamela Davies, Tanya Wyatt
      Pages 143-162
  6. Part II

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 163-165
    2. Corporations

      • Pamela Davies, Tanya Wyatt
      Pages 167-190
    3. Organised Crime

      • Pamela Davies, Tanya Wyatt
      Pages 191-206
    4. The State

      • Pamela Davies, Tanya Wyatt
      Pages 207-228
    5. Militias and Insurgents

      • Pamela Davies, Tanya Wyatt
      Pages 229-244
    6. Crime and Power: Conclusion

      • Pamela Davies, Tanya Wyatt
      Pages 245-256

About this book

This textbook makes a concerted effort to expose crimes committed by those wielding unfettered personal power and crimes by corporations, business and states, crimes against human and non-human species and the environment. It examines an increasingly complex interplay of issues which surely should be at the heart of any criminology programme. This text adopts a fresh and innovative approach to exposing the crimes of the powerful, situating and understanding crimes and victimisations as it does within a framework where questions of structural and personal power in society are key. 

Fourteen case studies are threaded throughout the book and this methodology is used as a teaching resource for studying and uncovering the crimes of the powerful. The first three chapters comprehensively contextualise the problems of crime and power and establish the importance of power to understanding crime and victimisation in society. The chapters within Part I and Part II of the book then explore individual and group power respectively. Each of these chapters explore a case study or case examples followed by ‘Pause for Thought’ questions. Bigger ‘Go Further’ study questions are posed at the close of these chapters challenging students to engage in their own case study research to investigate the dynamics of crime and power. 



Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Social Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

    Pamela Davies, Tanya Wyatt

About the authors

Pamela Davies is Professor of Criminology at Northumbria University, UK. She is a criminologist whose research focuses on gender, harm, crime and victimization. 

Tanya Wyatt is Professor of Criminology, Northumbria University, UK

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 34.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access