
Making Crime Count
Kevin D. Haggerty(Author)
University of Toronto Press
Published on 15. February 2001
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-0-8020-4809-7 (ISBN)
Description
Official statistics are one of the most important sources of knowledge about crime and the criminal justice system. Yet, little is known about the inner workings of the institutions that produce these numbers. In this groundbreaking study, Kevin D. Haggerty sheds light on the process involved in the gathering and disseminating of crime statistics through an empirical examination of the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS), the branch of Statistics Canada responsible for producing data on the criminal justice system. Making Crime Count details how the availability of criminal justice statistics has fostered a distinctive approach to the governance of crime and criminal justice. What has emerged is a form of actuarial justice whereby crime is increasingly understood as a statistical probability, rather than a moral failing. At the same time, statistics render criminal justice organizations amenable to governmental strategies that aim to manage the system itself. Using contemporary work in the sociology of science as a frame, Haggerty explores the means by which the CCJS has been able to produce its statistics.
The emphasis is on the extra-scientific factors involved in this process, the complex knowledge networks that must be aligned between assorted elements and institutions, and, specifically, the continual negotiations between CCJS employees and the police over how to secure data for the 'uniform crime report' survey. The conclusions accentuate the need for anyone studying governance to consider the politics and processes of governmental knowledge production.
The emphasis is on the extra-scientific factors involved in this process, the complex knowledge networks that must be aligned between assorted elements and institutions, and, specifically, the continual negotiations between CCJS employees and the police over how to secure data for the 'uniform crime report' survey. The conclusions accentuate the need for anyone studying governance to consider the politics and processes of governmental knowledge production.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 159 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
486 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8020-4809-7 (9780802048097)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Kevin D. Haggerty is a member of Green College and a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of British Columbia.