Most helpful client reviews
3 of 3 persons found the following review helpful.
A great overview of violence in the U.S.
By Matthew Smith
This book was much more ordinary in nature than I expected. This more popular approach left the account more or less shallow, but what it lacked in depth it more than made up for in readability which made the selective information easy to to digest and understand. Because of the approach the writers took with this book they made it very palatable for a more popular readership, so the potential reader thinking in regards to this book must not be intimidated by this book because it is an easy read.
With that said the book does a great occupation detailing murder in the United States. The writers do a good occupation detailing the numerous dissimilar methodologies for studying or looking at violence and murder in U.S. society. They talk about the a great deal of difficultnesses with attempting to label and box a crime as complex as murder. What comes through is just how difficult this subject is to study and quantify because each dissimilar methodology inevitably overlaps in sure cases. While it may be good to look at murder from the biological or psychological method these methodologies are seldom capable to explain an person crime totally without resort to other methods. This is a major problem when attempting to understand this crime.
One of the distinct features I was happy to see this book go into a more outstanding detail was the role of media in distorting our perceptions of crime in general but murder specifically. In the seven or eight years since this book was written the problem with media has become even more acute. With shows devoted to not one thing but exploiting crime for ratings this problem has become even worse. With 24 hour cable news channels covering the sensational and headline grabbing incidents while ignoring the broader picture it seems that the intermediate American has no probability to understand the real situation. Instead people are fed hyped up accounts that brings in ratings but grossly misinforms viewers.
This book will give the reader a sense of where we are at in this country as regards murder and violence. It cuts through the hype and takes a very rational look at how murder in the U.S. is dissimilar from other nations and why it is so prevalent in this country. It looks at our history and our culture for clues to explain this in an unambiguous manner American phenomenon. They look at territorial divergences along with economic and social elements that bestow to our violent society. This more frequent approach genuinely helps brings the whole picture into focus. While it may not give readers that more outstanding detail that comes with a micro approach, it also doesn’t narrow the topic so much that the reader misses the forest for the trees. Anyone mesmerized in this topic or violence in general will do well by giving this book a read. It is a well done and quick read that will aid fetch the picture into focus for those mesmerized in American violence. I commend this book.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
TORN BOOK
By S
Shipping time was decent on this purchase. I was trouble to see that the front cover of the book was torn when I recieved it. I emailed seller, but got no response. Would not commend them!
See all 2 client reviews…
