Michael Coyle

Talking Criminal Justice

Language and the Just Society

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Why do we talk at times of those in maximum security cells as "offenders" who are the "worst of the worst," and why, at other times, do we speak of them as "people who start out life with two strikes against them?" When do we describe people who have committed violence as "murderers" who are "horrendous animals," and when do we characterize them as "victims in their own right" who finally "break down and cross the line?" This book studies the language used in criminal justice discourse as causal and inherently political, examining the ideology that underlines such topics as innocent victim, tough on crime and evil. The author demonstrates that both ideas about justice and practices for administering justice are the direct result of, and are constructed in, everyday language choices and by ongoing reinforcement of these choices.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd (Sales)
• Seitenzahl: 152
• Erscheinungstermin: 18. Februar 2013
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 241mm x 161mm x 17mm
• Gewicht: 406g
• ISBN-13: 9780415697040
• ISBN-10: 0415697042
• Artikelnr.: 33763176

Autorenporträt

Michael J. Coyle is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science at California State University, USA.

Inhaltsangabe

Introduction 1. The Sociology of the Language of Justice 2. A History of
Language of Justice Research 3. The Meaning of "Tough on Crime" 4. An
Ethnography of "Innocent Victim" language 5. Delineating the "Evil"
"Criminal" Other 6. Talking Justice: Interviews with Justice Workers 7.
Language of Justice as Critical Criminology.