Creating Born Criminals - Hardcover

Rafter, Nicole

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0252022378 ISBN 13: 9780252022371

Publisher: University of Illinois Press, 1997

Synopsis

Genetic screening, new reproductive technologies, gene therapies, and the reality of cloning all make biological solutions to human social problems seem possible. Creating Born Criminals shows how history can guide us in our response to the reemergence of eugenics. The first social history of biological theories of crime in sixty years, it examines those theories' origins and content, showing their undue influence on crime control in the United States.

About this title

About the Author:

Nicole Hahn Rafter is a professor in the College of Criminal Justice, Northeastern University. Her most recent book is White Trash: The Eugenic Family Studies, 1877-1919.

Review:

"In a highly readable and superbly researched study, Dr. Rafter traces the origins of the evocative concept of the 'defective delinquent'. She explores the complex origins of biocriminology, which can be traced to several discrete developments of the mid-nineteenth century, the most important of which was the discovery of abnormal mental states distinct from flagrant insanity... Dr. Rafter never allows us to forget the implications of her work for modern policy-making." -- Phillip Jenkins, American Historical Review

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0252022378
• ISBN 13: 9780252022371
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 284