Crime And the American Dream

Crime And the American Dream by Messner, Steven F.. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780534619589.

CRIME AND THE AMERICAN DREAM is the seminal work in a major segment of criminological theory by Steven Messner and Richard Rosenfeld, both highly respected scholars and researchers. This is a theory book that students will actually understand, with a very clear and accessible writing style. The foundation of the book is institutional anomie theory (an offshoot of Mertonian anomie theory), which the authors posit helps explain why Americas over-emphasis on the pursuit of materialistic gain contributes to the countrys high rate of violent crime.