The meaning of crime
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## Contents

- Introduction
- Learning outcomes
- 1 What is a crime?
  - 1.1 The meaning of crime
  - 1.2 The recognition and pursuit of crime
  - 1.3 Summary
- 2 Tales of fear and fascination
  - 2.1 Social attitudes towards crime
  - 2.2 A society frightened by crime?
  - 2.3 A society fascinated by crime?
  - 2.4 Summary
- 3 Beyond common sense?
  - 3.1 Claims about crime
  - 3.2 Counting the crime problem
  - 3.3 Quantitative and qualitative evidence
  - 3.4 Interpreting the crime problem
  - 3.5 Evaluating claims, using evidence
  - 3.6 Summary
- 4 Explaining crimes
  - 4.1 Exploring the claims about crime
  - 4.2 Structure and agency in the explanation of the crime problem
  - 4.3 Structural explanations I: biology
  - 4.4 Structural explanations II: families
  - 4.5 Structural explanations III: cultures
  - 4.6 Agency explanations: rational choice theory
  - 4.7 Summary
- 5 Questions, questions
  - 5.1 How did we get here?
  - 5.2 Where can we go from here?
    - 5.2.1 Beyond the UK
- Conclusion
- Keep on learning
- References
- Acknowledgements

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