Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 368
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
978-1-5381-1806-1 • Hardback • May 2019 • $42.00 • (£35.00)
978-1-5381-1807-8 • eBook • May 2019 • $39.50 • (£30.00)
Irvin Waller, PhD, is emeritus professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa. He has a long history of being consulted on crime policy and victim rights by political leaders on every continent and by international organizations, including the European Union and the Inter-American Development Bank. His passion and knowledge have made him a featured speaker and media resource around the world in English, French and Spanish. Waller first addressed crime prevention and rights for crime victims in Burglary: The Victim and the Public (1978). This influenced his work as a senior official for the Canadian government where he was in charge of presenting research that led to the abolition of the death penalty, the control of firearms and first policies for victims of crime. It brought him into the small network of pioneers of the US and international movement to protect rights for victims of crime. His trail blazing work to get the UN General Assembly to recognize rights for victims earned him multiple awards, including from the US National Organization for Victim Assistance. This magna carta for victim rights is influencing advances across the world still today. In 1994, he became the founding director general of the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, established by Canada and France and affiliated with the UN. His leadership brought notoriety to the Centre and funding from the US Department of Justice, the British Home Office, and other governments in Europe. He was honored with the Captain of Crime Prevention Award by the Belgian Ministry of the Interior in 1996 and recognition from the Centre´s supporting governments in 2000. He has served on task forces in South Africa (for the Mandela government), Canada and the USA and been recognized by Mexico in 2016 for his contributions to crime policy in Latin America. He has led the World Society of Victimology and the International Organization for Victim Assistance, both in special consultative status with ECOSOC. He has served on the board and advised international children’s rights and urban safety organizations. He is the author of Smarter Crime Control: A Guide to a Safer Future for Citizens, Communities and Politicians (R&L, 2013), Rights for Victims of Crimes: Rebalancing Justice (R&L, 2010) and Less Law, More Order: The Truth about Reducing Crime (2006).
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction: From Effective Solutions to Ending Violent Crime
PART I THE CHALLENGE OF VIOLENT CRIME
1 Too Many Tragedies
PART II THE SCIENCE OF EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS
2 Violence Prevention Science at Our Fingertips
3 Smarter Use of Police and Prisons
4 Helping Youth Flourish Upstream
5 Gendering Safety
6 Putting Victims at Zenith
PART III ESSENTIALS FOR SUCCESSFUL
IMPLEMENTATION
7 Governments Agree on Essentials
8 Learning from Early Adopters
9 Cities Leading the Way
PART IV SECRETS TO GET BUY-IN
10 Big Benefits from Smart Investment
11 Affordable and Achievable
12 Marketing Political Buy-In
Epilogue: The Time Has Come
Notes
Appendix: Figures and Their Sources
Principal Sources
Index
About the Author
Criminology professor Waller, a leading authority on victims’ rights, does a solid, jargon-free job of explaining achievable strategies for reducing violent crime, though the utopian goal of “ending” it is just rhetoric. After reviewing the toll violent crime continues to exact, Waller moves on to analyses of why traditional law enforcement approaches have not worked, noting, for instance, that having police deal with social and health issues such as homelessness and mental illness is not an effective use of resources. Waller pulls together numerous studies that demonstrate the impact of difficult early childhood on future crime, as well as the benefits of social structure investments for youth. While the author meets his stated goal of showcasing “the effective solutions, the essentials for implementation, and some of the secrets for getting buy-in,” American readers may remain skeptical that any meaningful reforms are likely to come on a national level, given the current political climate, which also affects funding of local initiatives. Nonetheless, this remains a conversation starter that can only make progress more likely.
— Publishers Weekly
Violent crime harms individuals, families, and communities. It divides social and political discourse and is incredibly expensive to taxpayers. Irvin Waller spent a career studying and advocating for crime prevention and for victims of crime, and in Science and Secrets of Ending Violent Crime he provides a clear-eyed vision for violence reduction. From smarter use of the criminal justice system to helping youth flourish to effective national and municipal policies, Waller reveals how we can reduce harm by preventing violence in the first place and how we can achieve this goal with rational and affordable investments. Crime scholars, criminal justice practitioners, and policy makers will all benefit from reading this book and acting on its recommendations.
— William Alex Pridemore, Dean and Distinguished Professor, School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany - SUNY
Awesome publication, a must-read!
— Leena Augimeri, PhD, Director, Scientific and Program Development & Centre for Children Committing Offences, Child Development Institute
- Compelling arguments to persuade politicians to invest in the proven, effective programs, such as those for youth, families, sports and schools that will prevent homicide, gun violence, sexual assault and so on by 50%;
- Tools such as policy briefs, videos and cost benefit graphics - that few think of - that the public can use to get politicians to act on stopping violence and saving taxes;
- Lessons from fifty years of persuading governments to invest in preventing violence and respecting the rights of victims, including working through white papers and organizations such as WHO and the UN Sustainable Development Goals to reduce violence significantly by 2030;
- An evidence based counter to the evening news of another homicide or rape that shows not only that those tragedies are not inevitable but preventable, but importantly how to get governments to invest in the prevention;
- Examples of cities such as Bogota and Glasgow that have reduced violent crime by more than 50 percent with success within three years, and what those cities did to sustain the reductions better than US cities;
- Explanations in simple English of the proven strategies, well known to violence prevention experts, but not to politicians, that effectively end violent crime. Examples include social development programs focusing in difficult neighborhoods on services for youth, families, and schools;
- Proof that social development programs reduce the number of victims by 50 percent better than reactive policing and incarceration and so could save billions of tax dollars;
- Recommended actions in schools and universities and in gendering policing and so on to stop violence against women and girls before they are victimized;
- Ways to meet the needs and rights of victims of violence, through support services, reparation and participation in justice;
- Proactive policing strategies that reduce violent crime without more spending, particularly when the threat of arrest is used as a deterrent to encourage young men to access effective programs for young men, families and so on.
12/9/20: The Toronto Star interviewed author for article, “Defund the police — and then what? What Toronto can learn from the places out in front of a global movement.”
Link: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/12/10/defund-the-police-and-then-what-what-toronto-can-learn-from-the-places-out-in-front-of-a-global-movement.html