On wake-up calls and metaphors: comment on Braithwaite “crime as a cascade phenomenon”
Braithwaite’s provocation to see crime (and its prevention) through a “cascade lens” is certainly a wake-up call for macrocriminologists. As a metaphor it has the capability to motivate new directions in criminological research, however this also limits its potential as organising structure for test...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
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2020
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| In: |
International journal of comparative and applied criminal justice
Year: 2020, Volume: 44, Issue: 3, Pages: 171-178 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Summary: | Braithwaite’s provocation to see crime (and its prevention) through a “cascade lens” is certainly a wake-up call for macrocriminologists. As a metaphor it has the capability to motivate new directions in criminological research, however this also limits its potential as organising structure for testing important propositions. I argue that two strategies are required to move the cascade concept from a metaphor to an analytical tool. First, it needs to be made operational and testable, and in order to do so it has to be dissected and taken apart. Second, rather than losing sight of exogenous factors aka macro-level structural conditions (like poverty and concentrated disadvantage) we have to identify the relation between deeply rooted structures and micro-level decision making, and separate dynamic processes from their exogenous conditions. The comment starts with a number of questions for a fierce critic of our trade. |
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| ISSN: | 2157-6475 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/01924036.2020.1737955 |