From a Market Economy to a Caring Economy: Peacemaking/Critical Perspectives on Reducing Crime

• In Event: Theoretical Perspectives in Critical Criminology

Abstract

Although critical scholars from Bonger to the present have linked capitalism to crime, Elliott Currie has articulated perhaps the most detailed theory of how the market economy is criminogenic. Using Currie's analysis as a point of comparison, this paper examines emerging scholarship to show how alternative market arrangements are possible: a caring economy. This perspective--in keeping with peacemaking and critical criminology--is then used to demonstrate how a caring economy can create the possibility of improving lives and reducing crime.

Author

• John F. Wozniak, Western Illinois University