Framing the Criminal

About the book

About Framing the Criminal

This book explores the changing image of the criminal in America during the 19th century, as portrayed in the journalism, fiction, and memoirs of the period. Starting from the position that crime, inherently a political subject, can only be understood in its social context, the author reviews newspapers such as 'The National Police Gazette' (1845) and 'The World' (1897) to show how journalists reported murders and portrayed such criminals as Langdon W. Moore and the assassin Guiteau. An examination of the antebellum press, the detective story, the serial thriller, and the fiction of Edgar Allan Poe and George Lippard indicates how fictional crimes and criminals were portrayed. The views of police, detectives, and offenders are reviewed to determine how they viewed the crimes in which they were involved. The commentary on 19th century writings notes a gradual loss of critical perspective on crime after a brief period in the antebellum years. The critical period linked crime and politics and drew conclusions from the linkages. Later, as modern society stabilized, writings lost a concern about crime's political meanings and consequences. The book argues that crime and criminals must not be viewed uncritically as absolute phenomena, but rather as dynamic social and political phenomena 'framed' by the values and perspectives of a given society in a given period. (NCJRS, modified).

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