The Problem:

In the mid-1960’s, crime rates began to rise precipitously in the United States, and they have remained high for more than forty years, despite a temporary drop in the numbers from 2000 – 2004 and geographically limited (and highly criticized) crime-fighting successes in places like New York City.  

Over the same forty years, too many in the media have approached this phenomenon of high crime rates with a slanted view.  These journalists all but ignore the effect of crime on victims and communities in favor of justifying and romanticizing the actions of criminals themselves.  The same may be said of many academic criminologists: the predominant theory of crime in academia has long been the “social roots theory,” which (in practice) displaces responsibility for criminal acts from the criminal to society itself. 

Adherence to the “social roots theory” leads naturally to advocating for leniency in sentencing and imprisonment, and for much of the last forty years, even prolific and violent criminals have had little to fear from a criminal justice system continually under attack by opinion-makers and policy-setters.  Focusing intensively on the purported needs of criminals also “erases” the experience of victims and their communities from discussions about crime.   

Even as the body count has become unbearably high in urban neighborhoods, most intellectuals and journalists have refused to deviate from the view that criminals are essentially victims who need understanding and compassion, not correction and punishment.  This viewpoint is so predominant that the mere idea that imprisonment is supposed to be a punishment or deterrent, and not just a pathway to rehabilitation, is now greeted largely with horror and disbelief.

This website will offer an alternative view.  

• By taking a second look at news stories, academic studies, and crime policies.
• By speaking for victims who want to see offenders off the streets.
• By tracking criminal cases and sentencing through the courts.
• And, hopefully, by becoming a place where police, journalists, crime victims and community activists can come to tell the truth about the impact of crime.  

A note on focus: my aim is to look at crime and crime policies throughout the country, though I have started by to commenting on places that I know well.  I welcome news tips, advice and commentary from any state.  

About the Writer: Tina Trent has worked in journalism, non-profit administration, social services, crime victim advocacy, child protection, and state-level lobbying. She holds a B.A. from New College of U.S.F. and a PhD. from the Institute for Women’s Studies at Emory University. She has taught in Florida and Georgia.  This website contains the full text of Trent’s doctoral dissertation, Forgetting Rape: Sexual Violence and Social Justice in America.

Contact the Website: Tina Trent may be contacted at tinatrent2@yahoo.com