ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 traces the contours of the alleged ‘international crime decline’. It sets out to chart a course through what has now become an imposing and voluminous sea of ‘crime decline’ literature. In doing so the chapter conducts a thorough review of this growing body of work and discerns the dominant voices behind the ‘crime decline’ discourse. Having identified such voices and what can perhaps be considered the dominant data source underpinning this discourse, they become the focus of thorough scrutineering. This first chapter attempts to offer a more accurate account of this so-called ‘international crime decline’. Towards this end the chapter introduces the idea of a ‘crime decline tunnel of vision’ and the concept of ‘technology-mediated criminal transference’. Collaboratively these help advance the position that crime may not have simply declined, but rather changed in ways that current indicators have been unable to capture.
