ABSTRACT
Many of the most familiar aspects of social coexistence defy easy understanding. Crime is a constant presence. Much of what counts as ‘news’ is news about crime. Much of our culture - novels, movies, television, theatre - is given over to stories about crime. Our imaginings and fears commonly betray a preoccupation with crime. And yet, this preoccupation is paradoxical. For most of us, crime is a much more ubitiquous presence in imagination than in fact. Comparatively rarely are most of us the perpetrators, victims or witnesses of crime.
