Crime, Disorder and Symbolic Violence

"Matt Bowden has produced a rich, nuanced and complex analysis of the emergence of youth crime prevention in Ireland ... . The detailed research - a combination of ethnography, participation and interviewing, across some 10 years of fieldwork in a series of youth projects - is preceded by an effective, though brief, political economy of Irish urban redevelopment ... ." (Peter Squires, Urban Studies, Vol. 53 (1), January, 2016)

"This book makes a significant contribution to both urban sociology and Irish criminology in terms of elaborating a compelling sociological framework for the study of youth and youth crime containment on the Irish urban periphery. ... This is a great read. ... This book would be of considerable interest to those engaged in sociology, public policy, crime, and the law." (Mary P. Corcoran, Irish Journal of Sociology, 2016)

'Matthew Bowden's book Crime, Disorder and Symbolic Violence represents a theoretically innovative, research-based contribution to the nascent body of sociological work on plural policing and the often hybrid forms of governing the urban periphery and in particular of young people in these supposed 'neo-liberal' times. Drawing on both Bourdieuian theoretical insights and a broadly realist conceptual framing, Bowden offers a compelling case study of Dublin's own 'urban periphery' and its contested youth governance. The book adds to the growing reputation of critical criminological scholarship in Ireland. The analysis presented and its broader policy and policy implications will also interest and engage advanced students and researchers throughout the international field of sociological criminology.' - Professor Gordon Hughes, Chair in Criminology, Cardiff University