Book Review: Crime, history, and Hollywood: Learning criminal justice history throughmajor motion pictures

• Date: 01 December 2014
• Author: Lee Ayers
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016814540302
• Published date: 01 December 2014
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

attention as did police/family interactions. An exploration of those interactions and the meaning

that families ascribed to the legal rituals and ceremonies would have been well nested in this text.

The chapter covering contradictions between individual members and stated group political

ideologies in MOMS and POMC was revealing. Whether or how family members turned their

grief into mission was complicated in MOMS by a struggle between group members an d group

leaders about the necessity of forgiveness and restoration. There was some irony that MOMS

members were often pushed by leaders to subscribe to restorative philosophies b ut ultimately

failed to embrace those sentiments fully. At the same time, POMC members largely identified

with retributive philosophies, but many eventually attended prison visits that led to their own con-

version toward a restorative model. Still others reported they were too consumed with emotion to

organize their thoughts, and many admitted to self-medicating through legal or illegal drug use;

several reported the meetings themselves became emotionally crushing.

Finally, to statethe obvious, this is a sociologicalstudy of a vulnerable population whohave expe-

rienced an extremely sensitive trauma. Because of this, it would have been useful for the text to pro-

vide more detail on the precautions the author took to protect his participants (including the

InstitutionalReview Board protections, whichhe mentions, but does not elaborate at lengthon, at var-

ious points throughout the book). Theaccounts provided by the families wereat times deeply personal

and emotionally raw. Particularly in the chapter on ‘‘untamed and outlaw emotion,’’ the participants

recount both suicidal and homicidal ideation to Martin, and by his own accounts, some family mem-

bers called the day after an interview to let the author know how surprisingly difficult their postinter-

view emotions had been. With that said, the narrative accounts are powerful and those interested in

survivor studies from a justice perspective, as well as symbolic interactionists or sociologists more

broadly, and finally, professionals in the social service field should find this work informative.

Oliver, Willard M., & Marion N. E. (2013).

Crime, history, an d Hollywood: Learni ng criminal justice history through major motion pictures. Durham, NC: Carolina

Academic Press. 227 p. ISBN 978-1-59460-975-6, $32.00.

Reviewed by: Lee Ayers, Southern Oregon University, Ashland, Oregon

DOI: 10.1177/0734016814540302

In today’s technology-driven world, it has become commonplace for educators to turn to media for

the scaffolding and reinforcement of difficult concepts. The ‘‘Sage on the Stage’’ delivery of

lecture-driven education has become yesterday’s model, and flippedclassesandmedia-driven

learning methods are not only recommended, but expected by the learner. Willard M. Oliver and

Nancy E. Marion in their book Crime, History, and Hollywood: Learning Criminal Justice History

Through Major Motion Pictures selected 10 motion picture created and interpreted by Hollywood

to assist students with the understanding of what is often considered as difficult subject matter. At

the heart of the selection process is crime type, investigative method, and courtroom outcomes.

Rangingintimefrom1839Amistad and the Trial of Amistads to the blockbuster portrayal of All

the President’s Men 1972, the ‘‘true crime’’ stories unfold pieces of American history, film inter-

pretation, and influences left to public perception.

Chapter 1: Amistad and the Trial of the Amistads. The reader is expo sed to the concept of ‘‘dra-

matic license versus historical error’’ (p. 33). A reminder is offered: If the film alone were

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