Book Review: Identity Theft

• Author: Kyung-Seok Choo
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016806295601
• Date: 01 December 2006
• Published date: 01 December 2006
• Subject Matter: Articles

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Criminal Justice Review
Selengut’s arguments definitely apply to criminological theory where religion is not
incorporated as a central explanatory variable in theories predicting crime and violence. It
is apparent to an informed observer that classical criminological formulations excluded
religion or religious ideas from theoretical statements (e.g., Merton’s description of a
“rebellionist” but not a religious warrior), and it also seems that the historical development
of mainstream criminology (e.g., subcultural-strain theories) continually narrowed the focus
of criminality to specific issues and themes restricting religion to the occasional “variable of
interest” (e.g., Rodney Stark’s explorations of delinquency and religion). Furthermore, the
historical specialization in criminological theory arguably generated barriers that eventu-
ally separated criminology from broad and substantive theoretical traditions where “reli-
gion was more central.” For instance. many of Selengut’s arguments link to Weberian
themes or perhaps to traditional notions about collective behavior—both of which have
been marginalized by criminologists and make minimal contribution to modern crimino-
logical theory.
It is not Selengut’s intent to outline a specific theoretical overview that is both definitive
and predictive! He is simply interested in convincing the reader that religion can justify vio-
lence and that religion must be considered in the study of specific forms of violence such
as political assassination, terrorist bombing, antiabortion murder, ritual killing or abuse of
women, and mass suicide. But Selengut does suggest how some specific theoretical tradi-
tions may be useful in helping understand how religion may specifically produce violence.
Criminologists will find some details of his analysis especially useful; for instance, his
review of cognitive dissonance theory (chapter 2) is a particularly interesting application of
a specific theory, and his ideas about the dangers of overreaction to religious violence will
remind the reader of the important contributions of classical criminological ideas such as
“radical nonintervention.”
This is a well-argued and systematically documented book, and it raises an important issue
and points to a major gap in criminological thought. It provides a critical perspective on crim-
inology’s failure to anticipate and fully explain many emerging global and local issues of vio-
lence and security. It is a book that would be especially useful as a supplemental text for a
senior undergraduate level course in sociological theory, and it is a useful overview for acad-
emics interested in the shortcomings of criminological...