Book Review: Jacobs, B. A., & Wright, R. (2006). Street Justice: Retaliation in the Criminal Underworld. New York: Cambridge University Press. 154 pp

• Date: 01 September 2007
• Published date: 01 September 2007
• DOI: 10.1177/0734016807304839
• Author: Robert J. Fornango
• Subject Matter: Articles

In conclusion, Albanese has, in this edition of his work, produced a very useful, informative,

and readable text that students should find an interesting introduction to the complex phenomenon

of organized crime.

Joseph L. Albini

Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan

Jacobs, B. A., & Wright, R. (2006). Street Justice: Retaliation in the

Criminal Underworld. New York: Cambridge University Press. 154 pp.

DOI: 10.1177/0734016807304839

Faced with the inability to access and the undesirability of using formal legal processes

to settle grievances, street criminals must often rely on informal means of social control,

namely, retaliation. This book examines the contextual and perceptual forces that shape

retaliatory action among street criminals. To achieve this end, the authors examine three

distinct aspects of retaliation as a phenomenon. First, what are the cultural and cognitive

foundations that give rise to retaliation? Second, how do individual and situational factors

condition the nature of reprisals? Finally, under what circumstances do street criminals

redirect their anger and frustration against undeserving others and why? Throughout the

book, the authors pay close attention to the role that retaliation plays in both facilitating and

deterring violence in urban settings.

Chapter 1 discusses the sample data, methods, and theoretical groundwork used in the

book. Jacobs and Wright collect data from 52 qualitative interviews of active street criminals

in St. Louis, Missouri. In analyzing the data, the authors blend together rational choice the-

ory and phenomenological interactionism. Thus, the retaliatory process develops from and is

conditioned by external objectives and contingencies that work in tandem with personal emo-

tion and subjective interpretation. Although most street criminals invoke similar reasons for

engaging in reprisals, the authors find important variations in the etiology of the event.

Chapter 2 examines the underlying ethos of retaliation held by the offenders interviewed.

Aside from a desire to maintain anonymity from police in their own criminal enterprises,

offenders opt not to make official reports of victimization for several reasons. By settling

grievances on their own, victims display their defiance of police authority, often viewed as

incompetent and disrespectful. At the same time, such defiance circumvents the application

of what are perceived as lenient and ineffective official sanctions. Finally, for street crimi-

nals, respect and deterrence are the currency of negotiation for daily interactions. Retaliation

after an affront serves not only to exact retribution and repair damaged reputations but also

to punish violators and deter future attacks. To accomplish these goals, reprisals must be

more severe than the initial transgression, increasing the likelihood of counterretaliation.

Fatalism regarding future risk mitigates the potential for indecision or inaction.

In chapter 3, the authors present a typology of retaliation defined along two intersecting

situational dimensions: the timing of reprisals and the presence of face-to-face contact with

the initial violator. After a violation has occurred, the offending party may be confronted in

face-to-face interaction, or retaliation may be carried out without interpersonal contact. On

either side of this dichotomy, strikes against violators may come immediately following

272 Criminal Justice Review