Book Review: Preventing lethal violence in New Orleans, a great American city

• DOI: 10.1177/0734016817704693
• Date: 01 March 2021
• Published date: 01 March 2021
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Criminal Justice Review
2021, Vol. 46(1) 119-125
Book Reviews
ª 2017 Georgia State University
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Voight, L., Harper, D. W., & Thornton, W. E., Jr. (Eds.). (2015).
Preventing lethal violence in New Orleans, a great American city. Lafayette: University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press.
316 pp. US$29.95, ISBN 978-1-9357-5469-5.
Reviewed by: Jeff Hosking, Central Wyoming College, Riverton, WY, USA
DOI: 10.1177/0734016817704693
Purpose of Book
Preventing Lethal Violence in New Orleans, A Great American City by Lydia Voigt, Dee Wood
Harper, and William E. Thornton, Jr., has an anthology approach. It consists of nine different
presentations and an epilogue relevant to lethality in certain areas within New Orleans. The criminal
justice faculty at Loyola University New Orleans was tasked with bringing national experts and
practitioners on campus to engage in discussion and share best practices. This book is a result of a
conference which was entitled Preventing Lethal Violence in New Orleans. This 2-day conference
during October 2012 was held on the campus of Loyola University New Orleans.
Structure and Organization
Each chapter and presentation provides well-written and insightful information designed to alle-
viate, at least in part, the lethality of certain New Orleans areas. It is likely that some or all of these
presentations and writings will produce ideas, thoughts, views, and concepts about the alleviation of
lethality. Time is spent comparing other major cities concerning lethality issues; however, focus is
clearly on New Orleans.
Analysis of Content and Substance
Chapter 1 entitled New Orleans Homicide in Historical Perspective describes at least 100 years of
racial discrimination as a reason for problems in New Orleans. This well-researched and historical
view serves as a partial precursor to other chapters of this book. Chapter 2, New Orleans Neighbor-
hood Patterns of Homicide and...