Book Review: Blueprint of Revolution, Momboisse, R. M., Springfield Ill.: Chas. Thomas, 1970; 309 pp and index.; The History of Violence in America, Graham, H. D., and Gurr, T. R. (Eds), New York: Praeger, 1969; 822 pp, no index
| Published date | 01 December 1970 |
| Author | Kim Wyman |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486587000300414 |
| Date | 01 December 1970 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reiews |
AUST. &N.Z. JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY (Dec., 1970): 3, 4 251
when Igo out I'm going to make sure
I'm
not
caught again".
The difficulty
with
this
chapter
is
that
we do not know enough
about
the
prisoners
to permit these remarks being meaning-
fully evaluated. For example, had the
prisoners only recently been accepted into
therapy
and had
their
mental
state
varied
during their stay in Grendon, Donald,
whilst probably an "inadequate" person-
ality, might well have
been
depressed.
On balance this book cannot be
accounted a
very
valuable contribution to
criminological
literature
and
at $A6.20
the
book is not recommended for inclusion in
any
reading list or even as a necessary
acquisition to the shelves of criminological
libraries.
ALLEN
A.
BARTHOLOMEW
1.
See
Snell, H.K. (1962) H.M.
Prison
Grendon
Brit.
Med. J.
ii
789
and
Tollinton, H.P.
(1966)
Grendon
Prison
Brit. J. Criminol.
6 39.
Criminological Implications of Chromo-
some Abnormalities, collected papers
edited by West, D. J., Institute of
Criminology, University of Cambridge,
1969. 117 pp. £1.5.0.
THIS book, a collection of papers edited
by Dr. D. J.
West
that
were
presented to
the
"Cropwood Round Table Conference"
held in December 1969
under
the
auspices
of the Institute of Criminology of
the
University of Cambridge, is an indication
of
what
such university departments
should be doing.
There can be no doubt
that
the
demon-
stration
of
the
apparent
increased incidence
of
the
karyotype
47,XYY in a prisoner or
criminally insane popualtion
has
produced
great
interest in
the
whole question of
chromosome abnormalities by criminolo-
gists. The real value of
this
volume is
that
within the covers
are
eight papers con-
cerned with chromosome abnormalities
from a
number
of points of view. The
presentation
is essentially simple so
that
workers
in
any
discipline will be able to
cope with every
paper
without
a
great
deal
of preliminary reading in genetics.
A
matter
of interest is commented upon
by Dr. West in his Editorial when he
writes:
At first sight
the
practical importance of
chromosomal abnormalities in forensic
work
may
seem slight, since
the
rarity
of
the
anomalies (about one XYY in
every 700 male births) precludes
explanation in these
terms
of more
than
a
tiny
fraction of criminal cases. The
contribution to this conference by
Slater
and Kahn, reporting aconsiderably
raised incidence of minor translocation
abnormalities among remand home boys,
changes
the
picture drastically. These
kinds af chromosome deviations
are
comparatively common,
and
if
they
should prove to have asignificant asso-
ciation
with
delinquency it would mean
that
chomosomal factors could have
some relevance to quite large numbers
of cases.
Another
paper of especial
interest
is
that
by J. E. Hall Williams in
which
he
considers
the
possible relationship between
chromosomal abnormality
and
legal
accountability.
Finally, if for no
other
reason,
the
volume is of
great
worth
in relation to
the
bibliography. This sets
out
the
full title
of 201 references which is of considerable
assistance to
the
worker
in
the
field. It
is
thought
that
this volume is well worth-
while possessing, and most certainly read-
ing, in
order
that
the
criminologist may
keep
abreast
of the modern
work
and
thinking in genetic criminology.
ALLEN
A.
BARTHOLOMEW
Melbourne.
Blueprint of Revolution, Momboisse, R. M.,
Springfield Ill.: Chas. Thomas, 1970; 309
pp
and
index.
The
History
of Violence in America,
Graham, H. D.,
and
Gurr, T. R. (Eds), New
York: Praeger, 1969; 822 pp, no index.
VIOLENCE and law enforcement
are
two
sides of
the
same coin. This
currency
of
person-state relations underlines every
word
of
both
books. Each is an interest-
ing representative of its type. Because
neither
publisher is regularly represented
in Australia, retailers could
not
easily
ascertain prices,
but
both
books should, in
any
case, be considered for
every
reference
library.
The only bibliographical references made
in Momboisse's
text
are
to his
own
earlier
books: Riots, Revolts
and
Insurrections
(1967), Community Relations
and
Riot
Prevention (1967), and Industrial Security
for Strikes, Riots and Disasters (1968), all
from
the
same publisher. This prolific
writer
is also
the
Deputy Attorney-General
of California and, at
the
Federal level, sits
on
the
President's Commission on Law
Enforcement. Some indication of his
breadth of
interest
can be gleaned from
the
fact
that
in a revolutionary biblio-
graphy
of about 500 volumes he includes,
amongst such as von Clausewitz
and
Mao
Tse-tung,
our
very own Idress'
The
Aus-
tralian Guerilla
Book
(3 vols.).
Writing
under
the
imprimatur
of
To continue reading
Request your trial