Shots in the Mirror: Crime Films and Society

by Nicole Rafter

Movies play a central role in shaping our understanding of crime and the world generally, helping us define what is good and bad, desirable and unworthy, lawful and illicit, strong and weak. Crime films raise controversial issues about the distribution of social power and the meanings of
deviance, and they provide a safe space for fantasies of rebellion, punishment, and the restoration of order.

In this first comprehensive study of its kind, well-known criminologist Nicole Rafter examines the relationship between society and crime films from the perspectives of criminal justice, film history and technique, and sociology. Dealing with over 300 films ranging from gangster and cop to trial
and prison movies, Shots in the Mirror concentrates on works in the Hollywood tradition but also identifies a darker strain of critical films that portray crime and punishment more bleakly.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Sociology

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1900

About the author

Nicole Rafter is Professor Emerita of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University.

She achieved her PhD in Criminal Justice from State University of New York. Albany sparked her academia career in feminist criminology. She began writing on delinquent individuals from the time of her very first publication in 1969.

In 1977 Rafter began teaching at Northeastern University’s College of Criminal Justice in Boston, Massachusetts. Here she developed one of the country’s first courses on women and crime as well as a course on crime films.

In 1999 she resigned her position as a full-time professor to focus on her writing projects. In 2002 she resumed teaching at the College of Criminal Justice with a graduate course in Biological Theories of Crime.

Her most recent two awards are the American Society of Criminology's Sutherland Award in 2009 as well as the Allen Austin Bartolemew award for Best Paper for Criminology's Darkest Hour: Biocriminology in Nazi Germany.

Reviews

[zar]

A very nice insight into crime films (one of my favorite film genres) and their set-up, plot-lines , stock characters, etc. I primarily read this for uni so a lot of what Rafter said coincided with the movies we watched in class and that made understanding the nuances of each so much better. 3.75/5

[div]

the textbook for my popular culture and crime class so it’s cool but just not that interesting at times. read almost all of it (we didn’t cover the introduction or chapter one), but most chapters were interesting to read. some weren’t that interesting in my opinion though lol, but it was exciting to read about some of the movies i’ve seen and how they’re analyzed as a criminal justice and criminology major!

[Mare]

I learned a lot about the film genre, specifically the crime film genre and the implications of these films in real life!

[J T]

One of the best books I've ever read. Organized around big issues, but so clear and definite in its details.