A sociological examination of violent crime and crimefighting in America. Topics include: violent urban youth gangs and crews; ethnically-based organized crime "families"; the recruitment, socialization, argot, culture, and worldviews of professional criminals; the stages of criminal careers; the ethics of criminal groups; the violence emerging out of the drug trade; the work worlds and habits of mind of crimefighters, with a special focus on uniformed police officers, detectives, and prosecutors; the symbolic representations of criminals and crimefighters in American popular culture; the relationships between law, crime, moral narratives, and social order; the crisis of the criminal justice system in America; and the globalization of crime. Special attention to the process of the criminal investigation. Format: lecture/discussion. Requirements: midterm paper, final exam, and a term paper. No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 25. Preference given to first-year students, sophomores, and Anthropology and Sociology majors.