Crime forms only a small and often insignificant amount of the harm experienced by people. While custom and tradition play an important role in the perpetuation of some types of harm, many forms of harm are rooted in the inequalities and social divisions systematically produced in - and by - contemporary states.

Exploring a range of topics including violence, indifference, corporate and state harms, murder, children, asylum and immigration policies, sexuality and poverty, the contributors raise a number of theoretical and methodological issues associated with a social harm approach. Only once we have identified the origins, scale and consequences of social harms, they argue, can we begin to formulate possible responses -- and these are more likely to be located in public and social policy than in the criminal justice system.

The book provides an original and challenging new perspective that goes beyond criminology - one which will be of interest to students, teachers and policy makers.