Gratuitous Angst in White America

"At the right time, Isom’s work delivers a rich socio-historic critique of the political shifts that we are witnessing today. Gratuitous Angst in White America is relevant, unapologetically brave, historically grounded, and feisty in its analysis and that is needed now more than ever."
Dr. Zoe Spencer, Emmy Award Winning Poet, Author, and Scholar"This book fills a major gap in the literature by examining the role that whiteness, particularly white privilege and the myth of white supremacy, plays in explaining crime among whites. It is notable for the background information it provides, the many literatures on which it draws, the intersectional approach it takes, and its description of the mechanisms by which whiteness causes crime. The book will stimulate much debate and research, taking criminology in a much needed direction."
Dr. Robert Agnew, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, Emory University"By offering an innovative analysis of white people’s privileged pathways to crime and their privileged exemption from the purview of criminal law, Deena Isom makes one of the most important contributions to a critical criminological understanding of the complex relationship between race/ethnicity, crime, and social control in this current era. It is a tour de force, one that will undoubtedly become a classic piece of intersectionality scholarship. Theoretically sophisticated, Isom’s path-breaking offering is a must-read for scholars, activists, practitioners, policymakers, and students seeking a timely, progressive, and un-varnished focus on race, justice, and inequality."
Dr. Walter S. DeKeseredy, Anna Deane Carlson Endowed Chair of Social Sciences, Director of the Research Center on Violence, and Professor of Sociology, West Virginia University"In this book, Dr. Deena Isom has trained her analytical sights upon troubling questions about racial justice. With an unflinching scholarly candor, she asks how it is possible to harness the explanatory lenses and tools of feminist intersectionality theory and critical race theory (among other frameworks) so to understand why the early 21st century witnessed the re-emergence of white nationalist/supremacist rationales for a more punitive American criminal justice system. Readers will be impressed with the breadth of the events and scholarly literature Dr. Isom includes in her cogent argument as to how white racial angst is at the heart of contemporary racist rhetoric, ideals, and policies."
Dr. Todd Shaw, Distinguished Associate Professor of Political Science and African American Studies, University of South Carolina

"As a classroom learning tool, Gratuitous Angst will continuously be valuable, as the shape of our democracy continues to (d)evolve, and emerging scholars and future practitioners need to be well-versed in such dynamics. This book would be especially useful for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in disciplines with a solid focus on theoretical frameworks and race in their coursework, such as criminology/criminal justice, sociology, and psychology, as well as courses focused on law/courts and political science. However, students at all levels can benefit from this text, as it encourages a pointed examination of how cultural history influences (and plagues) current society. My hope is that it inspires readers to embrace critical scholarship in the long term and demand that the entire academic landscape follow suit."
Dr. Miltonette Olivia Craig (JD, PhD), Assistant Professor and Research Coordinator for the Crime Victims’ Institute in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University, in ACJS Today 52:3 (May 2024).