Despite its wide usage, the concept of the "crime wave" has rarely been given explicit and detailed attention by criminologists. However, an exploration of this term, its various usages and the social forces which create, maintain and terminate crime waves facilitates an understanding of a diverse range of issues of interest to undergraduate audiences. "When Crime Waves" intends to focus on the crime wave as a way of organizing and critically investigating several such issues including: how and why crime rates change over time; why some types of crime and not others come in waves; how the ways in which we count crime document (and sometimes create) crime waves; and the role played by the mass media, politicians and interest group leaders in the promotion of crime waves.This is the only book to critically examine the phenomenon of crime waves in an engaging fashion for undergraduate students. Historical and contemporary examples drawn primarily from the U.S. International examples will be threaded thoughout the book for a comparative perspective. It examines the role media and politicians play in creating the perception that a crime wave has occurred.