After surveying more than 80 cases in which a confession was accepted as evidence in a "Mr. Big" organized crime sting, these legal experts suggest changes in undercover police practices in Canada. "Mr. Big" in these cases is a policeman posing as a criminal kingpin in order to coerce a confession from a suspect, but this study finds that this ruse is most successful when the suspect is from a marginalized group. In addition, police officers sometimes commit criminal offences while undercover--or they fake criminal behavior during the course of the sting--and the pretend 'interrogations' are not bounded by normal interview standards. On these grounds, the authors propose that this practice be drastically curtailed.

"Constructing Crime" examines the central question: Why do we
define and enforce particular behaviours as crimes and target
particular individuals as criminals?

To answer this question, contributors interrogate notions of crime,
processes of criminalization, and the deployment of the concept of
crime in five radically different sites. Two studies of fraud against
welfare recipients and physicians illustrate that uneven enforcement of
the law can leave the privileged with a sense of entitlement and the
marginalized with an imposed criminal self-concept. An examination of
the enforcement of laws against Aboriginal harvesting practices offers
yet another example of how the threat of prosecution can be used to
criminalize cultural practices, while a study of public housing reveals
that its form can influence how residents respond to disorder. Lastly,
a case study on gambling reveals just how malleable the criminal law
and definitions of crime can be.

By demonstrating that how crime is defined and enforced is connected
to social location and status, these interdisciplinary cases and an
afterword by Marie-Andree Bertrand challenge us to consider just who is
rendered criminal and why. This timely volume will appeal to policy
makers and students and practitioners of law, criminology, and
sociology.

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Constructing Crime examines the notion of crime as a construct and why particular behaviours and individuals are defined as criminal. Contributors interrogate notions of crime and processes of criminalization in five areas - the selective criminalization of gambling, the enforcement of fraud among physicians and welfare recipients, the enforcement of laws against Aboriginal harvesting practices, and perceptions of disorder in public housing projects. By demonstrating that definitions of crime are connected to social location and status, these case studies and an afterword by Marie-Andree Bertrand challenge us to consider just who is rendered criminal and why.