Our Junior Theme student researchers who are looking at racial profiling, the justice system and police activity will also be interested in UNEASY PEACE by Patrick Sharkey (Chair of the Sociology Department at NYU) since that deals with "the great crime decline, the renewal of city life, and the next war on violence." Citing numerous statistics, Sharkey tends to write in a more hopeful tone; for example, saying "the drop in homicides since the early 1990s led to an improvement in the life expectancy of black men that rivals any public health breakthrough of the last several decades." Sharkey stresses the benefits of less violence for poorer inhabitants and for children, while also highlighting the need for continued efforts (in areas like affordable housing, policing, and education) funded by public and private sources. UNEASY PEACE is divided into three sections: the new American city; the benefits of the crime decline; and the challenge of violence and urban inequity; plus roughly a fourth of the book contains endnotes and further reading possibilities, all of which will help our researchers.

UNEASY PEACE received starred reviews from both Booklist and Kirkus.