Publication Date: January 2007
Over the past four decades the fear of
crime has become an increasingly significant concern for criminologists,
victimologists, policy makers, politicians, police, the media and the general
public. For many practitioners reducing fear of crime has become almost as
important an issue as reducing crime itself.
The identification of fear of crime as a serious policy problem has
given rise to a massive amount of research activity, political discussion and
intellectual debate. Despite this
activity, actually reducing levels of fear of crime has proved difficult. Even
in recent years when many western nations have experienced reductions in the
levels of reported crime, fear of crime has often proven intractable. The
result has been the development of what amounts to a fear of crime industry.
Previous studies
have identified conceptual challenges, theoretical cul-de-sacs and
methodological problems with the use of the concept fear of crime. Yet it has endured as both an organizing
principal for a body of research and a term to describe a social malady. This provocative, wide ranging book asks how
and why fear of crime retains this cultural, political and social scientific
currency despite concerted criticism of its utility? It subjects the concept to
rigorous critical scrutiny taking examples from the UK, North America and
Australia.
Part one of Inventing Fear of Crime
traces the historical emergence of the fear of crime concept, while part two
addresses the issue of fear of crime and political rationality, and analyses
fear of crime as a tactic or technique of government. His book will be essential reading on one of the key issues in
government and politics in contemporary society.
Fear and anxieties over crime of crime are a central feature of
western societies and their government’s approaches to crime control policy.
This book provides a wide-ranging analysis, investigating fear and
anxieties over crime with special reference to N America, UK and Australia.
This is a major contribution to criminological theory and our
understanding of the development of government policy on crime.
Contents
1
Introduction
2 Fear of crime: a pre-history
3 Anxieties in the knowledgeable society: the birth of a new criminological
object
4 Surveying the fearful: the expansion of the victim survey
5 Fearing subjects
6 Governing and policing the fearful
7 The marketing of monsters
8 Conclusions: don't mention the 'F' word
Bibliography
Index
Reviewer
Wanted
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Out of Sight
Crime, youth and
exclusion in modern Britain
Edition: 1st
Author: Robert McAuley
ISBN-10: 1-843921-96-0 ISBN-13:
978-1-843921-96-7 Price £40 HB Publication Date: October 2006 Publisher’s
Title Information Youth crime is
simultaneously a social problem and an intrinsic part of consumer culture:
while images of gangs and gangsters are used to sell global commodities, young
people not in work and education are labelled as antisocial and susceptible to
crime This book
focuses on the lives of a group of young adults living in a deprived housing
estate situated on the edge of a large city in the North of England. It
investigates the importance of fashion, music and drugs in young people’s
lives, providing a richly detailed ethnographic account of the realities of
exclusion, and explaining how young people become involved in crime and drug
use. Young men and women describe their own personal experiences of exclusion
in education, employment and the public sphere. They describe their history of
exclusion as ‘the life’, and the term identifies how young people grew up as
objects of suspicion in the eyes of an affluent majority. The author As the millennium
approached, a number of insightful books appeared that questioned the
self-satisfied state of fin-de-siecle Britain. In their descriptions of the
poor and the marginalised, works such as Danziger’s Britain (Danziger 1997) and
Dark Heart (Davies 1997) echoed earlier writing, for example, George Orwell’s
The Road to Wigan Pier. In Out of Sight, Robert McAuley adds to this recent
body of hitherto largely journalistic work by providing an ethnographic and
theoretically informed investigation of this ‘other’ Britain. His context is
Britain as a de-industrialised consumer society characterised by the
‘redevelopment of cities into theme parks organised around the pursuit of a
consumer lifestyle’ (page 12). Unfortunately these are theme parks that require
cheap labour to undertake work that is unrewarding and poorly paid. The
marginalised young people whom McAuley interviews and observes during his
twelve months of field work are faced with the unsatisfactory prospect of
joining this work force or opting for alternative means of scraping a living. McAuley focuses on ‘Nova’, a
1950s housing estate located on the edge of ‘Ford’, one of northern England’s
large cities. Initially constructed in post-war optimism to house the workers
who powered the post 1945 recovery, by the time of his study, Nova is
disproportionately featured in the local media for its association with car
crime, drug dealing and vandalism; its residents are associated with
fecklessness, poor parenting and welfare dependency. This is an estate
overlooked by regeneration booms and its residents are demonised at school and
work for where they come from. Geographically adjacent to Nova, regeneration
funding has led to the establishment of ‘Gemini Park,’ a retail, business and
hi-tech park where the more affluent residents of Ford work and play, oblivious
to the other Britain just beyond. Out of Sight provides
numerous rich insights into the lives of the young people of Nova. After
setting the context of Nova and its neighbour, Gemini Park, in chapters one and
two, the author allows his informants to guide us through their world. This
includes: the ‘workfare merry-go-round’ that perpetuates exclusion with its
culture of lowly paid, insecure employment; the escape of some into informal
work and working for themselves, sometimes crossing the border into criminality
through ‘mooching’ and going ‘on the shift’; the decline of others into class A
drug-taking. Relief is provided by ‘the Project’ (see below) and through the
hedonistic pursuit of leisure; the account of a night out in the area’s leading
night-spot is suitably grim. McAuley’s conceptual
framework is consumer society as ‘a world in which everyone is trapped’ (page
77) and where consumer culture is ‘defined by angst and dread’ (page 166). The
dominant structural conditions, exacerbated by government policy, ensure that
poor communities such as Nova are excluded and its residents carry the stigma
of crime. This is a post-modern vision in which the modern Nova contrasts
starkly with post-modern mainstream Britain (page 165). The absurdity of the
strangling structural conditions described by McAuley is symbolised by ‘the
Project’. This is a valued drop-in centre, providing employment advice for the
young people of Nova. It is one public amenity that has succeeded in wining the
trust of young people; it is both a link to work and training and also a place
where they meet and socialise. Yet because it doesn’t fit the managerialist
model of achieving performance targets and providing a standardised service, it
is forced to close, denting the collective confidence of the community’s young
people and further emphasising their exclusion. The outline thus far
suggests that the lives of Nova’s young people are bleak and literally
hopeless. However, the book describes also how the young people maintain their
self-respect through working for themselves and enjoying a collective,
inclusive culture expressed, for example, through hip-hop. The older young
people, particularly, maintain notions of faith in themselves and some degree
of positive certainty about the future. Following the low of the demise of ‘the
Project’, optimism for the future is raised by the creation of ‘Gateways’, a
local education and employment training centre, achieved through the social
capital that Nova’s community groups are able to build. For those who wonder
what will become of Nova’s young people, McAuley tells us towards the end of
the book (page 157) of returning to Nova and meeting up with the people who had
let him into their lives for a year; he finds that most remain strong and
resilient. This book is not without
faults. The prose throughout the book is idiosyncratic. For example, on page 20
McAuley argues that ‘economic and social policies designed to target young
people living in deprived urban areas are based on a principle of evil’ (page
20). He certainly can’t be accused of fence-sitting. In addition: the frequent
sub-headings don’t always appear directly relevant to the text that follows;
Ellis Cashmore is not an African American as stated on page 163. He is ‘White
British’ (more Birmingham, West Midlands, than Birmingham, Alabama).
Nevertheless, McAuley should be congratulated; his personal investment in this
ethnographic journey shines through and he succeeds in bringing out these
people’s voices and their experiences of exclusion. References Davies, N (1997) Dark Heart:
The shocking truth about hidden Britain, London: Vintage Danziger, N. (1997)
Danziger’s Britain: A journey to the edge, London: Flamingo Reviewer: Dr Rob Mawby, Reader in
Criminal Justice, Centre for Criminal Justice Policy and Research, UCE
Birmingham. Imagining Security Edition: 1st Author: Jennifer Wood &
Clifford Shearing ISBN 10: 1-843920-74-3 ISBN-13:
978-1-843920-74-8 Publishers: Willan Price £22 Publication Date: November
2006 Publisher’s Title
Information This book is concerned with the ways in which the problem
of security is thought about and promoted by a range of actors and agencies in
the public, private and nongovernmental sectors. The authors are concerned not
simply with the influence of risk-based thinking in the area of security, but seek
rather to map the mentalities and practices of security found in a variety of
sectors, and to understand the ways in which thinking from these sectors
influence one another. Their particular concern is to understand the drivers of
innovation in the governance of security, the conditions that make innovation
possible and the ways in which innovation is imagined and realised by actors
from a wide range of sectors. The book has two key themes:
first, governance is now no longer simply shaped by thinking within the state
sphere, for thinking originating within the business and community spheres now
also shapes governance, and influence one another. Secondly, these developments
have implications for the future of democratic values as assumptions about the
traditional role of government are increasingly challenged. Cutting-edge
analysis of the nature of thinking of security and its wider implications Leading scholars
in the field Widespread
international interest in this issue Contents Reviewer
Wanted Would you be interested in
reviewing this book? (The Book Above) If you are interested in providing a review in about 600/800 words within 3 months or sooner then please contact me by e-mail at robjerrard@aol.com providing a small CV and your interest in this particular book. For an indication of what is
required please see this site, which contains hundreds of examples. "Internet Law book Reviews" which currently attracts up to 1000 visitors per day welcomes all categories of reviewers. Crime Online Edition: 1st Author: Edited by
Yvonne Jewkes ISBN-10:
1-843921-97-9 Publishers: Willan Price £22 Publication Date: November
2006 Publisher’s Title
Information Crime Online is concerned to
explore the dual capacity of the Internet to pervert and to democratize: it
offers its users freedom, democracy, and communication with people around the
world while at the same time generating anxieties concerning its potential to
corrupt vulnerable minds and facilitate heinous crimes. This book
provides a highly authoritative account and analysis of key issues within the
rapidly burgeoning field of cybercrime. Drawing upon a range of internationally
known experts in the field, and representing several different disciplines, Crime Online focuses on different
constructions and manifestations of cybercrime and diverse responses to its
regulation. It will be essential reading for anybody with an interest in one of
the most exciting and fast moving areas of crime, policing and legislation. Contents The editor Reviewer
Wanted Would you be interested in
reviewing this book? (The Book Above) If you are interested in providing a review in about 600/800 words within 3 months or sooner then please contact me by e-mail at robjerrard@aol.com providing a small CV and your interest in this particular book. For an indication of what is
required please see this site, which contains hundreds of examples. "Internet Law book Reviews" which currently attracts up to 1000 visitors per day welcomes all categories of reviewers. Young People
and Offending : Education,youth justice and social inclusion Author: Martin
Stephenson ISBN-10:1-843921-54-5 ISBN-13:978-1-843921-54-7 Price £19.50 Publication
Date: November 2006 Publisher’s
Title Information The relationship between education and youth crime has long been recognised in terms of social policy and public opinion, the full extent of this and its implications has been largely neglected and unexplored: educationalists on the one hand and
criminologists on the other have largely failed to engage meaningfully with one
another on the issue, and there has often been a large gap between youth
justice and educational provision. This book seeks
to remedy this deficiency, providing a critical survey of the research evidence,
policy development and practical issues relating to education and offending by
young people. It has the following objectives: to examine the evolution of
social policy and institutions in relation to the relationship between
education and offending by young people; establish the scale and nature of the
problem and the characteristics of the young people involved; identify any
evidence based approaches that could be adopted across education and youth
justice; review the effectiveness of New Labour's education and youth justice
reforms; propose a series of measures for social policy makers and
practitioners in education and youth justice. Contents I was particularly interested in reviewing this book since
my own work for over 20 years was in the prevention and treatment of young
persons who were becoming delinquents and criminals. I ran a therapeutic
community and school at Allington Manor, in Hampshire between 1977 and 1997
which individually assessed, treated and educated the young persons in my care,
many of whom had already committed serious crimes. The author rightly brings
into the open the devastating effect that a poor education has on children at
risk who end up by becoming delinquents. This is due to the lack of adequate analysis
of their problems in school and an appropriate educational curriculum to meet
their needs. This is why prisons spend
a considerable period of time in educating young offenders through teaching
them to read and write. This point was also made by Rod Morgan, Chairman, Youth
Justice Board who wrote the foreword to the book. Education is an important
aspect to consider as it can both cause antisocial and delinquent behaviour and
prevent it by an appropriate educational presentation to the child at an optimum
time in his life. This book provides evidence of this as to the question of the
importance of appropriate education for potential young persons who are likely
to offend.This book therefore is likely to be of considerable value to
Probation Officers, Youth Justice Practitioners, and those running Therapeutic
Communities and Schools whether they be open or secure. Mr Stephenson, the author,
has extensive experience in education, youth justice and social care. He has
been on the Youth Justice Board from 1998 onwards to 2002. He was a Chief
Executive of the charity INCLUDE. This organisation provides education for
excluded young persons. The book is divided into
three sections. The first provides background theories and evidence and the
evolution of education and youth justice, as well as social exclusion and youth
crime. Section 2 provides information on the impact on young persons due to an
inappropriate education being presented to them. This often results in low
achievement and eventually, coming into conflict with the Law. Part 3 concerns
itself with what can be done about the situation and involves the work of
Magistrates, the Youth Justice System, and social policy as well as social
inclusion. The book begins with a
glossary of terms including such terms as Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity
Disorders (ADHD), Special Education Needs (SEN) and the Young Offender
Institution (YOI). These terms are particularly employed in dealing with young
people who offend. The author points out what
has been known for many years that young people who are disengaged from
education are much more likely to be involved in antisocial and criminal
behaviour. One might well ask whether the education system currently in vogue
is responsible for much crime that could have been prevented had an appropriate
method been included for young persons who cannot compete effectively with
others in the school setting. Such youngsters then become severely handicapped
in obtaining appropriate employment due to the fact that they have often failed
to receive either education or training. This is often due to their "drop-out"
from school and their having a string of offences before they are of school
leaving age. This leads to low self-esteem and the tendency to seek
gratification elsewhere. This is often by participating in a variety of
criminal activities. Once such youngsters have been incarcerated their chances
of finding employment of an appropriate kind becomes even more severely
restricted. The process is well known.
Children initially find school work difficult, or meaningless, or both, and
become children who are stressed and frustrated. This is followed by conduct
disorders of various kinds. The next step is undoubtedly to avoid attending
school or when attending school showing signs of considerable behaviour
problems. Sometimes they bully and sometimes they become the target of
bullying. They frequently turn to such behaviour as shoplifting, joy riding,
drinking alcohol, and taking and selling drugs. Eventually they graduate to assaulting
or robbing others. Sometimes even more serious crimes than that are committed
by such young persons as they graduate from one antisocial activity to another.
This book returns again and again to the connection between an inappropriate
education and criminality. Quite early such youngsters become labelled and such
labels stick. They tend to become worse as time and same antisocial cycle
continues. The author draws heavily on
research carried out by such individuals as Farrington, Furlong, West and Pennell.
This book continues to explore the relationship between education and
offending. Efforts are made by the penal system rather belatedly to put right
what has gone wrong before and to provide education for the young people who
have failed to receive it earlier. One might well ask: "Would there be so many
in prison today had they in the early stages received an appropriate and
meaningful educational process?" This book is well written.
It is informative and well organised with summaries at the end of chapters and
sections. In the final section the author puts forward some ideas that may be
of value. He states in the final conclusions: "The only chances of significant
improvement lie in a very significant reduction in the custodial population and
complete reconfiguration of the juvenile secure estate." Hence the author
encourages, except for the most grave of crimes, some other form of dealing
with young offenders than utilising the prison system primarily. This I endorse
most whole-heartedly. L F Lowenstein Problem-oriented Policing
and Partnerships: Implementing an evidence-based approach to crime reduction Edition: 1st Authors: Karen Bullock,
Rosie Erol & Nick Tilley ISBN-10:
1-843921-39-1 Publishers: Willan Price £26 Publication Date: September 2006 This book makes an important
contribution to the literature on problem-oriented policing, aiming to distill
the British experience of problem-oriented policing. Drawing upon over 500
entries to the Tilley Award since its inception in 1999, the book examines what
can be achieved by problem-oriented policing, what conditions are required for
its successful implementation and what has been learned about resolving crime
and disorder issues. Contents Reviewer
Wanted Would you be interested in
reviewing this book? (The Book Above) If you are interested in providing a review in about 600/800 words within 3 months or sooner then please contact me by e-mail at robjerrard@aol.com providing a small CV and your interest in this particular book. For an indication of what is
required please see this site, which contains hundreds of examples. "Internet Law book Reviews" welcomes all categories of reviewers. Holding Your Square Masculinities, Streetlife and Violence Edition: 1st Author: Christopher Mullins ISBN: 1843921944 Publishers: Willan Price £40 Publication Date: September
2006 Publisher’s Title
Information This book is
about the meanings of masculinities within the social networks of the streets
of an American city (St Louis, Missouri), and how these shaped perceptions and
enactments of violence. Based on a
large number of interviews with offenders the author provides a rich
description of life on the streets, contextualizing criminal violence within
this deviant subculture, and with a specific focus on issues of gender. The book provides one of the most detailed
descriptions yet of the forms masculinity takes in disadvantages communities in
the United States. It establishes how
street based gender identity motivated and guided men through violent
encounters, exploring how men’s relationships with women and their families
instigated violence. One key issue
addressed is why men resorted to violence in certain situations and not in
others, exploring the range of choices open to them and how these opportunities
were interpreted. The book makes a
major contribution to the study of the relationship between masculinities and
violence, making use of a much larger sample than elsewhere. Contents Holding Your Square is one
of the first offerings as part of Willan publishing’s new crime and ethnography
series. However the title is
interesting in so far as it is not what one would expect of ethnographic
research because its author, Christopher Mullins is not the ethnographer. Rather he has drawn on a staggering array of
work undertaken by a collective of academics at the University St Louis,
Missouri as part of an ongoing academic project aimed at mapping the particular
criminal’s practices and cultures around a number of black American men from an
excluded community where opportunities are limited. To that end, much of the material has already been used and
published, for example as texts on ‘Street Justice’ (Jacobs and Wright 2006)
and ‘Robbing drug dealers’ (Jacobs 2000).
Indeed one of the disappointing aspects of this book, is that those who
have read the various offerings of the St. Louis academics might well feel a
sense of déjà vu. While Mullins can
claim to have used an innovative methodology, whether his using ethnographic
data from a range of different projects towards a singular end (examining
masculinity and crime generally) really offers anything theoretically new is
debatable. Indeed, I found his
inductive theory coupled with a re-evaluation of existing ethnographic data to
be far less interesting than the original studies. Mullins text is a little
repetitive; there are very few basic observations; that gendered power on the
streets is not simply men’s patriarchal dominance over women, and such gendered
roles should not simply be taken for granted; the meanings of masculinities
within the social networks of the streets are shaped by perceptions and
enactments of violence; and that there is a distinct street culture that is
largely masculine and highly stylised.
The book is best when it charts these and lets the ethnographic material
flow, and provides a rich description of the sub cultural life of criminals on
the streets. However, empirically, it
has more to say than it does theoretically, and the way in which Mullins deals
with the issues of gender after a while becomes rather repetitive. While it might be true that there are highly
stylised masculine roles on the streets amongst offenders, the theoretical
dressing that accompanies this seems to offer little that is new. Criminals are driven by hedonism; they hold
particular perceptions of masculinity based around violence; they are
fatalistic; there are hegemonic and subordinate male roles; it is bad to be
called a ‘punk’. None of this strikes
me as particularly relevant or new.
When compared with the way the data had originally been employed (for
example in Jacobs and Wrights accounts of street justice mentioned above) it is
not nearly as interesting or accessible. References Jacobs, Bruce A. 2000.
Robbing Drug Dealers: Violence beyond the Law. New York: Aldine de Gruyter Jacobs, B and Wright, R
(2006) Street Justice: Retaliation in the Criminal Underworld. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press James Treadwell Title: The Price of Sex,
Prostitution, policy and society Author: Belinda Brooks-Gordon Publishers: Willan Price £22 Publication Date: July 2006 Publisher’s Title
Information As a society we are buying
more sex than ever before. Adult sex shops now take their place amongst
retailers in the high street and lap dancing clubs compete for an increased
share of the leisure economy. Hotel chains offer sexually explicit films as
part of their standard service, the party selling of adult toys to women in
their homes has become a mainstream activity. And at the traditional end of the
sexual service economy, prostitution has experienced new growth. Society buys more sex than
ever before Focus on issue of how
society deals with the selling of sexual services and how it is to be regulated Provides a critical
perspective on recent legislation and the chaos surrounding attempts to
regulate it Review This is the latest in the
rapidly expanding specialist series of Willan books on themes relating to sex
and society. It addresses a real gap in terms of current texts and understandings
in relation to the problem of prostitution and specifically the legalization of
commercial sex work. The author sets her stall out right from the start
asserting that recent Government reforms to control prostitution are
counter-productive in not only failing to meet their desired objectives, but in
creating a number of unanticipated ancillary social problems. She has also been
fortunate to draw on the expertise and help of a number of leading
criminologists and practitioners in the
field, including Betsy Stanko, Keith
Soothill, Helen Self, Lorraine Gelsthorpe and the Metropolitan Police Vice and
Clubs Unit. This gives the book not only considerable academic integrity, but
embeds the discussion in a practical and real life context as well. The first chapter provides a
brief historiography of societal responses to commercial sex as both an actual
and perceived problem, from initial public acceptance in Roman times to an
increasingly less tolerant and more repressive regime. Reference is made to
moral repression, the role of the church, the hypocrisy of the Victorians and
associated vice and vigilance campaigns, through to the Wolfenden Report and
the Sexual Offences Act 1956. From then the increasing use of more punitive
strategies aimed at ‘eradicating’ the ‘problem,’ primarily the kerb-crawling
provisions of 1985 are covered, culminating in the Sexual Offences Act 2003. In the second chapter
Brooks-Gordon analyses the integrity of the Government’s investigation into the
current problem of prostitution; analysing its Consultation Document Paying the
Price 2004 and subsequent Co-ordination Strategy on Prostitution January 2006.
The consultation report maintains the premise that prostitution must be
controlled despite the fact that it is not illegal. The author challenges the
Government’s approach on the basis of its failure to even ask the question
whether sex-work should be legitimate and its automatic assumption that it is
and should be a crime. The consultation exercise is subjected to considerable
criticism, particularly the lack of any historical perspective post-Wolfenden
in the literature review and the subsequent failure to consider the wider
contextual and socio-cultural changes of the past 50 years. The failure to
address the psyche of male sex clients and the reasons why they choose to
engage in commercial sex is identified as another shortcoming. Existing research on these themes is also
underutilised and remarkably the Home Office is alleged to have misrepresented
its own previously commissioned research.
Further condemnation emanates from the Government’s failure to fully
consider policy initiatives introduced elsewhere, particularly Sweden, Germany,
the Netherlands and New Zealand, and where reference has been made the author
claims it has been misinterpreted or misread.
Finally, in relation to domestic ‘re-education schemes’ and ‘conditional
cautioning’ the claimed successes of the Home Office are not, she argues,
supported by its own research and statistics. Thus not only is it claimed
that there appears to be a considerable amount of spin but also that the
Government’s approach lacks integrity in its failure to analyse the problem of
prostitution in light of the not inconsiderable debates that have been taking
place in sociological discourse. Brooks-Gordon questions the failure to utilise
any legal discourse (i.e. legitimacy and
legal theory), feminist
discourse (traditional moral discourse, sexual domination discourse, sex work
discourse) or social policy discourse (public nuisance discourse, moral order
discourse, market discourse) which given the subject matter displays either
extreme ignorance or extreme arrogance and the author is right to point this
out. Instead she asserts that the discourse adopted is one where sex work is
constructed as a crime, and that adult prostitution and child prostitution are
confused through the emphasis on both being labelled as ‘victims’ and subjects
of abuse, when patently with adult prostitution this is not always the case.
While the subsequent Co-ordination Strategy contains some positive changes such
as the removal of ‘common’ prostitute, referral medical services for street sex
workers (albeit under threat of failure to comply) and redefinitions of and
co-operation between brothels etc; the lack of vision including the dismissal
of safety zones is in her view very disappointing. Brooks-Gordon also offers
some interesting commentary on the police perspective questioning police
(primarily The Met) neutrality (at higher levels) in terms of intervention and politicization.
She also alleges that the police are complicit in maintaining a high moral tone
about commercial sex aligning themselves with some unfamiliar partners: ‘The Strategy is a curious alliance of views
which melds those of the police and the tabloids with those of radical
separatist feminists, who along with the religious right, had a vested interest
in running exit programmes linked to a new moral agenda (p.73).’ The book then moves on in
chapter three to analyse some empirical research conducted by the author with
men who pay for sex, preceeded by a summary of the limitations of previous
research in this field. The chapter maps out the characteristics and patterns
of 518 cases of kerb crawlers stopped in London over a 2 year period categorized
according to ethnicity, age, employment, offence circumstances, vehicle use etc
confirming a number of (mainly unsurprising) assumptions and correlations. For
example it was found that most street business occurs mid-week, that there was
a significant proportion of diplomats and taxi drivers, tourists were treated
more leniently than UK nationals, and many men were as interested in voyeurism
as commercial sex etc.. The findings are used to highlight the practical
problems of enforcing law and policy espoused in chapter four which reflects on
police responses and perceptions as evidenced in patrolling practices. Writing
in the aftermath of the Macpherson Inquiry the author seems to be somewhat
surprised that there was a ‘necessary awareness of gender’ in the Vice Squads
she followed and had expected to find more examples of institutionalized racism
and sexism. Such assumptions from
academics highlight the damage that findings of ‘institutionalized racism’ can
create where all personnel are so-defined and the difficulties for the police
service in endeavouring to overcome such labelling. The research also revealed the dilemma held by many specialist
officers that while they did not perceive prostitutes to be in the same class
as other criminal offenders they acknowledged the need to respond to residents’
concerns. The result was that this could often lead to a selective and
undesirable charging strategy. On the other hand police officers, particularly
female officers, were more dismissive of kerb crawlers and reported that
dealing with them had led to a more sensitive understanding of the issues faced
by sex workers. From her fieldwork, four
typical responses of kerb crawlers to any police approach are identified -
admission, admission to cruising, denial and failure to stop. These are
reinforced by a distinctive 5 Phase order which matches, in 95% of the
incidents observed, the interactions between the police and the kerb crawlers
in the sample. These are labelled as the Bemused Phase, Excuse Phase, Indignant
Phase, Confrontational/Pleading Phase and Indication of Future Intent. These
signifiers are used to explain the tactics and strategies adopted by the kerb
crawlers leading to the (not unexpected?) conclusion that kerb crawling is ‘not
only more sophisticated and rule-governed behaviour than previously thought,
but also perhaps more deeply rooted in the psyche …’ It is then strongly
suggested that this model has implications for policy and practice such as in
determining appropriate prosecution strategies. Chapter five is a short
chapter that summarizes the incidence of violence against prostitutes. Again,
unsurprisingly, the author concludes that levels of reporting violence against
sex workers are low, that 73 sex workers were killed 1990-2002 and that current
sentencing practice is therefore not working. The case is briefly made that
this justifies the promotion of a safer environment for sex workers and that
only a seismic shift in public policy towards commercial sex will have any
significant and positive impact. No doubt Brooks-Gordon is right in this
context, but it appears unlikely that the Government will offer a sympathetic
ear at the moment. Perhaps of more interest is the tentative suggestion that
there could be a link between those who kerb crawl and those who perpetrate
serious acts of violence against prostitutes, albeit in a very small number of
cases. The main conclusion drawn is
that recent policies have increasingly criminalized the client and constructed
the sex worker as victim causing conflicting tensions and dilemmas for police
professionals. ‘Client’ groups are treated differently by the police and
consequently the law is neither applied consistently or neutrally, undermining
its integrity. The utility of criminalizing kerb crawlers is strongly
challenged and the argument made that more non-criminal alternatives should be
considered. A considerable number of (controversial?) suggestions for reform
are proposed including the decriminalization of sex work and introduction of
rights for those who choose to engage in what should be legitimate work,
whether as part of a small worker-run establishment or larger business concern.
Safety zones should be designated for street workers to operate in and laws
protecting sex workers introduced so that civil remedies can be brought against
those who abuse or harass them. Overseeing this should be a Home Office Sex
Industry Inspectorate. While not everyone will necessarily agree with all of
the recommendations and proposals suggested they are worthy of serious debate
and introspection. This book should therefore provide the catalyst to generate
the broader debate that Government in its consultation seemingly wished to
avoid, whether deliberately or otherwise. Kim Stevenson Forensic Identification and
Criminal Justice Forensic Science, Justice
and Risk Edition: 1st Author: Carole McCarthy ISBN: 1-84392-184-7 Publishers: Willan Price £35 Publication Date: July 2006 Publisher’s Title
Information Analyses development of forensic identification technologies and impact on legal system
Considers human rights implications
Focus on national DNA database and its implications
This book provides an
account of the development of forensic identification technologies and the way
in which this has impacted upon the legal system. It traces the advent of
forensic identification technologies, focusing on fingerprinting and forensic
DNA typing, and their growing deployment within the criminal justice system. It
also elucidates the ways in which these new technologies are accelerating
procedural changes to investigative practices, and shows the ways in which in
some areas human rights (such as privacy rights and rights against
discrimination) are coming under threat. The use of forensic evidence in
criminal investigations and trials is analysed in detail. This book uncovers the way
in which this new reliance on forensic technologies has gained a foothold
within the criminal justice system, and the risks and dangers that this can
pose. The National DNA Database provides a particular focus of attention. The
author seeks to move beyond an approach that has seen forensic DNA profiling
as error free, situating her analysis within broader risk discourses. Contents The first few pages of this
book set out how the Government, the criminal justice system, and many others
view forensic science. The author quotes the House
of Lords Committee on Science and Technology, which outlined the task of
forensic science as ‘to serve the interests of justice by providing
scientifically based evidence relating to criminal activity’. The author then
quotes the Forensic Science Service, (FSS), which states that its mission is
‘to provide forensic science information and expertise to support the
investigation and detection of crime and the prosecution of offenders, and so
to contribute to the prevention, deterrence and reduction of crime’. Also
quoted is the FSS mission, which is ‘to realise the full potential of forensic
science to contribute to safer and more just society’. The book concentrates, but not exclusively, on the only two methods of positive identification that science can provide, which are DNA and Fingerprints. The book gives the reader a brief history of
forensic science and then fingerprints and DNA, before discussing whether or
not the latter two are as infallible as many perceive them to be. The arguments
for and against are well presented and the author draws on many references,
interviews and other sources. I was pleased to see the author state that whilst
DNA is hailed as the ‘holy grail’ of identification techniques, the humble
fingerprint retains its status as the most commonly utilised method of forensic
identification. The legal
framework of police investigations and forensic identity evidence is discussed,
including the legal provisions for obtaining samples and the potential for a
suspect to refuse to supply samples.
The various Acts of Parliament, Codes of practice, Law reviews and
stated cases are discussed and commented on. Figures quoted
in the book show how Government expenditure on the DNA programme has expanded
at a massive rate during the last decade, but rightly questions whether this
expenditure has brought comparable results. The author does not answer this
question. My answer to the above question is no, and my reasons for this is
something that is not directly mentioned in the book. The Government has spent
millions of pounds, (over £300 million to date), on a DNA database and
everything that goes with it, but then installs ‘budget managers’ in police
forces. The result of this, all over the country, is that crime-scene examiners
are returning from major crime scenes with, for example twenty five exhibits
for examination by the FSS, only to be told by the budget manager, (who is
neither a scientist or police officer), “we can only afford to send three
samples for examination”. The author
also discusses the impact of the National DNA Database on crime figures, and
this is neatly summed up by one interviewee who states, “DNA will never affect
crime figures. It could mean that more
guilty people are convicted, however, these days getting caught doesn’t matter
to the majority of criminals, because hardly any punishment fits the crime”. The book then
looks at recent developments in DNA profiling, changes in the law that have
occurred to accommodate these developments and asks what the future is. The
fact that it is now legal to retain, on various databases profiles of persons
who are not charged or who are later acquitted, (this concerns me a great
deal), is discussed at length. Biometrics, their reliability and feasibility,
identity cards, the information held on Government databases and much more is
written about in the chapter entitled ‘The future of forensic identification:
issues and prospects’. Part of this chapter also makes reference to the
security of the various databases, especially the DNA database, who has access
to it and who may have access to it in the future. At the moment the FSS are
the custodians of the National DNA Database, but what happens, the author asks,
if, in the future, the FSS is privatised and the entire stock of DNA samples
are handed over to a public limited company? I have to
confess however, that I personally found this book difficult to read. The
author draws on many references, interviews and websites and I believe, too
many. There are no less than twenty pages of references, many being quoted
numerous times. I have no doubt however, that this book, which contains so much
information and comment about all aspects of forensic identification and
criminal justice, will prove to be an invaluable tool for scientists, lawyers
and police officer Andy Day 2007 Captured
by the Media Prison
discourse in popular culture Edition:
1st Author:
Edited by Paul Mason ISBN:
1-84392-144-8 Publishers:
Willan Publishers Price
£18.99 Publication
Date: November 2005 Publisher’s
Title Information This
book turns on the television, opens the newspaper, goes to the cinema and
assesses how punishment is performed in media culture, investigating the
regimes of penal representation and how they may contribute to a populist and
punitive criminological imagination. It places media discourse in prisons
firmly within the arena of penal policy and public opinion, suggesting that
while Bad Girls, The Shawshank Redemption, internet jail cams, advertising and
debates about televising executions continue to ebb and flow in contemporary
culture, the persistence of this spectacle of punishment - its contested
meaning and its politics of representation - demands investigation. Alongside
chapters addressing the construction of popular images of prison and the death
penalty in television and film, Captured by the Media also has contributions
from prison reform groups and prison practitioners which discuss forms of media
intervention in penal debate. This
book provides a highly readable exploration of media discourse on prisons and
punishment, and its relationship to public attitudes and government penal
policy. At the same time it engages with the 'cultural turn' within criminology
and offers an original contribution to discussion of the relationship between
prison, public and the state. It will be essential reading for students in both
media studies and criminology as well as practitioners and commentators in
these fields. The
editor Paul
Mason lectures at the School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff
University. He has written extensively in the field of crime and media, and is
the editor of Criminal Visions: media representations of crime and justice
(2003) and co-author (with Frank Leishman) of Policing and the Media: facts,
fictions and factions (2003), both published by Willan Publishing. He is Editor
of [jc2m] Journal of Crime, Conflict and Media Culture. The
contributors Rob
Allen, Jamie Bennett, Steve Chibnall, Chris Greer, Brian Jarvis, Yvonne Jewkes,
Helen Johnston, Anna King, Shadd Maruna, Paul Mason, Mike Nellis, Mick Ryan,
Enver Solomon. Contents 1 Turn on, tune in, slop out, Paul Mason, Cardiff University REVIEW At the present time of
writing, prisons and prisoners seem to be hardly, if ever, out of the news.
Both the popular press, and mainstream TV news, have given high profile to a
series of concerns including - convicted offenders who are sentenced too
leniently, the re-offending with sometimes tragic consequences of prisoners freed on license and parole, and
the 'scandal' of foreign prisoners released without being considered for
deportation. Many criminologists would
argue that the public is not particularly well served by this style of
reporting, which tends to infer that our criminal justice system is 'soft on
crime' - despite the fact that Britain already has more life-sentenced
prisoners than any other European country, who are increasingly serving longer
and longer sentences than would have been the case ten or twenty years ago. The power of the media to
set the climate within which penal affairs are debated is a key theme of this
collection edited by Paul Mason. The book claims to address how prison is
portrayed in a range of media - including both the news media and fictional
portrayals in film and television, but perhaps has most success in addressing
the former. Yvonne Jewkes, for example, provides a chapter attempting to assess
the significance of the TV dramas Bad Girls and Porridge, in contrast to the
view of prisoners provided by the news media. Do these two popular TV
portrayals have any practical impact or effect? Jewkes thinks not - suggesting
that their relatively sympathetic portrayals of inmates are simply drowned out
by the weight of news media portrayals of notorious inmates who have committed
heinous crimes - the Ian Huntleys and Harold Shipmans of the prison population.
Other contributors to this
volume follow a similar line of enquiry. Both Mick Ryan and Enver Soloman
identify the ways in which reporting the 'notorious and heinous' is an easy
option for news makers, whilst perhaps also conceding that public opinion on
crime and punishment is not as simplistic as the newspaper tabloid editors
would have us believe. But, both believe that, at present, the news media
misinforms the public about the make-up of the prison population, the character
of their offences and the viability of alternatives to prison. And both suggest
that there is a need to engage the public with a more rounded appreciation of
prisons and prisoners. This is perhaps where this
book is weakest. Having recognised the need for alternative ways of engaging
the public in debate about prison, the authors tend to ignore or decry those
media portrayals which attempt to do just this. Jamie Bennett offers an
insightful examination of the work of documentary film-maker Rex Bloomstein.
Bennet is able to show how Bloomstein's Lifer: Living With Murder undermines simplistic perceptions of what life-sentenced
prisoners are like and whether they
can and should be eligible for
parole. But this chapter is one of the few in this collection to find some
value in sympathetic portrayals of offenders, in contrast to the more usual
media stereotypes. More generally, this
collection is biased towards 'prison
media pessimism' - believing that media portrayals of prison and offenders have an impact when supporting a drift
toward tougher penal policy, but decrying the extent to which media portrayals can contribute towards more
empathetic and less punitive responses to offending. It would have been nice to
see an appreciation of the recent round of offender-centred docusoaps - Make Me
Honest, Brat Camp, Bad Lads Army, Real Bad Girls, etc., although one feels that
these would be unlikely to receive a sympathetic appreciation from authors
generally committed to disapproval of media portrayals. Given the present state of
the way prison policy is presented within the popular media, it is perhaps
understandable that the contributors to this collection tend towards criticism
of media portrayals of prison. Although one perhaps might have liked to see
more discussion of ways in which the media products we do have could be used as
a springboard for debate (eg. Is it possible to use popular film and television
in offence confrontation work?). As it is, this collection will appeal most to
academics already interested in this area of study, and is likely to win few
new converts to the cause of prison reform. For lecturers who teach courses on
'Crime and the Media' it is worth ordering a copy of Captured By The Media for
your library. Students may well find
the papers collected here a stimulus for starting to think about how prisons
and prisoners are portrayed within our culture - an important area of study as our
society looks set to continue the trend towards an ever higher prison
population. Sean O’Sullivan Centre for Criminal Justice
Policy and Research UCE Birmingham Organised
Crime Edition:
1st Author:
Alan Wright ISBN:
1-84392-140-5 Publishers:
Willan Price
£17.99 Publication
Date: December 2005 This book aims to provide an accessible introduction to the
study of organised crime - about those who commit it, the effect it has on
individuals, businesses and states, and the ways in which states and the
international community have sought to contain it. It explores all facets of what
has become one of the key problems facing governments, policy makers and law
enforcement agencies in the early twenty-first century. The nature and central concepts of organised crime The specific activities with which it is associated Its origins and growth nationally, regionally and
globally The efforts by the international community and law enforcement
agencies to contain, regulate and control the risks that it poses The book contains a number of detailed case studies illustrating
the growth of organised crime at national, international and transnational
levels, ranging from the mafia, criminal gangs in the UK through to the new
wave of organised crime in Russia and the post-Soviet states. It will be
essential reading for both students and practitioners in the police and other
law enforcement agencies who have a concern with organised crime worldwide. As an academic 'specialism',
'organised crime' tends to be addressed in the most part in a plethora of
writing originating in the United States.
Elsewhere, when it is discussed in relation to the U.K, the majority of
texts are not academic, but penned either by unrepentant 'hardmen' who are
often repetitive, stereotypical and self aggrandising; or by crime reporters
and journalists whose shameless voyeurism is often barely disguised. Both of these types of study can be quickly
located in the section marked 'true crime' in a book shop. In contrast criminological accounts are a little
thin on the ground. Academics who write
about organised crime (normally the usual suspects of Mike Levi, Dick Hobbs and
Vincenzo Ruggiero) have tended to produce excellent contributions, but these
can be either difficult to obtain, or more specialist texts. For both the criminology tutor and student
alike ‘organised crime’ literature can be a rather odd and eclectic mix, and a
good textbook has been sadly lacking.
This is perhaps a little ironic given increased concern about organised
criminality (for example people and drug trafficking) and newcomers to the
subject can be met by quite complicated texts, which anecdotally are often
viewed as very challenging by students.
Beyond that, introductions (usually coming in the form of a chapter in a
more general textbook) often display a tendency towards rendering the subject
arid and distant, quite removed from the realities of criminal practices. Wrights book is exceptional in so far as it
contains a good theoretical introduction to the topic that is both accessible
and relevant, and with some excellent illustrative examples. The text states on its back
cover that its purpose is to 'provide an accessible introduction to the study
of organised crime' and this book certainly can be judged by its cover. It is an excellent textbook, it is free of
the type of obscure sociological jargon that can plague some of the 'journal
article' material on organised crime, and conveys a clear and insightful
overview of the topic extremely well.
Indeed, I would go so far as to say it is one of the best texts I have
encountered for some time in that respect.
In addition, Wright’s experience (as a former police officer with the
Metropolitan Police who worked on the Kray brothers’ murder case) perhaps
underscores the use of particular examples of organised crime as a practice
(both national and international) that are very patchy in some textbook
chapters dedicated to the subject. The text is logically
structured and all have been well considered, adding to the book’s appeal. It begins with a consideration of organised
crime as a contested and controversial attempt to trace the contours of the
subject. It moves on to examine the
‘Criminal organisation and the gang as a violent way of life’, a chapter that
is a welcome addition, as to his credit Wright recognises the importance of the
broader academic criminology and applies the work of a number of authors to
organised criminality. Wright also
recognises the political economy of organised crime and in the third chapter
offers a considered yet succinct analysis of enterprise crime across the
spectrum. At the fourth chapter the
book moves into more specifics –offering excellent chapters on globalisation
and traffic trades; traditional forms of organised crime; organised crime in
the U.S, UK and Europe. The book
contains a number of case-studies and blends overarching discussion with
underpinning examples to excellent effect. As an introductory text, the
book offers a great deal. It fills a
clear void in the market, but beyond that it is informed, and extremely
accessible. Wright does not descend into
hyperbole, nor does he simplify the subject matter. The result is an excellent
book, and an extremely valuable introduction that should be required reading
for anyone seeking to learn more on the topic. James Treadwell Hate
Crime Crime and Society Series (Series editor: Hazel Croall,
Glasgow Caledonian University) Edition:
1st Author:
Nathan Hall ISBN:
1843921308 Publishers:
Willan Price
£18.99 Publication
Date: August 2005 In recent years 'hate crime' has rapidly ascended political,
policing and wider criminal justice agenda, and an increasing range of
legislative measures have been implemented in the UK, the US and elsewhere to
combat it. Yet research and writing on the subject has largely failed to keep
up with these new realities, especially in the UK. This text aims to fill this gap by examining various aspects of
'hate crime' in a predominantly British context, but situating this within the
wider international criminological and policing literature on the subject. The
book looks in detail at the way the police have responded to hate crime, and
the policies and practice now being adopted to respond to it. Text on increasingly high profile subject of hate crime Focus on police and community service policies and measures to
deal with the problem First, I should declare an interest; I have known the author and admired his work for some years. I therefore came to this book with high expectations and I was not disappointed. The author, Nathan Hall, has produced a detailed and serious study of hate crime, its causes, effects and some of the solutions being tried, but still a book that remains accessible to the practitioner reader.It is not, and explicitly states it is not intended to be, a book of answers. What it sets out to do is to provide a detailed overview of key work in the field, including contradictions, and point out the need for ongoing study in this critical area of criminology. In
the conclusion to chapter one of this book the author sets out the purpose of
criminology in seven stages. It is
worth quoting them in full; 'What is the problem'? How much of it is there? Who is involved or affected? Where and when is it occurring? Why is it occurring? And, crucially, what should we do to make
the situation better? The answer to the
last six questions are to a great extent determined by the answer to the
first.’ Following
his own definition, the author begins by detailing the complexities of defining
hate crime; not, as he quickly establishes, an easy task. Nevertheless, we are left with a fair idea
of what is meant by the term in various discourses. He then examines reasons for prioritising hate crimes in relation
to the effects on victims. If one were
seeking support for this argument, there is plenty of evidence provided through
reference to important pieces of academic work. In
the chapter on hate crime perpetrators the author, most importantly in my view,
establishes that there might well be insufficient attention paid to the complex
causes of ‘hate’, or prejudice, being transformed into criminal conduct. With so much effort being put into policing
hate crime, this of all areas cries out for more detailed examination. About
a quarter of the book is a fascinating comparison of policing hate crime in New
York and in London. Again, the
importance of clearly defining terms is shown in terms of how hate crimes are
categorised and investigated differently in the two jurisdictions. The
book ends with an examination of ‘problems, challenges and solutions’, and
‘community responses to hate crime’.
This again is comprehensive and underlines the complexity of the subject
and its potential solutions. More
importantly, particularly for policy-makers, it spells out the difficulties of
translating policy into practice. From
my experience in the field of diversity within the police, much of the failure
to effectively translate policy into action, particularly when driven by
training, has been caused by paying far too little attention to the first of
the author’s seven questions, 'defining the problem'. As has been said of the police, they are a great 'can-do'
organisation but rarely a 'why-do' one.
I would contend that unless you have a detailed idea of the problem to
be tackled there is little chance of picking the right tools. This book certainly prompts some questions
about the effectiveness of some of the tools hitherto in use in combating hate
crime and should be required reading for anyone working in the field. In addition, as an academic work it makes a
first class reader in the subject and because of its breadth, I can see it
becoming a standard introductory text for criminology students. Jeremy
Wheeler Changing Policing Theories for the 21st Century Edition: 2nd 2005 Author: Charles Edwards ISBN: 1862875375 Publishers: Published by Federation Press, distributed by Willan Publishing Price £24.95 Publication Date: 2005 This book is a thorough revision of the 1999 edition,
incorporating the changes that have occurred in crime and policing during the
first years of the 21st century. The book examines the history, philosophy and
practice of policing in Australia, Great Britain and the United States, showing
how the constitutional structure of the three countries give rise to different
policing structures and different styles of policing. The book also looks in depth at crime and its effect on society,
and the effect the media has on public perceptions of crime, and, as a result,
the way in which police strategies are closely reported by the media.
Successive approaches to policing since the second world war are closely
examined, and the current community policing methods considered. The book also
analyses various forms of police accountability, both of individual officers
and of police organisations as a whole. CONTENTS Reviewer
Wanted Would you be interested in
reviewing this book? (The Book Above) If you are interested in providing a review in about 600/800 words within 3 months then please contact me by e-mail at robjerrard@aol.com providing a small CV and your interest in this particular book. For an indication of what is
required please see this site, which contains hundreds of examples. "Internet Law book Reviews" welcomes all categories of reviewers. Football Hooliganism Edition: 1st Authors: Steve Frosdick & Peter Marsh ISBN: 1843921294 Publishers: Willan Price £18.99 RRP UK Publication Date: 2005 This book provides a highly readable introduction to the phenomenon
of football hooliganism, ideal for students taking courses around this subject
as well as those having a professional interest in the subject , such as the
police and those responsible for stadium safety and management. For anybody
else wanting to learn more about one of society's most intractable problems ,
this book is the place to start . Unlike other books on this subject it is not wedded to a single
theoretical perspective but is concerned rather to provide a critical overview
of football hooliganism, discussing the various approaches to the subject.
Three fallacies provide themes which run through the book: the notion that
football hooliganism is new; that it is a uniquely football problem; and that
it is predominantly an English phenomenon. The authors Reviewer
Wanted Would you be interested in
reviewing this book? (The Book Above) If you are interested in providing a review in about 600/800 words within 3 months then please contact me by e-mail at robjerrard@aol.com providing a small CV and your interest in this particular book. For an indication of what is
required please see this site, which contains hundreds of examples. "Internet Law book Reviews" welcomes all categories of reviewers. Workplace Violence Edition: 1st Authors: Edited By Vaughan Bowie, Bonnie S Fisher and Cary
Cooper Publishers: Willan Publishing Price £27.50 Publication Date: 2005 This book examines some of the key issues around violence at work
which have emerged in the new millennium, including the events of September 11th
2001 and other terrorist-related incidents, identifying these as an extreme
form of workplace violence. It builds upon the expanded typology of workplace
violence in Violence at Work
(Willan, 2001), and identifies four types of workplace violence: intrusive,
external violence including terrorism; consumer/client-related violence;
staff-related violence; organizational violence. This book also addresses some key emerging and controversial
issues facing those concerned with workplace violence, including staff who
abuse those in their care, domestic violence spilling over into the workplace,
violence against aid and humanitarian workers, and organizations who are
themselves abusive to their staff and service users as well as oppressive of
their surrounding communities. The editors Contents Reviewer
Wanted Would you be interested in
reviewing this book? (The Book Above) If you are interested in providing a review in about 600/800 words within 3 months then please contact me by e-mail at robjerrard@aol.com providing a small CV and your interest in this particular book. For an indication of what is
required please see this site, which contains hundreds of examples. "Internet Law book Reviews" welcomes all categories of reviewers. An introduction to sex offender treatment programmes Author: Sarah Brown ISBN: 1843921227 Publishers: Willan Publishing Price £18.99 Publication Date: 2005 Publisher’s Publicity This book aims to provide an introduction and overview of
sex offender treatment programmes, designed for students and practitioners
coming to this field. It seeks to describe the development, theoretical
underpinnings, treatment goals and operation of cognitive-- behavioural and
other programmes to an audience unfamiliar with this form of
rehabilitation. In addition, it aims to examine the effectiveness of these
programmes and the difficulties associated with assessing this, the public
response to treatment and also the effects on staff responsible for implementing
them. Contents Review As the author
asserts, little has been written on the effectiveness and operation of sex
offender treatment programmes (SOTPs) in addressing sexual recidivism rates,
this book is therefore timely and of interest.
Brown explores and analyses the range of practices and programmes used
and throughout the book conducts an exhaustive and impressive review of the
available research and literature, drawing on both English and American
sources. Her arguments are convincing
and well-supported with evidence and authorities, the style is fast paced,
accessible and generally avoids the use of self-indulgent language, apparent in
some of the other books in Willan’s series about sex offending. The initial
chapter starts by destroying the tired and over-perpetuated myth that sex
offenders are 'evil monsters’ and the perception that sexual recidivism rates
are higher than for other offenders. Brown effectively summarizes the scale of
the problem of sex offending and recidivism, highlighting the dilemma for many
sex offenders that the factors likely to precipitate re-offending are often the
static ones, over which they have no control such as poor parenting, historical
abuse, educational levels etc. Chapter
2 assesses the empirical evidence used to justify or dismiss the efficacy and
availability of alternative treatment programmes. It traces the historical development of SOTPs from the early
North American ‘psychopath’ legislation, which committed sexual deviants as
patients rather than criminals; to the modern cognitive-behavioural-based
approaches, which focus not just on the external environment but the offender’s
perceptions of it. Chapter 3 reviews the current use of SOTPs primarily in
England and Wales, but also makes reference to Scotland, Ireland Australia and
New Zealand. Separate and diverse
provision by the prison and probation service is now becoming more integrated
and co-ordinated with the merger of these two institutions. Some 1,000 places are available at 27 penal
institutions and a further 2,000 in three regionalised groupwork programmes in
community settings, which are currently being evaluated. Government is
attempting to bridge the two with residential community provision but this is
sparse, as is the availability of programmes targeted at female offenders, who
make up less than 1% of the sex offender population. The next three
chapters explore and evaluate the work of those who have sought to identify and
explain the causal behaviour of sex offenders highlighting the fact that such
theories, whether mono-causal or multi-causal, offence specific or generic,
have tended to offer more confusion than clarity. Most theories predate the
early 1990s and their importance now serves more as an experimental record than
useful template. More recent work includes that by Ward and Seighart (2002) who
identify four psychological mechanisms, which they claim are present in all
child sex abusers – intimacy deficiency, sexual arousal, poor emotional
regulation and anti-social perceptions and attitudes (cognitive distortions)
particularly towards women and children. While these factors are nothing new,
their ‘pathways model’ offers more
individualistic potential, especially when combined with other models such as
Ward and Hudson’s self-regulatory model (1998). The discussion
then challenges the use of the word ‘treatment’ in rehabilitative programmes,
arguing that this erroneously suggests a voluntary, passive and healing
approach whereas a more therapeutic, emphatic and ‘coerced’ paradigm is the
norm. The difficulties and problems experienced by those practitioners who
undertake such highly specialized work and the subsequent effect on their
professional and personal lives are presented, but balanced against the
positive aspects and rewards of such activities. The last of these three
chapters (chapter 6) details the cognitive-behavioural strategies used in SOTPs
to address the typical causation factors suggested by Ward and Seighart. As
expected these include groupwork, role play and other self-evaluative
discussion activities designed to address offence specific targets such as
denial, minimization, cognitive distortions and victim empathy. The last part of
the book (chapters 7 to 9) examines the effectiveness of SOTPs starting with
raising a caveat about the inherent difficulties in evaluating such programmes
because of the lack of suitable methodology and comparison. The preferred model to test interventive
strategies generally (eg in a medical context) is the Random Control Trial,
which compares the impact of a particular intrusion or treatment against a
neutral control. However, there are
limitations with this approach when sex offenders are the subject because of
the presence of individual and internalised psychological factors and their
likely effect on both the selected group and the control group. Similarly,
random selection may be unethical because it can deny an individual recourse to
treatment which could be beneficial. Other alternatives include
Quasi-Experimental Designs and Within Treatment Studies, but they too have
significant weaknesses. Ultimately even if an appropriate methodology can be
established the issue of what counts as success and how to measure it is just
as problematic, thus it is not surprising that many findings and claims are
controversial and scientifically valid results elusive. Such methodological
quandaries about how to measure and evaluate SOTPs are surveyed in detail
drawing on international experience, particularly that of the United
States. As Brown notes it is ironic
that the negative perception of many of these trials is based on the criticism
by others of the methodology adopted, yet those external validators have no
greater claim to justifying the most appropriate approach. She advocates the
more pragmatic view that such research can never be methodologically perfect
nor conclusive – but that does not mean it is less valid. It is reassuring
to learn that evaluative techniques are improving with the trend towards a more
meta-analytical approach whereby a number of different types of trials are
reviewed together to search out common denominators and distinguishers.
Meta-analysis results so far appear to suggest that untreated sex offenders do
have higher rates of recidivism and, not unsurprisingly, that programmes should
be individually tailored to be more effective.
Arguably such outcomes do not tell us anything more than we already
know, but at least they generate further understandings about offender profiles
and patterns of offending, allowing identification of those more likely to drop
out. They also suggest that paedophiles are more susceptible to treatment
unlike rapists where the evidence is less impressive. And for those that may need to justify the use of such strategies
Brown provides some persuasive evidence from Canada and the US about the cost
effectiveness of SOTPs – both tangible (200,000 Canadian dollars saved per
re-offence) and intangible (an offender who reoffends will abuse at least two
victims). Considerable
progress has been made in the last 35 years in both the availability and
delivery of SOTPs but, Brown argues,
there is still room for improvement, particularly in shaping (often more
complex) programmes based on individual need, addressing the tendency for some
offenders to play the game rather than produce genuine responses and those who
demonstrate high levels of denial. She also acknowledges that however good the
programmes might be they can never eliminate sex offending. Overall then this is a balanced and well
executed discussion that underlines the significant – and largely
under-publicised - progress that has been made in ‘treating’ sex offenders
despite the apparent lack of public confidence in the state management of such
individuals. As SOTPs become more
embedded in the criminal justice process the next challenge is to persuade the
public that they are not a soft option, but one that can only work if properly
integrated into an effective custodial and community strategy. Kim Stevenson The Forensic
Psychologist’s Casebook Psychological
Profiling and Criminal Investigation Author: Alison, L. (Ed) ISBN : 1 84392 101 4 Publishers: Willan Publishing Price £26.50 Publication Date: 28th May 2005 Publishers Details This book aims to demonstrate how forensic psychology contributes
to police investigations, providing practical information about the type of
reports provided by psychologists and behavioural advisers, and set within a
broader theoretical context. It asks the question 'What do practitioners
actually do when they provide advice for the police and the courts and how do
they do it?' The contributors to the book are all experts in the field of
offender profiling and behavioural investigative advice. The chapters provide
valuable insights into particular case details, the ethical and legal
consequences of advice, coverage of the relevant theoretical context,
explanations for conclusions drawn, practical difficulties in preparing
reports, potential pitfalls, and an account of how cases are resolved. Fascinating casebook material on offender profiling and criminal
investigation Contributions from leading academic authorities and practitioners
in the field Looks at a number of well known cases, ranging from Jack the
Ripper to the Rachel Nickell murder investigation REVIEW This is a
comprehensive book on a most interesting subject and is consequently labelled a
casebook. It is a book that should
appeal to students of forensic psychology or criminology or those doing
postgraduate work in that area and dealing with a variety of criminal
activities. The book is
divided into two main parts, firstly the context of criminal investigations
which includes trait based profiling and an interesting chapter dealing with a
well known criminal; 'Jack the Ripper'.
There is also a chapter dealing with the psychological research and
police investigations and another which looks into the investigation of sex
offences. Another chapter deals with
the interpersonal dynamics of police interviewing followed by the role of
psychologists in working with the police.
The final chapter offers advice in working with the courts and should
appeal to those following, or hoping to follow a career as an expert
witness. This chapter I found
particularly interesting. The second part
of the book looks at practical approaches to criminal profiling. It also deals with the assessing of the
reliability of interviews with vulnerable witnesses and the role of malingering
or memory loss in suspects as well as victims and witnesses. David Canter, a
well known forensic psychologist provides a chapter on the suicide or murder
theme and another chapter is concerned with stalking, an increasing problem in
our society. The penultimate chapter
deals with domestic violence. The book
therefore covers a considerable range of criminal activities. Many of the contributors work closely with
the police; others are more involved with the academic side of forensic
psychology such as experimentation and research. In addition to psychologists, the book contains contributors in
the sphere of law such as that of David Ormerod, who is also a barrister and
Jim Sturman QC. The main
objective of the book is to provide information on offender profiling and the
analysis of behaviour of criminals. The
book avoids fictitious or 'hunch type' profiling approaches and emphasises the
cohesion of the academic and the practitioner in developing case based analysis
and rigorous scientific investigations in order to develop profiling techniques
that are effective. The book is
based essentially on a number of case studies which provide greater confidence,
in order to ascertain general trends in understanding criminal behaviour and
attempting to identify it when the criminal is as yet unknown. It is stressed that each case should be
viewed as unique and that one should not attempt to generalise from them. Hence while labels are useful, they can be
faulty as well and so more individual descriptions of specific individuals and
their criminal activities should not be neglected. When discussing different kinds of serious crimes under the
heading of 'organised vs. disorganised' or power assurance vs. power assertive
rapists’ one must consider ultimately the individuality of each offender and
crime. In psychologists
working with the police, it is vital to consider their area of expertises in
line with the expertise of the police to help make the best possible decisions
based on interviewing techniques, statement analysis, and other evidence. Over the years
it must be said that with psychologists and the police working together the
interviewing techniques of the police has improved considerably. Many coercive strategies used by the police
have therefore disappeared. In recent
times, psychologists have even been involved in investigating police
corruption. Throughout the book it may
be noted that law enforcement organisations have dove-tailed increasingly with
expert witnesses including psychologists and psychiatrists. This is a book
with a wide ranging focus on many aspects of forensic psychology and is likely
to also have some appeal to police officers working in close conjunction with
expert witnesses, psychologists, psychiatrists and those supporting the police
through their investigations. LF Lowenstein Illicit and Illegal, Sex Regulation and Social Control Edition: 1st Authors: Joanna Phoenix and Sarah Oerton ISBN 1843920808 Price £17.99 RRP UK Publication Date: March 2005 This book is about the surprisingly neglected area of the
regulation of sex. It describes and discusses the ways in which various sexual activities
are controlled, regulated and made illegal and/or deviant and illicit. Its
primary focus is upon the multiple and complex social controls (laws, statutory
regulations, professional/occupational codes, normative frameworks)
constructing, constituting and shaping how we 'do' sex, and deals with sex that
is both illicit (deviant, illegal) and illegal (criminal, offending). The book challenges the idea that early twenty-first century
Britain is increasingly sexually 'liberated' by suggesting that this very
'openness' provides the conditions in which all sexual activities have become
increasingly subject to regulation and control. By examining the policies and
laws about various sexually activities, and the social conditions underpinning
them, alongside existing research and theoretical literature the authors have
provided an accessible text on the sociology of sex. Contents This book is about the social and official 'reality' of sex and sexual control in terms of how the 'problem'
of sex is represented and communicated through both official and semi-official
discourse, ultimately manifested into policies and legal rules. The authors set
out their case very strongly and are not afraid to state their point of view -
that there is a 'legitimation deficit' in official discourses on sex which deny
the social realities of their own origins and that despite the positive intent
of many recent objectives in practice, official policies fail to adequately
address the sexual victimization of women and children, as for example
reflected in the current conviction rates for rape. One of the sub-themes
(p19), that the more sex is regulated the more it draws into itself and is
perceived as, and expands into, a 'threat,' makes sense. As does the
proposition that sex is perhaps the only contemporary arena where many
individuals can achieve 'inter-connection' and reciprocity in a rapidly
changing social order or as explained in more direct terms 'Society only gets
together if it gets "it" together' (p20). This then is not only a book that challenges, but also one that is
challenging to read. A number of assumptions and assertions are made which can
make it quite a frustrating read as this reviewer found. Some the reader will no doubt agree with,
but in respect of others might say
'hold on a minute.' For example the authors claim that date rape and grooming
are new and contemporary phenomenon (p9); while the descriptors may be new and
there is greater awareness they are hardly C20 innovations - paedophiles have
always sought to groom children and certain sexual predators have always
'seduced' women. The writing is fast paced and the language errs towards the
self-indulgent in places such as 'a bricolage of concepts' (! p3). The
introduction is not particularly helpful in setting out the overall themes, as
it introduces quite difficult concepts which clearly demonstrate the
intellectual credentials of the authors, but sometimes at the expense of
ensuring that the reader can keep up. Many words are encapsulated in inverted
commas either for nuance, emphasis, as jargon or to flag up specific concepts
which can be somewhat annoying. As a
result some seem to have automatically made their way into this review! Amongst
this intellectual posturing there are more straightforward indicators. The book
'is about contemporary concerns that shape sex' (p8) but it is not until page
21 that it really becomes clear that ‘the more sex opens up the more regulation
proliferates’ and that it is this regulation and associated discourse that is
fundamentally what the book is about. The individual chapters are
much better and the authors identify some key questions and issues about the
current direction of the law in relation to sexual offences, particularly the
Sexual Offences Act 2003 and how it maps against Home Office pronouncements and
key consultation papers such as ‘Setting the Boundaries and Paying the
Price’. They also question whether the
reforms address traditional feminist
concerns about the previous law being largely phallocentric, arguing that the
gender neutralization in the 2003 Act, decontextualises rape and that many of
its provisions relating to child sexual abuse have created a form of 'moral
authoritarianism' which has removed much parental and familial autonomy and
transferred it to the state. Thus they make some harsh judgments on the law,
that it is more fluid, extending the remit of the criminal justice system into
private lives and fundamentally challenging the authority of parents and family
to protect and police the boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.
The 'anonymization' of sex offenders is also highlighted. That on the one hand such offenders are more
closely monitored and surveilled, but that they are also less identifiable,
partly because, the authors assert, everyone now including children
('proto-adults'?) are potentially sex offenders according to the legislation.
Further chapters make just as interesting challenges about ‘nuisance’ sex
(indecent exposure) and issues related to sexual harassment. Codes of Ethics for medical, social welfare
and religious professionals viz-a-viz their clients are also the subject of
introspection, drawing conclusions that they often serve to obfuscate the
perceived rights and wrongs of what could be properly classified as
'unacceptable' and inappropriate behaviour in such relationships. In the final
chapter the Government is criticised for its 'novel' inventions of new sexual
offences in the Sexual Offences Act and the opportunities for virtual
witch-hunts in its desire to control and regulate all manifestations of sex; ‘…
The hunt is on not just for more and more sex which can be subjected to
regulation, but more and more 'non-sex' that can be reconfigured, regulated and
controlled as ‘sex’. To be fair, and as the authors acknowledge, they did not have the
advantage of seeing how the 2003 Act has been enforced but have perhaps rather
critically pre-empted the likely responses of the prosecution agencies and the
police who inevitably have adopted a more pragmatic and discretionary approach
to the legislation. There are also some errors which should have been
corrected, for example the reference to Operation Awe and the Sexual Offences
(Amendment) Act 1885. Similarly some
minor typographical errors suggesting that the publication was rather rushed.
However, despite the criticisms levelled this is a book that must surely form
part of any criminological or sociological analysis into the law relating to
sexual offences and for all who work in the field it raises a number of
challenges and interesting assertions
that cannot be ignored. Each individual professional needs to consider,
test and reflect upon in the light of the official expectations imposed upon
them in practice. At the very least the book is an invaluable and compulsory
source for those responsible for the training of such professionals and providing some excellent material for group
exploration and constructive discussion Kim Stevenson An Introduction to Criminological Theory Edition: Second edition Author: ROGER HOPKINS BURKE ISBN: 1-84392-164-2 Publishers: Willan Publishing Price £18.99 RRP UK Publication Date: May 2005 Publisher’s Information on the Book This second edition of An Introduction
to Criminological Theory comprises a substantially revised and expanded,
comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to criminological theory
worldwide. Each chapter has been
revised to take account of recent theoretical developments; the enduring
validity of established theories has been explored through application to
crucial contemporary criminological issues such as hate crimes; an extra
chapter has been included on the traditional positivist approach to female
criminality; and the continuing relationship between government, criminal
justice policy and how we comprehend and respond to criminality has been
updated. The text is divided into four
parts. The first three parts address an
identified model of criminal behaviour - the rational actor, the predestined
actor and victimised actor models - that have each professed to explain crime
and criminal behaviour. The fourth part notes more recent attempts to integrate
theoretical elements from both within and across models of criminal behaviour. This is an interdisciplinary text that
recognises the value of legal, biological, psychological and sociological
explanations of crime and criminal behaviour, and the increasingly more sophisticated
attempts to integrate these theories.
Theories are placed in the socio-political context in which they arose
and the whole text is located in the context of contemporary debates about
modernity and postmodernity, now substantially revised in the aftermath of the
attacks on New York City and Washington on 11th September 2001. This book covers the entire syllabus
for the vast majority of contemporary university criminological theory courses
while gently expanding the parameters of debate. It is, however, written in an accessible and non-esoteric fashion
and provides an excellent introduction to how crime and criminal behaviour has
been variously explained for all students of criminology. The Author Roger Hopkins Burke is Principal
Lecturer in Criminology in the School of Social Science at Nottingham Trent
University. His research interests and
recent publications have been concerned with zero tolerance policing, youth
subcultures and the policing of begging and vagrancy, and he recently edited
Hard Cop, Soft Cop: dilemmas and debates in contemporary policing (Willan,
2004). Interdisciplinary text which
recognises the value of legal, biological, psychological and sociological
explanations of crime and criminal behaviourIncludes a new chapter on
positivist approaches to female criminality, new issues such as hate crime
explored, contemporary debates about modernity and postmodernist analysed
further in the aftermath of 9.11 Contents Acknowledgements
Policing - Key Readings Edited
by Tim Newburn ISBN
1-84392-091-3 2005 Published
by Willan Publishing Price
£28.50 RRPUK This
text is 834 pages long and consists of 45 chapters split into 6 sections. This
edited collection of classic essays is aimed at scholars and practitioners who
are now able to find these texts all in one publication. Edited by Professor
Tim Newburn - The London School of Economics the chapters, as the title
suggests are key readings from the great and the good, who have written about
policing. Many of the chapters relate to policing in North America but others
correlate to the British and Australian experience. The 6
sections are; Part A The Emergence and Development of the Police, Part B The
Role and Function of the Police, Part C Police Culture, Part D Policing
Strategies, Part E Deviance, Ethics and Control and Part F The Emergence
Pattern of Policing. The
Emergence Pattern of Policing. In
'The Emergence and Development of the Police' takes a backward look and
considers the creation of police from its earliest times in the USA, UK and
Australia. Within these chapters the issue of colonial policing and the export
of Anglo-American models are briefly explored. The central questions here focus
on why the police emerged when they did, and in what form they did. In
Chapter one Silver explains how in the mid-nineteenth century there was relief
from widespread fear of riot and rebellion – a legacy of expanding urban poor
in emerging industrial nations such as France, England and the USA. A
sophisticated garrison force emerged to deal with an internal enemy - the poor,
who experienced widespread intrusions by the new professional police into their
daily life. Chapter
three by Miller shows that whilst this may have been the experience in England
- policing developed in different forms in a variety of places. In England the
path towards policing was twofold. The first required the maintenance of order
under difficult circumstances whilst the second was to quell people’s fears of
police oppression. Yet in New York the police officers authority was more
personal, resting on closeness to the citizens and their informal expectations
of his power instead of formal bureaucratic or legal standards as established
in London. The distinction between the two was the use of force where the
police in New York were less obviously constrained than the London police -
hence the truncheon instead of the pistol. The
next three chapters relate to the importation of colonial policing to Australia
and Ireland with a critique by Styles
of Brogden in Chapter six. Styles suggests that there was no one exclusive
notion of policing - British or colonial but there were unformalised police
institutions in the City of London, Italy and France. In Chapter seven Kelling
and Moore explored the evolution of policing strategies and styles in the USA.
They identified three distinct eras
each characterised by a particular strategy of policing, e.g. the political,
the reform and the community problem solving periods. This identification of
ideal types or pragmatic models of policing is helpful in not only making sense
of some of the key transformations within the USA but also acts as a starting
point for the identification of commonalities and differences. Kelling
and Moore do have their critics, the most trenchant are Williams and Murphy. In
Chapter eight Williams and Murphy suggest that the issues of slavery,
segregation, discrimination and racism have been major determinants in the
experience and development of policing within minority communities in the USA.
The history of the police can not be separated from the histories of particular
societies. This
next section derives or builds on the work of Michael Banton - arguably the
first observer of the police in terms of function and role. Banton - in these
select seven pages taken from his much larger work, argues that the police are
not the only agents of social control but are one of a number. He highlights how
the police are rather ‘peace officers’ helping and providing assistance rather
than as ‘law enforcers’. In
Chapter ten Westley explores the police role by reproducing Volmers
(incomplete) list of tasks carried out by Police. Westley indicates that each
city finds in their police particular functions that no other group can
perform. Bayleys
Chapter eleven asks what do the police do? Whilst worldwide, policing is
similar in approach he focuses on two tasks. Firstly, authoritative
intervention and secondly symbolic justice. Bayley also supports the notion of
others that the police spend relatively little time on crime and if the public
never called them they would have to re-invent their job. He suggests it’s the
same work irrespective of the social circumstances they confront. Patrolling
and Beat working (especially the poorest neighbourhoods) as the core of
policing is the central notion ascribed by Muir in Chapter thirteen. Here he
explains how domination and violence form the centrepiece of what patrolmen
call dirty work. Muir places community policing as the heart of the matter with
communication - mankind’s passion for talking to and about one another. Manning
in Chapter fourteen sets out to explain that the police have marked out their
role - crime prevention, crime detection and apprehension of criminals, a vast
and unmanageable task which can not be accomplished. Their inability to achieve
this task has led to the manipulation of appearances. The police work towards
their own ends rather than towards the concerns and needs of the community. In
the minds of the public crime control is fixed as the central activity. Ericson
in chapter fifteen also shows how police spend a tiny fraction of their time on
dealing with crime. Ericson adopts the views of Foucault in his interpretation
which suggest that rather than provide a new order the police transform
troublesome, fragile situations back into normal or efficient state. In doing
so the police classify, record and manage populations and phenomena with the corollary
being the reproduction of social order over everything else. Much
has been written about the police culture including Skolnicks Chapter seventeen
on the ‘police personality’which defined three central elements. These were
‘the potential danger, linked authority and set within the context in which
efficiency is demanded. Police officers pay particular attention to the signs
for danger, violence and law breaking. The element of danger produces and
re-enforces solidarity and reinforces police social isolation. Emotionally and
politically conservative the police also tend to be suspicious and emotionally
attached to the status quo. Enforcing sets of rules implies that they become a
part in affirming them. In
Chapter eighteen Van Maanens work focuses on suspiciousness and through their
shared experiences labelling of the public by stigmatising them using a range
of titles from asshole to shithead. Studying
police precincts in New York is the focus of Chapter nineteen by Reuss-Ianni
and Ianni with the identification of the two cultures of policing - street cop
and management cop. This chapter shows how in different ways, both cultures
deal with and relate to change. Sheering
and Ericson in Chapter twenty both ascribe to the notion that rules guide
action. Here they demonstrate how the police stories rather than the rules
themselves become the guidance. This storybook dictates action and influences
the culture. Themes
of changing the police culture are picked up by Chan in chapter twenty-one.
Chan borrows from Bourdieu’s terms of ‘field’ and ‘habitus’ to distinguish
between the structural conditions of police work (the field) and the cultural
knowledge deployed by police officers (the habitus). Both these dynamics are used for the basis of analysing change in
the New South Wales Police Force. The
last chapter in this section relates to the canteen (sub) culture written by
Waddington. It considers the literature of police culture and concentrates on
those negative aspects or matters which are problematic. Here he unpacks
whether talk is transferred into action by re-considering the story telling
aspects of Shearing and Ericsons chapter. Here he seeks an appreciative understanding
that expressive behaviour within the private domain of the canteen plays in
sustaining occupational esteem through performance. These stories form a self-help additive where policing is
understood to be exceptional and this way actors normalise and glorify their
‘dirty work’. Accordingly, we need to not to analyse what police officers say
but in what they do and the circumstances under which they act. Gradually policing has moved towards problem
solving as a central strategy. Goldstein’s problem orientated policing chapter
(twenty-three) brings into sharp relief how problem orientated policing has
over the last thirty years spawned a variety of related policing models. Here
management competence questioning policing strategies, police research,
resistance to change and financial
problems are all explored. Eck and Spelman pick up Goldsteins theme of Problem
Orientated Policing (POP) in their chapter by using a micro study of two
neighbour and two non neighbourhood cases. Here they understand the nature of
crimes and deviant behaviour committed within these jurisdictions by examining
the strategies employed to deal with the problems. Klokars in Chapter twenty-six critiques community
policing by suggesting that policing is understood in the context where the
purpose is towards circumlocutions - whose purpose is to conceal, mystify and
legitimate the distribution of non-negotiable coercive force. The centre of his
argument is that the community policing movement employ a series of rhetorical
devices like community, decentralisation, reorientation of patrol,
civilianisation to produce unreal romanticised of the nature and likely impact
of policing. As Klokars suggests, ‘Community Policing is therefore about a number of good things which we might gladly
wish but which can not be’. The next chapter by Wilson and Kelling focuses on
‘Broken Windows’ and begins with the conundrum that increased foot patrols
didn’t appear to reduce crime although it did increase the local citizens
security. Here the authors ascribe to the fact that the local public place a
high value on the importance of public order and that at the community level,
disorder and crime are inextricably linked. This means that untended disorder
(un-mended broken windows) breeds crime ‘serious crime occurs where disorderly
behaviour goes unchecked’. The notion of Broken Windows has not only become
famous because of its success in New York but it demonstrated at the same time
how communities have an important role to play. When linked with zero tolerance
police strategies and the management of crime by COMPSTAT (or crime analysis)
shows how levels of crime can drop spectacularly. Dixon in chapter twenty-nine
considers the New York experience and suggests this ‘good practice’ may not be
transferable because of very different criminological, political and cultural
circumstances. Chapter thirty-one by Moore reviews the success of
COMSTAT, which seems to have been exported out of the USA to other areas. Here
he suggests that crime analysis in this way can have management control over
field operations for the first time. The central tenant to effective modern policing is
the management and utilisation of information. Ericson and Heggerty in chapter
thirty-two describe the police as knowledge workers who operate within the risk
communications systems of other organisations.
Policing therefore operates in a situation of fear and insecurity which
are resolved by using increased surveillance, increased security technologies
and trading information about potential risks. Contrary to other scholars they
suggest that such circumstances make them engage in numerous kinds of
institutionalised publicity that makes their work an exercise in high
visibility. This
next sections deal with five chapters relating to police deviance. The first of
these by Skolnick and Fyfe considers the high profile video taped public
beating of Rodney King - a black man by a number of white LAPD police officers
using astonishing levels of violence. This quickly became a ‘cause celebre’
which eventually saw a trail and acquittal of several errant police officers.
The authors argue that the notion of the rotten apple under these circumstances
is misunderstood when one considers the history of the LAPD since it is not the
apples that are rotten but the barrel itself. The
next chapter by Klokars considers the situation of Inspector (Dirty Harry)
Callahan in the eponymous film. Here we see the good triumphing over evil
however in achieving this aim rules are broken exposing the moral dilemma of
‘the ends justify the means’. Here, Klokars critically examines a possible way
out of this dilemma. Kleinig
in chapter thirty-four considers the issue of taking gratuities as a means of
police deviance. Within this chapter gratuities are viewed within the notion of
corruption. He reviews the literature and the recent history on corruption. He
concludes by stating the issue of ethics plays a fundamental part of policing
and that there may be circumstances where a gift of a cup of coffee may be
acceptable. The
issue of ethics should form a fundamental aspect of police training. In chapter
thirty-six Marshall examines the issue of accountability. Here two models are
identified - 1. Subordinate and obedient 2. Explanatory and co-operative. Here
the discipline model shown first where authority went unchallenged has largely
given way to greater individual accountability based on negotiated coercion. In
the final chapter by Dixon he explores the meaning and the idea of the rule of
law to policing. Here he argues that this notion this idea will be expressed
differently in different jurisdictions. The issue of legal regulation and its
limits are considered. One of the core issues is what kinds of rules,
principles, contexts and objectives inform their production. Dixon shows how
traditional legalism tends to overstate the potential for constraining
officer’s discretion through legal regulation. The
Emergence Pattern of Policing. The
chapters in this last section looks at the future trends of policing. The first
chapter in this section by Reiner considers the image and substance of
policing. Here he answers this question by stating that the police represent
‘the social litmus paper’ reflecting in a subtle and mediated manner the
changes affecting modern societies. Reiner sums up by suggesting that policing
now reflects the processes of pluralism and fragmentation, which have been the
hallmarks of the post modern. In
Chapter thirty-nine O’Malley picks up Reiners post modern perspective by
questioning the characteristics of what has now become known as ‘post modernity
thesis’. O’Malley takes these characteristics - diversification, globalisation
and consumerism by challenging the assumptions linked to these characteristics
and showing that these are not symptomatic or reflective of the new order of
policing. O’Malley adopts two lenses of analysis - a neo-liberal political
rationale and social technologies of management. The author suggests that by
using these twin views one allows for a more grounded, less abstract, level of
explanation which provides for ‘a far more politically deployable knowledge.
Reiner and O’Malley take different routes to explaining the same changes in
policing. In
Chapter forty Bayley and Sheering suggest that modern democratic countries like
the USA, Britain and Canada have reached a watershed in the evolution of their
systems of crime control and law enforcement. The fragmentation of policing has
allowed less a of a grip by state monopoly’s because of the creation of a host
of private and community based agencies
involved in crime prevention and detection. They suggest that not only is this
monopoly broken but that the police monopoly on expertise has ended with policing
now belonging to everyone. Chapter
forty-one by Jones and Newburn strongly challenges these notions. They argue
that current developments are best understood as representing a major
qualititative shift with the past. Of particular issue is the breaking of the
state monopoly has been overstated. Jones and Newburn accept the growing
pluralisation but argue that the degree that the state police dominated
policing in the post-war years. The authors suggest that policing in modern
times is best understood as part of ‘a long term process of the formulation of
secondary social control activities’. The
issue of policing has been overtly masculine yet women have more of a prominent
role and are more visible than they used to be. In Chapter forty-two Heidenshon
considers male ownership of social control agencies and suggests that women are
frustrated with the lack of political and legal power. She puts forward the suggestion that perhaps they need to ask
men why this is. In
Chapter forty-three Marx considers the ‘maximum surveillance society’ by reviewing
the technological advances made. He argues that the issue of public and private
boundaries have been obliterated in what he describes as a Orwellian in its
scope and penetration. Marx suggests that with all this technology there is a
likelihood towards misuse of the system. In
chapter forty-four Dunlap considers the growing intervention of the military in
domestic policing. By taking the experience of the USA Dunlap considers the war
on drugs in the 1980’s and brings us up to date with the war on terrorism.
Military capability has been hard to resist. Terrorism is now high on the
political agenda meaning that it will shape the future direction of both
international and domestic policing. In
the final chapter Brodeur carries on the argument considered in the previous
chapter - the relationship between ‘cops and spooks’. This is the policing of
political activities or as Brodeur claims ‘high and low policing’. If policing
is surveillance and risk assessment then this will involve the military.
Surveillance in the policing of trans-national serious crime etc will attract
increased military involvement. This
publication is a collection of valuable resources into what is regarded as an
increasingly important and popular subject. Commentators agree that the role
and function of the police is a complex phenomenon. Just what the police do and
how they do it fails to attract equal agreement amongst criminologists and
practitioners alike. Exploring the police function through this rich compendium
of new and original sources will help contextualise the theoretical, social,
political and academic debates on the nature of policing. Thoroughly
recommended. Dr
Peter Kennison Middlesex
University 29th
December 2004 Policing
A Short History Author:
Philip Rawlings ISBN: 1903240263 Publishers Willan Publishing Price: £17.99 Publication Date: August 2001 Philip Rawlings' Policing - a
Short History makes a distinction between 'police history' and 'policing'.
Policing, he says, is not just what the police do but an act of social control;
the latter being loosely defined as the organised ways in which society
responds to those perceived as problematic. In the first chapter Mr Rawlings
comments on how Tom Critchley, in his A History of the Police in England &
Wales 900 - 1966, appeared to belong to the group of writers who saw the early
nineteenth century as providing the main impetus for policing. To make his point he observes that Critchley
dealt with the first 929 years to 1829 in 57 pages and the remaining 137 years
in 265 pages. By contrast Mr Rawlings
takes 600AD as his starting point reaching the 1820s in a little under 100
pages with a further 120 plus pages to arrive at the Millennium. So what is one to make of Mr
Rawlings' comparison of his approach to that of Tom Critchley's? Probably this. Those of us who consider ourselves 'police historians' approach the
subject according to our own experiences. Tom Critchley; for example, was a
senior civil servant at the very heart of government involvement in the way
individual police forces were run. His book was written largely from that
standpoint. Philips Rawlings is a senior lecturer in law and has written
extensively in the field of social, legal and criminal justice. This too comes through in his work on
'policing'. By contrast, an historian
who happens to be a police officer, at the ‘sharp end’ so to speak, of
ever-changing legislation and with first-hand experience of how the citizens
respond to change, will have yet a differing point of view. Mr Rawlings' book is an attempt
to use the idea of 'policing' as a route into the state's involvement in
policing. It considers questions such
as, what shaped that involvement, its objectives and methods, and how those
have changed. He takes us from a point
in early history where policing was seen as a ‘local’ responsibility to the
present time. Almost every aspect of
today's policing is subjected to central government scrutiny and approval -
both through legislation and an assumption of authority. The areas in which he has least
to say concern the impact of immigration into the UK over the years and the
ever-increasing drug trafficking and addiction. For over a century neither
attracted the attention of central government. In the case of drugs it was left
largely alone until it reached epidemic proportions and became one of the main
causes of crime. At that point misuse
of drugs legislation started to come into being. With immigration, which has a much longer history, this too had
gradual beginnings culminating in the need for a series of race relations
statutes in the second half of the twentieth century and the Macpherson Report
more recently. The government has sought to limit immigration while, at the same
time, opening up the borders to even larger groups of potential newcomers. Both problems, drugs and immigration, have
had an enormous impact on the way -policing is done on the streets and the way central
government eventually proceeded to 'police' both problems. In both cases rather
late in the day - when Whitehall decided that additional powers and provisions
were politically desirable. There is another area in which one would have liked Mr Rawlings'
research to have followed in some depth. This is the question of 'security'
from the 'final' stages of IRA terrorism through to the perceived dangers
international terrorism. Security has had had a tremendous impact on 'policing'
in the widest sense and most forces currently place it at top of their list of
objectives. Mr Rawlings’ treatment of other issues is excellent and it would
have been fascinating to see how he would have treated immigration, drugs and
security problems. Of course; it may not have been part of his objective to
consider these or to take a crystal ball view of the future, but his researches
must have given him some fascinating food for thought. To the newcomer to 'police history' the book is an exceptionally
well-written and analytical work in an 'easy to read' style. So how does it compare with Critchley's
work? It starts at a point three
hundred years earlier but, importantly, it takes the reader from the point at
which Critchley left off in the aftermath of the Royal Commission of 1960
through to the new millennium. A
welcome thought-provoking look at the social aspect of ‘policing’ and equally a
useful addition to 'police history'. PR 26th June 2004 Rob C. Mawby Published January 2002 ISBN 1903240719 Hardback During my service as a PC at Bishopsgate Police Station, London EC2
(City of London, we had a large framed signed photograph of Jack Warner dressed
as George Dixon (I wonder what happened to it). It perhaps disappeared with what many of us call "The Golden
Years" As well as other periods this book recalls those years:- "The period that followed (1945 through to the end of the 1950s)
has been called the 'golden age' of policing when police folk heroes such as
Fabian of the Yard (Fabian 1955) and PC George Dixon (first introduced in The
Blue Lamp in 1950) were established as police icons, symbolic of the British
police officer and an idealised police/public relationship. Reviewing The Blue
Lamp, C.H. Rolph (Chief Inspector Bill
Hewitt, City of London Police) proclaimed it to be 'the first time the police
of this country have been adequately presented on the screen ... Jack Warner is
an entirely convincing Metropolitan Policeman' (Police Review 27/1/50). The
former Commissioner, Sir Harold Scott, concurred that the film was a 'faithful
picture of the policeman's life and work' (Scott 1954: 91). Not all
commentators agreed. For example, The Blue Lamp is not remembered for its
depiction of a society fearful of a post-war crime wave (Berry et al. 1998:
213-14; see also Loader and Mulcahy 2001a: 44) or for the way the children who
recover the gun used to kill Dixon suspiciously regard the police constable who
questions them - the children clearly regard him as the 'tangible "or
else" of society' (Bittner 1990: 10). Similarly the television programme
Dixon of Dock Green in its run from 1956 to 1974 never achieved top ten viewing
status until 1973-74 and Sgt. Dixon became an anachronism long before he bad
his last 'evening all'". Even in Devon when I see police officers walking (not very often - in
fact the wife and I always remark, "better make a pocket book entry about
that"), they appear dressed for War - I cannot help thinking how glad I
was to have served when you could and did walk about dressed smartly without
looking as if running would be an impossibility. If it was an anachronism, it was at least fun. In his Review, Robert Reiner (London School
of Economics) says of it, "A stimulating analysis of a pivotal aspect of
social control in our mass-mediated age" In recent years the police have become one of the most watched and most
visible organisations, and across the media there has been constant interest in
the police. In such a situation the police themselves have been intensely
concerned with promoting, projecting and protecting the police image. This book is concerned to document and to explain this image work, the
activities in which the police engage that construct and project images of
policing. Drawing upon first-hand research with the police themselves
(including such examples as the way the South Yorkshire Police handled the
Miners Strike and the Hillsborough stadium disaster), the book includes a
detailed look at police press and public relations officers at work, and at
operational policing and police work. Its broader argument is that image work
has the capacity to both legitimate policing and to mask problems of legitimation. At a time of intense debate about the future role and nature of the
police this book makes a key contribution, and raises important questions about
the implications of police image work for both democratically accountable
policing and the wider transformations in society being brought about by the
media and its management. Contents Preface 1 The history of police image work 1829-1987 2 The professionalisation of police image work since 1987 3 The national picture: systems of police image work 4 Police image work at the local level: a force and itsmission 5 Press and public relations officers at work 6 Image work and operational policing 7 Conclusions: image work, police work and legitimacy Bibliography Index Rob C. Mawby is senior lecturer and head of
the Centre for Public Services Management and Research at Staffordshire
University. He has worked on many policing and public sector projects, has
written extensively in this field, and is one of the co-authors of Practical
Police Management. Rob Jerrard Policing: an introduction to concepts and
practice Policing and Society Series Willan Publishing ISBN 1-903240-17-4 Paperback £16.99 / US
$27.50 ISBN 1-903240-18-2 Hardback £40.00 / US
$59.95 Dr Alan Wright (University of Portsmouth) The role of the police and the nature of policing have become the focus
of both debate and controversy among politicians, the media and the public
alike. Policing is often perceived to be in a state of crisis. Major enquiries
and miscarriages of justice have undermined public confidence in the police.
There has been little agreement on what the police should do and how they
should do it. The aim of the book is to provide an introduction to the ideas and
concepts underlying these debates. It analyses what are generally regarded as
the main functions of policing. It looks systematically at the role of the
police in relation to its key modes of activity, namely peacekeeping, crime
prevention, crime investigation, risk management and the promotion of community
justice. It also explores possible future directions. At the same time, Policing: an introduction to concepts and practice
raises questions about the meaning and conceptual contestability of policing,
linking its analysis to the broader criminological literature, which has
provided an extensive critique of the subject. It will be essential reading for
students, practitioners and others with an interest in policing debates and
issues. This book provides a highly readable
introduction to the role and function of the police and policing, examining the
issues and debates that surround this. It looks at the 'core functions' of the
police, the ways in which police functions have developed, their key
characteristics, and the challenges they face. From the outset questions are asked about
the conceptual contestability and ambiguity of policing, and different views of
police roles are addressed in turn; policing as social control, crime
investigation, managing risk, policing as community justice, and as a public
good. a much needed introduction to policing, a
rapidly growing area of study covers the debates surrounding the 'core
functions' of the police, the roles they play, the challenges they have faced
with recent miscarriages of justice, the likely impact of human rights
legislation. Contents 1 Introduction; 2 Policing as rational function: back to
basics? 3 Keeping order: policing as social
control; 4 Policing as crime investigation; 5 Policing as the management of risk; 6 Policing as community justice; 7 Policing as a public good; 8 Policing futures; Bibliography; Index The author Alan Wright was until recently Senior
Lecturer at the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of
Portsmouth. He has published widely on police governance, ethics, human rights
and police management, and has carried out research on policing in transitional
societies, particularly those of the former Soviet Union. Title: Women and Punishment The struggle for justice Author: Contributors: Pat Carlen, Barbara Hudson, Anne Worrall. Joanna
Phoenix, Kate De Cou, Jenny Roberts, Sally Poteat, Jackie Lowthian, Kathleen
Kendall. Kelly Hannah-Moffat. Edited by Pat Carlen (Keele University) Foreword by Sir David Ramsbotham ISBN: 1-903240-57-3 Publishers Willan Publishing Price: £17.99 paperback Publication Date: April 2002 The book tells us that in the last decade there has been growing
international concern about the increasing numbers of women in prison, the
effects that imprisonment has on their children, the realisation that gaoled
women have different criminal profiles and rehabilitative needs to male prisoners
and the seeming intractability of the associated problems. In response there
has been an overarching policy concern in many countries to fashion and
co-ordinate gender-specific policies towards female offenders which aim both to
slow down the rate of their offending and/or imprisonment and also to engender
flexible programmes which will reduce the time spent in custody and/or away
from their young children. The major objective of this book is to describe and analyse
contemporary opportunities for, and barriers to, both the reduction of female
prison populations and the reduction of the pain of those women who continue to
be imprisoned. It assesses the most important recent attempts to reduce both
women's imprisonment and the damage it does, identifying and analysing
cross-jurisdiction and gender-specific lessons to be learned, and the
unexpected consequences of some of the reform strategies. This book brings together leading scholars and practitioners in the
field, providing a critique of the reform initiatives which have taken place,
and a much-needed theorization of cross-national policy in this area. It will
be essential reading for all with an interest in prisons and prison reform. It has to be said that police officers would be the first to admit this
is not a subject they spend much time analysing in detail - however your
Reviewer did study the treatment of offenders as part of his LLM and a visit to
Hollaway was an eye-opener, as was some interviews with inmates. Books of this nature should be in police
libraries in order that we can all see the broader picture. It could be said, we put them there, so what happens next? Sir David Ramsbotham, GCB CBE (HM Chief Inspector of Prisons,
1995-2001) says of this book: "I hope that Professor Carlen's book will be read, marked, learned
and inwardly digested particularly by those who, by failing to take remedial
action in the past, have precipitated the present crisis. If they exploit all
the thought and care that she and her admirable team of contributors have put
into its production, the current crisis will be infinitely easier to resolve.
But they must make it their business to listen to, and not ignore, such advice
in the future, so that the damage that imprisonment causes to women is
eliminated, the public are protected, and no one has to struggle for justice" Pat Carlen is Visiting Professor of Criminology at Keele University,
and has written on a wide range of criminological topics. She was a founder
member of Women in Prison, and in 1997 was awarded the Sellin-Glueck Prize by
the American Society of Criminology for international contributions to
criminology. In the course of preparing for the subject, "sentencing and
treatment of offenders" on my LLM, I visited many prisons including
Holloway, this would have been in about 1980. I also recall going there as a
police officer, probably even earlier in date; like Sir David Ramsbottom, it
was an experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life. Policing and the Media Facts, fictions and factions Edition: 1st Authors: Frank Leishman and Paul Mason Series Editors: Les Johnston,
Frank Leishman, Tim Newburn ISBN: 190324028x Publishers Willan Publishing Price: £16.99 Publication Date: 2003 Factual, fictional and factional representations of policing in the
media are for many people a key influence in shaping perceptions not only about
the nature of policing but also broader opinions about crime and law and order
more generally. This important new book aims to provide an up-to-date overview
of the changing dynamics and dimensions of the relationships that exist between
the police and the media, focussing on the concepts of reality, realism and
representation. Policing and the Media explores the nature and effects of media images
of crime and policing, and examines the ways in which the police promote
themselves through the media. In tracing the history of the TV police drama,
the authors offer a reassessment of fictional depictions, including recent
series like Cops and Liverpool One. They argue that it is the reality TV show
which now conveys the dearer image of good versus evil once expressed by Dixon
of Dock Green, but no longer provided by the more morally ambiguous modern
police drama, where the distinction between crime and law enforcement appears
increasingly blurred. The authors also consider the issue of 'trial by media' and speculate
on the likely implications for the police and justice process of the increased
use of cameras in courtrooms. The book will be essential reading for those with
an interest in policing, the media and the relationship between the two. An interesting book, chapter 4, "Patrol, Plods and Coppers"
takes us back to "Dixon of Dock Green", to many people still
"the golden years". I have to
admit I have never watched a single episode of, The Bill, but I remember George
Dixon with affection. In the book it quotes, "It is fitting that a discussion of
fictional portrayals of policing should begin with Dixon of Dock Green, for no
series has encapsulated the bobby on the beat more completely. So resonant was
the image of PC George Dixon walking the beat in Paddington Green that it
became a symbol for a particular style of policing. Clarke (1986) notes the
headline in the Financial Times following inner-city riots across the country
in 1981: 'We can't leave it to old George any more'". What a pity. The book adds, "George Dixon would not recognise many aspects of
modern police work, but he would still find there, the old fashioned values of
commitment, responsibility and team work". Let us hope this always remains true. George Dixon first
appeared as police constable 693 of Paddington Green in the Ealing Studio film
The Blue Lamp in 1950. The authors Frank Leishman is Professor of Criminology at the Southampton
Institute, and formerly served in the Lothian and Borders Police, where he
worked in the fields of both criminal investigation and media relations. Paul
Mason is Reader in Criminology within the Faculty of Media, Arts and Society at
the Southampton Institute. Both authors have written extensively in the areas
of policing, crime and the media. Rob Jerrard Crime Reduction and Problem-Oriented Policing Authors: Edited by Karen Bullock and Nick Tilley ISBN: 1-84392-050-6 Publishers Will Publications Price: £25 RRP UK Publication Date: 2003 Foreword Evidence-based policy and
practice are currently in vogue, and some may say about time too. The UK government took a major step in
promoting this in the crime control field when in 1998 they launched the Crime
Reduction Programme (CRP) which ran from 1999 to 2002. It involved the expenditure of some £400
million, though only £250 million was originally allocated. The programme
represented a brave effort at implementing and building an evidence-based
response to crime and disorder problems.
It began with a review of the research base for crime prevention
(Goldblatt and Lewis 1998). It
attempted to fund work for which there was either already evidence of
effectiveness or for which further evidence was deemed necessary. To begin with 10% of the
£250 million budget was earmarked for systematic evaluation in order to build
up the evidence base. The announcement of such a significant investment,
together with the promise of evaluation, generated a great deal of interest and
support in the academic community. Although practitioners were faced with a
plethora of bidding opportunities for various funding streams arising from the
programme, they too supported its principles. Many of the products of the
CRP are now coming off the assembly line and it is time to take stock and ask what
was learned, what could have been done better, where do we go from here? The
chapters of this book, which is the second to be published in the Crime Science
Series, contribute to that process. This volume reports the main findings from
one stream - the Targeted Policing Initiative - which was concerned
specifically with implementing problem-oriented policing. Several of the
following chapters bring out how difficult it is in practice. Large-scale
funding Crime Reduction and
Problem-oriented Policing regimes where there is an
understandable impatience for action and results are not necessarily best
placed to yield carefully crafted, research based project designs, that are
then conscientiously and systematically implemented, monitored, adjusted and
tracked to try to find out what is working for whom in what circumstances.
Instead they can lead to opportunistic bidding, poor project design, hasty and
inconsistent implementation, weak record keeping and disappointing results. Crime science and
problem-oriented policing are natural bedfellows. Problem-oriented policing
calls for the routine application of the scientific method to policing. Crime
science requires a problem-oriented police service to deliver on many of its
findings. Problem-oriented policing begins with problems. It then tries to understand those problems
well enough to work out what to do to deal with them - to eliminate them,
reduce the harm caused by them or manage them more effectively. It draws on
careful analysis of the presenting problem and systematic research that has
worked out effective responses. It then
checks whether the responses have been effective and adjusts them as
necessary. Its focus is on police-relevant
community problems. It will entertain
any of a variety of ethical means for dealing with them. The problem and
working out what to do about it takes precedence over all else in
problem-oriented policing; in this it is akin to evidence-based medicine. Both
are unremittingly concerned with drawing on the best evidence to deal with
significant problems. Both call for professional, well-trained, thoughtful and
open-minded practitioners. Both realise that strong research is essential to
continuing improvements. In both, at their best, reflective practitioners work
alongside applied researchers to forge improvements in understanding and
treatment. Crime science is an emerging
discipline which, like problem-oriented policing, takes crime problems as its
starting point. As with medical science its focus is on understanding conditions
calling for attention in ways that will improve responses. Crime science
potentially speaks to those in a host of organisations. Product designers,
architects, planners, and managers of public and private sector organisations,
for example, all also have much to learn from crime science. All are implicated in creating conditions
that may either facilitate or disable crime.
But crime science has a special relationship to those who have a
specific responsibility to address crime and disorder problems: the police,
Crime and Disorder Partnerships, and the various non-police agencies of the
criminal justice system. These agencies and organisations have a duty to
address crime issues, and in most cases the evidence base for what they do is
far from strong. Much discretion is
exerted in terms of issues focused on and in terms of the responses chosen.
Tradition and agency culture play a large part in habitual ways of defining and
dealing with issues. For the police this tends to favour detection, enforcement
and deterrence as methods of dealing with problems. It also tends towards
dealing with incidents one at a time rather than looking at potential forms of
aggregation that can open the door to non-standard preventive responses.
Problem-oriented policing and crime science are united in their pursuit of
wide-ranging preventive responses to crime problems making use of analyses of
aggregate data which isolate families of incidents that can be pre-empted. There is a danger that moves
towards the adoption of an analytic approach to dealing with crime problems,
and to learning how better to deal with them, will be discredited through
programme design and operation shortcomings. It is crucial for the successful
implementation of problem-oriented policing and for complementary work in crime
science that space and resources be provided for well-designed, strongly
implemented and systematically evaluated action projects to address the
perennial crime problems that confront us. In this way a robust body of
knowledge can be developed to improve treatment of crime problems, along lines
similar to those found in much modern medicine. There is a global appetite
for crime prevention and for problem oriented policing. There are some
excellent examples of well documented research projects that have produced
substantial achievements, for example Forrester et al (1988, 1990), Braga et al
(2001), and Clarke and Goldstein (2002). There are a growing number of
invaluable problem-specific guides produced by the United States Office of
Community Oriented Policing Services. Finally, the Centre for Problem-Oriented
Policing has launched an excellent website at
www.popcenter.org
where existing and newly emerging materials relating to problem-oriented
policing can be found. The coming years should
provide rich opportunities for delivering problem-oriented policing and for
engaging in the research entailed by it. Capitalising on the potential benefits
from this work will require money and patience from government departments,
consistency and commitment from police and other agencies with crime prevention
responsibilities, and flexibility and engagement by the crime scientists who
will need to participate in and report results from individual initiatives. Gloria Laycock Jill Dando Institute of
Crime Science University College London July 2003 The Editors Karen .Bullock is Senior
Research Officer in the Research Directorate at the Home office, where her
research has focussed on the evaluation of programmes and projects that aim to
reduce crime and implement problem-oriented policing, Nick Tilley is Professor of
sociology at Nottingham Trent University, Visiting Professor at the Jill Dando
Institute of Crime Science, University College London, and formerly a
consultant to the Home office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate. The Contributors Chris Hale, Jalna Hanmer,
Charlotte Harris, Matt Hopkins, Tim John, Bethan Jones, Gloria Laycock, Mike
Maguire, Mario Matassa, Tim Newburn, Ken Pease, Jan Stockdale, Michael
Townsley, Steve Uglow, Barry Webb, Christine Whitehead. The New Politics of Crime and Punishment. Author: Edited by Roger Matthews & Jock Young ISBN: 1903240913 Price: £17.99 RRP UK Publication Date: 2003 Editors’ Preface The political climate in the
United Kingdom has changed dramatically over the past decade, and the
expectation has been that this would result in a significant shift in
government policy on crime and punishment. This expectation has in part been
met, although the nature of the changes which have taken place are not always
those that were expected. When New Labour swept to
power in 1997 it was widely anticipated that this would lead to a less
punitive, more informal and community based approach, which would place
greater emphasis on crime prevention and addressing the causes of crime,
particularly since there was growing evidence of a decrease in most forms of
crime. The popular slogan 'tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime', which
was coined by Tony Blair, signalled his desire to make New Labour the party of
'law and order' and his commitment to take crime seriously, because he believed
that this issue was a priority for the electorate. During the first period of
administration there was a predictable emphasis on young people, who
increasingly came to be seen as responsible for a disproportionate amount of
crime. There was also a growing focus on the protection of victims as well as
the development of inter-agency partnerships and “evidence-based” policy. There
was a clear commitment to increasing police numbers and to addressing growing
concerns about police effectiveness, particularly following the publication of
the Macpherson Inquiry and claims about institutional racism. At the same
time, the continuing increase in the number of people imprisoned led many
critics to claim that New Labour had in fact adopted a largely Conservative
agenda, and that in their attempt “to get tough on crime” they had moved
increasingly to the right. In the first few years of
the new century, however, the assessment of government policy has become more
diverse and more positive. The passing of the Crime and Disorder Act (1998) has
increasingly been identified as a watershed in policy, by its linking of crime
with disorder and its placing them both within a broader framework of community
safety. This, in turn, has broadened the focus from crime control to issues of
social and distributive justice. It has also involved a realignment of the
major regulatory agencies, with responsibility for crime control and community
safety shifting increasingly to local authorities. Within this changing
context, crime and disorder are increasingly linked to issues of urban decline
and regeneration. This broadening of the focus of intervention has resulted in
a growing interest in the dynamics of social inclusion and exclusion. The main objective of this
book is to examine these developments and to assess their significance. In
doing so the authors are faced with the perennial task of distinguishing
rhetoric from reality and appearances from underlying processes. A cursory
examination of recent policy, however, indicates that the Labour government is
no longer offering “more of the same” and simply trying to outdo its
Conservative predecessors. In fact, there is a growing realization that New
Labour is now, moving in a different direction, involving different priorities,
methods and objectives. A more complex and differentiated strategy is emerging,
which no longer simply mimics 'get tough' policies, but which is in the process
of developing a more diverse approach, which will undoubtedly have profound
consequences not only on “law and order” but also on social life in this
country in general. All of the contributors to
this volume have a close association with Middlesex University. The criminology
group at Middlesex have regularly contributed over the past two decades to the
ongoing debates on the politics of crime and punishment, and have attempted to
contribute to the development of policy. It is also 30 years since the Masters
Programme in Criminology was introduced at Middlesex, and a number of those who
have studied on this pioneering course are now involved in developing and
implementing the policies discussed in this volume. The editors Roger Matthews is Professor
of Criminology at Middlesex University; Jock Young is Professor of Criminology
at Middlesex University and Distinguished Professor at John Jay College of
Criminal Justice and the Graduate Centre of the City University of New York. Contributors Anthony
Goodman, Lynn Hancock, John Lea, Roger Matthews, Denise Martin, Jayne Mooney,
John Pitts, Patrick Slaughter, Betsy Thom, Catriona Woolner, Jock Young. Policing,
Surveillance and Social Control CCTV and police monitoring of suspects Authors:
Tim Newburn And Stephanie Hayman ISBN:
1-903240-50-6 Publishers:
Willan Publishing Price
£30 RRP UK Hardback Publication
Date: 5th Sept 2001 This book
reveals what happened when CCTV was introduced into the custody suite of a busy
police station in north London. In a
unique experiment, cameras were installed in the cells to monitor continuously
the behaviour of all people in the custody suite - the most thorough use of
CCTV in a police station anywhere in the world. Alongside extensive interviews with suspects, police officers,
solicitors and others involved in the care of detainees, a detailed examination
of police records adds context to a revealing picture of life inside a custody
suite. The
experiment represents a marked departure from most previous uses of CCTV within
criminal justice and crime control, and the book raises important new questions
about the nature and impact of new technology. At the same time the book
addresses a range of broader concerns about the human rights implications of
the use of such technology, and challenges the ways in which the role of the
police, their governance and the use of CCTV are currently conceptualised in
criminology and social theory. It
raises key questions not only about the treatment of detainees in custody but
about the future of policing more generally. A
key theme of the book is an emphasis on the need to move away from a narrow
focus on the negative, intrusive face of surveillance. As this study
demonstrates, CCTV is Janus-faced. It
intrudes, but in watching it also has the potential to protect. The authors
argue that both faces of CCTV need to be examined and analysed simultaneously
in order to understand the impact and implications of electronic surveillance. Extracts
from Reviews “An
absolutely fascinating story, which has surprising and thought-provoking
findings.” Clive Norris (University of Hull) “This
is an excellent book. It is interesting, well written and insightful. It
addresses a range of important issues concerning CCTV, privacy and protection
in the distinctive conditions found in police custody suites.” Nick Tilley
(Nottingham Trent University) Selling
Security, The Private Policing of Public Space Author:
Alison Wakefield ISBN:
1-84392-049-2 Publishers:
Willan Publishing Price
£30 RRP UK Publication
Date: 10 October 2003 Private
security personnel play a large and growing role within public social life.
Teams of private security officers now routinely patrol facilities such as
shopping malls, leisure parks and transport terminals, which rely commercially
on free, safe and reliable access by customers, service providers and the
public at large. Alison
Wakefield conducted a unique study of security teams in three locations, each
typical of the places where the public spend much of their leisure time.
Examining a shopping mall, a retail and leisure complex and a cultural centre
in turn, she addresses such questions as: 1 How do centres respond
to public needs for comfort and security in their design, management and
security strategies? 2 What functions are security officers
expected to perform? 3 What is the nature and
quality of the relationship between private security and the police? In
Selling Security, Wakefield provides a detailed account of trends in urban
planning, public policy and the commercial world that have promoted the
expansion of private security. She considers changes in retail and leisure
patterns leading to the emergence of large, multi-purpose developments, the
implementation of town centre planning strategies to create more attractive and
secure high street retail and leisure facilities, and the extension of CCTV and
security patrols as tools for managing social settings. The
book also takes account of the challenges posed by these developments to
conventional law enforcement agencies, most notably the erosion of the state's
virtual monopoly on policing and the need for governments to develop new
strategies that harness the efforts of alternative policing agencies. At the
same time, Selling Security makes an important contribution to theoretical
debates about the role of private security in the late modern era. Author’
Preface While
private security is certainly no longer a subject that languishes on a
forgotten scholarly back burner, it remains surprisingly under researched.
Despite its obvious importance to the governance of security, scholars continue
to focus far more attention on the police than they do the various other agents
and agencies that provide for security. Indeed this might have become worse in
the post-September 11th environment, as states seek to respond more effectively
to established threats that can no longer be ignored, even though it should be
obvious to everyone that if ever it was important to mobilise and integrate a
wide variety of resources to govern security, now is the time to do it. Of
course, if these resources are to be mobilized and integrated in effective and
ethical ways, it is necessary to understand what they are and how they operate.
The most obvious, sizable and widespread of these resources is private security.
Private security is a global phenomena that rivals the reach of police agencies. While
private security's importance is now widely recognized - and while there are
now many studies of it - we still know remarkably little about it. One of the
things needed to remedy this is fine-grained analyses of the operation of
private security in a wide variety of contexts. In choosing to explore the work
of private security within the context of mass private property - that is, the
common spaces that cut across the private-public distinction, Alison Wakefield
has chosen to explore what is in many ways private security's most emblematic
terrain. In
preparing the reader for the empirical explorations she has undertaken, Alison
Wakefield travels effortlessly through several general governance literatures
as well as across the policing literature. This bears considerable fruit. Not
only is her discussion well informed but it is also full of insight - for
example, her bringing together the issues of collective feelings of insecurity,
shifts in spatial configurations, along with shifts in structures and patterns
of social control in a series of orienting problems that prompt challenging
research questions. She
uses these insights with considerable skill to elucidate her material in an
empirical study that is full of subtlety and nuance that only careful
observation and great familiarity can provide. She then goes further to build
and expand upon the theoretical resources upon which she relies. By the time
she has completed her journey, she leaves us with a new appreciation of one of
the "patches" that private security fills within Richard Ericson's
"security quilt" in ways, that helped me to better understand Bottoms
and Wiles "bubbles" of security as bubbles of governance. In drawing
upon and then elucidating the many other theoretically central concepts she
canvases, Wakefield does more than simply provide a descriptive account. She
extends our theoretical understanding of nodal governance. Through the window
of private security she shows how governing entities operate within a patchwork
of assemblages that cut across spaces to link together governing knowledges and
resources. This takes us one step closer to understanding the rich tapestry of
institutions, mentalities and technologies that govern security. An
empirical study that is full of subtlety and nuance that only careful
observation and great familiarity can provide. . . an important and a
significant contribution. Professor
Clifford Shearing (Australian National University). Alison
Wakefield is Lecturer in Security and Risk Management at the Scarman Centre,
University of Leicester.
Publishers: Willan
While social exclusion continues to be seen as a consequence of young people’s
behaviour, Out of Sight: crime, youth
and exclusion in modern Britain examines how stigmatising poor
communities has come to define Britain’s consumer society.
The book challenges the view underlying government policy that social exclusion
is a product of crime, antisocial behaviour and drug use, and in focusing on
one socially deprived neighbourhood it promotes a different way of seeing the
problematic relationship between socially excluded young people, society and
government.
Contents
Acknowledgements
List of illustrations
Introduction
Masking poverty
Twenty-four seven society
Outline
1 A mugger's paradise
The unusual suspects
Working poor
Growing up in a poor community
Through the looking glass
Being poor in an affluent society
Shovelin shit: Nova's local
economy
Ordinary world
Crime as status
Welfare and Workfare
Poverty, culture and crime
Too much too young
Social exclusion
Stitched up: exclusion at
school
Compulsory youth training
Working in a service economy
Room 101
Crime and consumption
2 Nova
The Project
Uncle Sean
Born and bred
Spirit of a community
The rule of the street
Linden's
Nova: it's me, it's who I am
Survival of the fittest
Elements of a culture
Orpheus
Going under
Work and leisure
Working in Nova
A bit of business
Fuckin' chaos
3 Work
Life or death
Children under a shadow
Just Thievin'
Racism
Gender and crime
Youthful aspirations
Shit Street
4 Respect
Gangsters
Drugs and crime
Poverty and drug use
Inside out
Social exclusion in action
Achieving respect
Floetry
Exclusion through style
Hip Hop culture
Watching communities
Risk and defeat
Maintaining respect
The enemy within
Feeling for one another
Faith in the future
5 Education
Problem youth
Ghetto heaven
One hand doesn't know what the other hand's doing'
A new initiative
Learning to labour
Escape attempts
You got no hopes: working on
Workfare
Urban regeneration
The Workfare carousel
Been here before: repackaging the Project
Behind the scenes
Making history
The Breakfast Club
Demonising community
6 Community
Living with poverty
Stigmatising poor people
Changing times
Thinking about society
Fatal strategies
People power
Township community
They think you're bad
War on community
The last frontier
Staying alive
7 Society
A dolls' house
Heroes and villains
Imagining crime
Search and destroy
Consumer protection
Faith in the city
The golden years
Law and order
Back to basics
Intel: crime in an information society
Being human
Bibliography
Index
Robert McAuley studied for a doctorate in criminology at the University of
Cambridge, and was formerly a research Fellow at London South Bank University.
He is currently writing a book about young people’s experiences of higher
education.
Review
The first five chapters of the book explore what has happened to the governance
of security, through an analysis of the drivers, conditions and processes of
innovation in the context of particular empirical developments. Particular
reference is made here to 'waves of change' in security within the Ontario
Provincial Police in Canada. In the final chapter the authors examine the
implications of 'nodal governance' for democratic values, and then suggest normative
directions for deepening democracy in these new circumstances.
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Imagining security
Imagining governance
Governance through force
Governing through enrolment
1 From state to nodal governance
Introduction
Transformations in state governance
Governing through others: enrolment and alignment
Private governments
Nodal governance
Conclusion
2 Community security and local governance: waves in public policing
Introduction
The place of the police
Waves in public policing
Policing as community-based
Policing as solving problems
The influence of neo-liberalism
Policing as restorative justice
Policing as fixing broken windows
Policing as intelligence work
Policing as reassurance
Conclusion
3 Human security and global governance
Introduction
Imagining human security
Threats to human security
Strategies of human security governance
Fighting crime and terror
Protecting people in zones of conflict
Protecting human rights
Building peace
Developing communities and societies
The state security/human security nexus
Conclusion
4 Responding to governance deficits
Introduction
Methods of power
Concentrate power nodally and use it to steer governance
Recognize and use all your power resources
Focus on nodes where one can be creative and assertive
Concentrate knowledge at nodes
Locate resources at nodes
Promote deliberative processes within nodes
Democracy in nodal governance
Conclusion
5 The governance of governance
Introduction
Hybridity in state governance: the case of public policing
Legal accountability
Political accountability
The new regulatory state or regulatory capitalism
Thinking like a business
Hybridity in decentred governance: private policing and beyond
Nodal governance for the future
Conclusion
Conclusion
Explanatory themes
Normative themes
Bibliography
Legislation
Legal cases
Index
ISBN-13:
978-1-843921-97-4
1 ‘Killed by the Internet’: Cyber Homicides, Cyber Suicides and Cyber Sex
Crimes, Yvonne Jewkes
2 Cybercrime: Re-thinking Crime Control Strategies, Susan W. Brenner
3 The Problem of Stolen Identity and the Internet, Emily Finch
4 Biometric Solutions to Identity-related Cybercrime, Russell G. Smith
5 Internet Child Pornography: International Responses, Yvonne Jewkes and Carol
Andrews
6 The Role of Computer Forensics in Criminal Investigations, Robert Moore
7 Teenage Kicks or Virtual Villainy? Internet Piracy, Moral Entrepreneurship,
and the Social Construction of a Crime Problem, Majid Yar
8 In the back of the net: football hooliganism and the Internet, Stefan
Fafinski
9 Constructing Crime: Stalking, Celebrity, ‘Cyber’ and Media, Maggie Wykes
10 Digital Undergrounds: Alternative Politics and Civil Society, Rinella Cere
11 Beyond ‘the Desert of the Real’: Crime Control in a Virtual(ised) Reality,
Katja Franko Aas
Index
Yvonne Jewkes is Reader in Criminology at the Open University. She has written extensively on the problems
of policing cybercrime as well as more generally about the relationship between
new technologies, crime and deviance. Her books include Dot. cons: crime, deviance and identity on the internet (Willan,
2003) and Media and Crime
(Sage, 2004). She is also Editor of Crime, Media, Culture: an international
journal.
Publishers: Willan
Young People and Offending will
be essential reading for youth justice practitioners as well as students taking
courses on youth crime and youth justice, or on youth justice or probation
training courses.
1 Foreword by Rod Morgan (Chairman, Youth
Justice Board)
Introduction
1 Background: theories and evidence
2 The Evolution of Education and Youth
Justice
3 Social Inclusion
4 Detachment: exclusion, absenteeism, non participation
and unemployment
5 Low Attainment and Under-achievement
6 The Influence of the School
7 Custody and Custodial Education
8 Stakeholders: public opinion, magistrates,
Yots, and young people
9 What Works in Youth Justice and
Education
10 Social Policy
11 Conclusions
References
Index
Review
ISBN-13:
978-1-843921-39-4
Examples of problem-oriented policing examined in this book include specific
police and partnership initiatives targeting a wide spectrum of individual
problems (such as road safety, graffiti and alcohol-related violence), as well
as organisational efforts to embed problem-oriented work as a routine way of
working (such as improving training and interagency problem solving along with
more specific challenges like improving the way that identity parades are
conducted.
This book will be of particular interest to those working in the field of crime
reduction and community safety in the police, local government and other
agencies, as well as students taking courses in policing, criminal justice and
criminology.
1 Introduction: problem-orientated approaches to crime reduction and policing
2 Experiences of problem-orientated policing implementation
3 Mainstreaming problem-orientated policing implementation
4 The implementation of problem-orientated projects in the UK
5 Resources for improving problem-orientated policing and partnerships
6 The changing context of British problem-orientated policing
7 Conclusions: problem-orientated policing and Evidence Based Policy and
Practice
Index
Preface and acknowledgements
Foreword by Jody Miller (University of Missouri St Louis)
1 Doing crime, doing gender
2 Gender's omnipresence: methodology
3 Real men and punks: masculinities on the streets
4 Every motherfucker gonna try to punk you: masculinity challenges
5 One's man 'ho' is another man's sister: men's relationships with women and
families
6 Is it being smart, or just a punk ass move? The contradictions of street
masculinity
7 Masculinities, streetlife and violence
References
Index
Review
Edition: 1st
ISBN-10: 1-843920-87-5
ISBN-13: 978-1-843920-87-8
Along with this has come new legal measure and attempts to regulate the sexual
leisure economy, and far more comprehensive plans than ever before to regulate
prostitution, in particular in the form of the new Sex Offences Act. This book
seeks to address the range of issues and contemporary debates on the sex
industry, including the demand by customers who buy sex, the policing of women
who work in the street sex industry, and the violence that pervades
prostitution. It shows how these issues have been addressed in policy terms,
the problems that have emerged in this, and how a social policy might be
formulated to minimize harm and enhance public understanding.
Overall the book aims to provide a critical perspective on prostitution policies
and the legal chaos and complexities that surround this.
Contents
Introduction
1 How prostitution became a legal problem
2 Understanding prostitution policy
3 Understanding sexual demand
4 Policing street prostitution
5 Violence, victimisation and protection
6 Motives, method and morality
7 Conclusion
References
Index
ISBN-13: 978-1-843-92184-4
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1 Forensic identification: the legal framework
Police investigations and forensic identity evidence
Fingerprints and DNA sampling: the legal framework
2 Forensic identification: the criminal investigation
DNA and police investigations
The DNA Expansion Programme
DNA and criminal detection rates
Forensic science and criminal investigation: a case for caution?
Conclusion: forensic identification and the criminal process
3 Forensic identification: the criminal trial
The criminal trial: fairness or truth?
Identity 'matches': acceptance of fingerprint and DNA
Evidence
The criminal trial: certainty and rectitude
Conclusion: forensic identification and the criminal trial
Forensic Identification and Criminal Justice
4 The development of forensic identity databases
The development of forensic identity databases
Fingerprint databasing
A sceptical approach to forensic identity databases
Forensic identity databases: some new risks
Forensic identity databases: current problems, future risks
Conclusion: the endangerment of innocence in the pursuit of security
5 Forensic identification in other jurisdictions
Europe
Pan-European developments
Interpol
USA
Canada
New Zealand and Australia
Conclusion: England and Wales - leading the way?
6 The future of forensic identification: issues and prospects
Fingerprints and DNA in the 'fight against crime'
Future applications for forensic identification technologies
Forensic identification: human rights and civil liberties
Forensic identity databases: issues and prospects
The 'infallibility' of forensic identification
The information society: heading for 'information overload'?
Conclusion: Cause for optimism, pessimism, or scepticism?
References
Index
Review
2 The function of fiction for a punitive public, Anna King, Keele University and Shadd Maruna, Cambridge University
3 Red tops, populists and the irresistible rise of the public voice(s), Mick Ryan, University of Greenwich
4 Crime sound bites: a view from both sides of the microphone, Enver Solomon, Prison Reform Trust
5 What works in changing public attitudes: findings from rethinking crime and
punishment, Rob Allen,
Rethinking Crime and Punishment
6 Delivering death: capital punishment, botched executions and the American
news media, Chris Greer,
Northumbria University
7 'Buried alive': representations of the separate system in Victorian England, Helen Johnston, University of Hull
8 Undermining the simplicities: the films of Rex Bloomstein, Jamie Bennett, Deputy Governor, HMP
Whitemoor
9 Creating a stir? Prisons, popular media and the power to reform, Yvonne Jewkes, The Open University
10 The violence of images: inside the prison TV drama Oz, Brian Jarvis,
Loughborough University
11 The anti-heroines of Holloway : the prison films of Joan Henry and J. Lee
Thompson, Steve Chibnall, De
Montfort University
12 Relocating Hollywood's prison film discourse, Paul Mason, Cardiff University
13 Future punishment in American science fiction films, Mike Nellis University of Birmingham
Index
Organised Crime has four
predominant themes:
The author
Alan Wright was formerly a police officer with the Metropolitan
Police, where he worked on the Kray case and on other gang crime and homicide
cases. He later lectured at the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies,
University of Portsmouth, and is currently an Honorary Research Fellow at
Keele University. He is the author of Policing:
an introduction to concepts and practice (Willan Publishing, 2002).
Contents
Preface and acknowledgements
Introduction
1 Mapping rough terrain: the contested concept of organised crime
2 The gang as a violent way of life
3 Dirty business: the political economy of organised crime
4 The magic roundabout: traffic in the global village
5 Organised crime: its 'traditional' forms
6 Land of opportunity: organised crime in the US
7 New waves
8 Home firms: the British experience
9 Tackling organised crime: possibly together Conclusion
References
Index
Review
UK focus but set in context of international literature on hate crime
Contents
Foreword by John GD Grieve,
former Head of the Racial and Violent Crime Task Force, Metropolitan Police
Service
Introduction
1 Defining and conceptualising hate crime
2 Prejudice and hatred
3 A history of hate crime
4 Hate crime victimisation
5 Hate crime perpetrators
6 Extreme hatred
7 Legislating against hate
8 Legislating against hate: the theoretical and moral debate
9 Policing hate crime in New York and Philadelphia
10 Policing hate crime in London
11 Policing Hate Crime: problems, challenges and solutions
12 Community responses to hate crime
Bibliography
Index
Review
The final part of the book is completely new, examining changes in the way
police organisations are managed and political imperatives, including the war
on terrorism, and the effect this has on policing and the public. It also
examines some specific 21st century crime problems.
Part 1 The Social and Historical Contexts of Policing
The Triangle of Tension
The History of Policing
Crime - A Police Problem or a Social Problem?
Part 2 The Changing Styles of Policing
The 1960s 0n - Policing Responses to Social Change
Current Police Responses to Crime and Disorder
The Hidden Cost of Modern Policing Strategies
Ethical Concerns for Modern Policing Strategies
Ethics, Discipline, and the Behaviour of Individual Police Officers
Part 3 Accountability
Control, Independence and Accountability in Policing
Police Accountability in Australia
Police Accountability in Britain
Police Accountability in USA
Part 4 Policing in the 21st Century
Issues in Crime in the 21st Century
Control of Policing
Policing the 21st Century
Bibliography/ Table of Statutes/ Table of Cases/ Index
The book examines the history of football-related violence, the problems in
defining the nature of football hooliganism, the data available on the extent
of football hooliganism, provides a detailed review of the various theories
about who hooligans are and why they behave as they do, and an analysis of
policing and social policy in relation to tackling football hooliganism.
Steve Frosdick is Principal Lecturer at the Institute of Criminal Justice
Studies at the University of Portsmouth, where he teaches courses on safety and
security at sports grounds. A former police officer, he has been Director of
IWI Associates since 1996 , and is a founder member of the Football Safety
Officers' Association.
Peter Marsh
is a director of the Social Issues Research Centre and MCM Research, and has
studied football hooliganism since the 1970s. He was previously co-director of
the Contemporary Violence Research Centre at the University of Oxford, and
lectured in psychology at Oxford Brookes University. Contents
Preface
Foreword by Jim Chalmers(President,
Football Safety Officers' Association)
Part 1 Introduction
1 Introduction
2 Football violence in history
Part 2 Defining football hooliganism
3 The nature and extent of football hooliganism
4 Levels of violence in Europe
5 European fan profiles and behaviour
Part 3 Explaining football hooliganism
6 An overview of British theories of football hooliganism
7 British theoretical perspectives in detail
8 Theoretical approaches from Europe and beyond
9 The media and football hooliganism
10 Football violence and alcohol
11 Racism and football fans
Part 4 Tackling football hooliganism
12 Policing football hooliganism
13 Repressive social controls
14 More proactive and preventive measures
References and selected bibliography Useful websites
Index
ISBN:
1843921340
Workplace Violence goes beyond
the current emphasis on equipping 'primary responders' (e.g. police, fire
ambulance, etc) to react to terrorist-related and other workplace violence
incidents, paying attention to the 'secondary' responders such as human
services workers, managers, human resources staff, unions, occupational health
and safety professionals, humanitarian aid workers and median staff - and their
training and support needs.
Vaughan Bowie
lectures at the University of Western Sydney in Australia, has carried out both
research and training in the prevention of workplace violence, and is the
author of Coping with Violence: a
guide for human services; Bonnie Fisher is a Professor in the Division
of Criminal Justice, and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Criminal
Justice Research, at the University of Cincinnati, and is also a co-editor of
the Security Journal; Cary L.
Cooper is Pro Vice Chancellor (External Relations) and Professor of
Organizational Psychology and Health, University of Lancaster, England, and the
author of over 100 books and 400 scholarly articles.
Introduction 1 Workplace Violence: new issues, trends, and strategies Vaughan Bowie, Bonnie S Fisher and Cary
Cooper
Section 1 National and International Trends
and Responses to Workplace Violence
2 A cross-national comparison of workplace violence and response
strategies Vittorio Di Martino
3 Organizational factors and psychological aggression: results from a
national survey of US companies Paula L
Grubb, Rashaun K Roberts,
Naomi G Swanson, Jennifer L Burnfield, and Jennifer H Childress
4 Reforming abusive organisations Charlotte
Raynor
Section 2 Identifying and responding
to at risk groups
5 Staff violence against those in their care Charmaine Hockley
6 Domestic violence and the workplace: do we know too much of nothing? Bonnie S Fisher and Corinne Peek-Asa
7 Caring for those who care - aid worker safety and security as a source of
stress and distress: a case for psychological support? Ros Thomas
8 Not off the hook: relationships between aid organisation culture and climate
and the experience of workers in volatile environments Barb Wigley
Section 3 Terrorism: a new type of
workplace violence
9 Organizational violence: a trigger for reactive terrorism Vaughan Bowie
10 Preparing, training, and supporting human service workers to respond to
terrorist events David F Wee and
Diane Myers
11 Workplace preparedness and resiliency: an integrated response to terrorism Nancy T. Vineburgh, Robert J. Ursano, and Carol S. Fullerton
Section 4 Bullys at work
12 Workplace bullying: individual pathology or organisational culture Stale Einarsen, Helge Hoel, Dieter Zapf and Cary L.
Cooper
13 Cyber-harassment in the workplace Monica
T Whitty and Adrian N Carr
14 Where to from here? countering workplace violence in the new millennium, Vaughan Bowie, Bonnie S. Fisher, and Cary
Cooper
Treating Sex Offenders
The book is concerned particularly to assess the operation of sex offender
treatment programmes in the UK context, considering also the issues
associated with implementing programmes developed in other contexts,
especially the USA and Canada. It will be of interest to practitioners,
particularly those who are beginning work on sex offender treatment
programmes, or others (such as health workers, social workers, probation
officers) who come into contact with these programmes indirectly.
1Introduction
2 History and development of sex offender treatment
3 Current use of cognitive-behavioural sex offender treatment
4 Theoretical underpinnings of programmes
5 Treatment ethos and effects on staff
6 Programmes and aims of cognitivebehavioural programmes
7 Are programmes effective? (1) Difficulties in evaluating programmes
8 Are programmes effective? (2) Research evidence
9 Are programmes effective (3) What works?
10 The future of treatment programmes
References
Index
Publishers:
Willan Publishing
1
Introduction: Moral Authoritarianism and Official and Quasi-Official Discourses
of Sex Part I: Deconstructing Official
Discourse of Sexual Violence
2 Destructive Sex: Sexual Autonomy, Victimhood and the Problem of Men
3 Threatening Sex: Protection, Communities and Childhood
4 Commercial Sex: Consent, Coercion and Exploitation Part
2 Deconstructing Quasi-Official Discourse of Sexual Infractions
5 Nuisance Sex: Harassment, Collusion and Decency
6 Professional Sex: Ethics, Trust and Moral Guardianship
7 Transgressive and Digital Sex: Margins, Edges and Limitless Victims
8 Conclusion: Victims, Perpetrators and the New Sexual Enterprise
Index
Review
Preface to the second edition
1 Introduction: crime and modernity Part One: The rational actor model of crime
and criminal behaviour
2 Classical criminology
3 Populist conservative criminology
4 Contemporary rational actor theories Part Two: The predestined actor model of
crime and criminal behaviour
5 Biological positivism
6 Psychological positivism
7 Sociological positivism
8 Positivism and women Part Three: The victimised actor model of crime and
criminal behaviour
9 Labelling theories
10 Conflict and radical theories
11 The gendered criminal
12 Critical criminology Part Four: Integrated theories of crime and criminal
behaviour
13 Sociobiological theories
14 Environmental criminology
15 Social control theories
16 Left realism
17 Conclusion: crime and the post modern condition
References Glossary
Author
Index
The Role and Function of the
Police
Police Culture
Policing Strategies
Deviance, Ethics and Control
Policing Images
Policing,
communication and legitimacy
Publishers Willan
Publishing
·
"Internet Law Book Reviews" Copyright Rob Jerrard 2007