Adam Crawford
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198298458
- eISBN:
- 9780191685446
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198298458.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This chapter describes the genesis of the ‘partnership’ approach and the recent rebirth of appeals to ‘community’ and ‘prevention’ within contemporary British crime-control policy and practice. It ...
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This chapter describes the genesis of the ‘partnership’ approach and the recent rebirth of appeals to ‘community’ and ‘prevention’ within contemporary British crime-control policy and practice. It begins with a brief historical account of earlier forms of local governance in crime control and some of the transformations in policing and criminal justice which have occurred over the past 200 years. Then, it examines the recent interest in ‘prevention’, ‘community’, and ‘partnerships’ within crime-control policy. Each of these concepts is considered, outlining the most important policy developments, academic debates, and practical initiatives. The ways in which and the extent to which these notions have impacted upon different criminal justice agencies and their work are examined. Throughout the analysis, special attention is placed on the recurring critical relationships between formal and professionalized systems of crime control and the attraction of informal or community-based models.Less
This chapter describes the genesis of the ‘partnership’ approach and the recent rebirth of appeals to ‘community’ and ‘prevention’ within contemporary British crime-control policy and practice. It begins with a brief historical account of earlier forms of local governance in crime control and some of the transformations in policing and criminal justice which have occurred over the past 200 years. Then, it examines the recent interest in ‘prevention’, ‘community’, and ‘partnerships’ within crime-control policy. Each of these concepts is considered, outlining the most important policy developments, academic debates, and practical initiatives. The ways in which and the extent to which these notions have impacted upon different criminal justice agencies and their work are examined. Throughout the analysis, special attention is placed on the recurring critical relationships between formal and professionalized systems of crime control and the attraction of informal or community-based models.
Lucia Zedner
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199565955
- eISBN:
- 9780191701948
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199565955.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This chapter argues that opportunity theory has deep theoretical underpinnings. It also illustrates how the sociology of deviance's influence in policy-circles has declined as a simplified form of ...
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This chapter argues that opportunity theory has deep theoretical underpinnings. It also illustrates how the sociology of deviance's influence in policy-circles has declined as a simplified form of economic analysis has emerged as the key driver of crime control policies. It then goes on to show the present vogue for the quick fix of opportunity theory by reference to a convergence of intellectual fashion and political style. In addition, it explores the political environment in which economic analysis flourished, the basic features of the economic approach, and its implications for crime control policy. Moreover, it evaluates the influence to date of economic analysis on the policy field. It is shown that situational control theories are better seen as deriving from the assumptions, insights, and conceptual tools of modern economic analysis than from sociology. Despite its undoubted impact in policy circles, British criminologists remain sceptical about economic analysis principally because they see its approach as reductive and insufficiently concerned with the staple explanatory variables of the sociology of deviance.Less
This chapter argues that opportunity theory has deep theoretical underpinnings. It also illustrates how the sociology of deviance's influence in policy-circles has declined as a simplified form of economic analysis has emerged as the key driver of crime control policies. It then goes on to show the present vogue for the quick fix of opportunity theory by reference to a convergence of intellectual fashion and political style. In addition, it explores the political environment in which economic analysis flourished, the basic features of the economic approach, and its implications for crime control policy. Moreover, it evaluates the influence to date of economic analysis on the policy field. It is shown that situational control theories are better seen as deriving from the assumptions, insights, and conceptual tools of modern economic analysis than from sociology. Despite its undoubted impact in policy circles, British criminologists remain sceptical about economic analysis principally because they see its approach as reductive and insufficiently concerned with the staple explanatory variables of the sociology of deviance.
Adam Crawford
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198298458
- eISBN:
- 9780191685446
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198298458.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This chapter assesses the theoretical explanations for the nature of ‘partnerships’ as constituting new forms of local governance. It also discusses the key theoretical debates concerning the ...
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This chapter assesses the theoretical explanations for the nature of ‘partnerships’ as constituting new forms of local governance. It also discusses the key theoretical debates concerning the location of social power – with particular regard to the formation and implementation of local crime control policy – and the manner in which it has been transformed by recent developments. It examines relations between the central state and local intermediary bodies. Then, it considers the implications of the research findings for the nature of relations at the local level, within and between the local state, interest groups, and associations within the new policy partnerships. In particular, it evaluates the extent to which the private-business sector has become involved in shaping the policy process. Finally, it explores broadly some of the possible implications of the earlier insights for the form and substance of the policies themselves.Less
This chapter assesses the theoretical explanations for the nature of ‘partnerships’ as constituting new forms of local governance. It also discusses the key theoretical debates concerning the location of social power – with particular regard to the formation and implementation of local crime control policy – and the manner in which it has been transformed by recent developments. It examines relations between the central state and local intermediary bodies. Then, it considers the implications of the research findings for the nature of relations at the local level, within and between the local state, interest groups, and associations within the new policy partnerships. In particular, it evaluates the extent to which the private-business sector has become involved in shaping the policy process. Finally, it explores broadly some of the possible implications of the earlier insights for the form and substance of the policies themselves.
Adam Crawford
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198298458
- eISBN:
- 9780191685446
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198298458.003.0008
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This chapter takes an avowedly jaundiced view of some of the path-dependent possible implications of recent developments in the governance of crime and appeals to ‘community’. Particular concern is ...
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This chapter takes an avowedly jaundiced view of some of the path-dependent possible implications of recent developments in the governance of crime and appeals to ‘community’. Particular concern is given to issues of social justice and responsibility. It is also concerned with the ‘spirals of ghettoization’. It begins with a discussion of shifts in responsibility heralded by recent developments and their possible implications both for the commodification of security and the evaluation of ‘success’ and ‘failure’ in crime-control policy. The presented argument can contribute to the awareness of the social hazards of appeals to ‘community’ and ‘partnerships’.Less
This chapter takes an avowedly jaundiced view of some of the path-dependent possible implications of recent developments in the governance of crime and appeals to ‘community’. Particular concern is given to issues of social justice and responsibility. It is also concerned with the ‘spirals of ghettoization’. It begins with a discussion of shifts in responsibility heralded by recent developments and their possible implications both for the commodification of security and the evaluation of ‘success’ and ‘failure’ in crime-control policy. The presented argument can contribute to the awareness of the social hazards of appeals to ‘community’ and ‘partnerships’.
Dimitri A. Bogazianos
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814787007
- eISBN:
- 9780814725160
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814787007.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
This chapter examines rap's unique expressive position in relation to the primary contradictions of crack cocaine's punishment structure as well as recent arguments condemning this structure, ...
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This chapter examines rap's unique expressive position in relation to the primary contradictions of crack cocaine's punishment structure as well as recent arguments condemning this structure, including those from the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Sentencing Commission. After discussing the contradictory policy contexts out of which crack's lethal logic of work eventually emerged, the chapter considers the “punitive turn” in U.S. crime-control policy and the “scholarly near misses” that have influenced analyses of the rap–crack connection. It suggests ways of rethinking the rap–crack connection in order to move beyond reductionist accounts in which rap and inner-city communities are taken as mere reflections of each other.Less
This chapter examines rap's unique expressive position in relation to the primary contradictions of crack cocaine's punishment structure as well as recent arguments condemning this structure, including those from the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Sentencing Commission. After discussing the contradictory policy contexts out of which crack's lethal logic of work eventually emerged, the chapter considers the “punitive turn” in U.S. crime-control policy and the “scholarly near misses” that have influenced analyses of the rap–crack connection. It suggests ways of rethinking the rap–crack connection in order to move beyond reductionist accounts in which rap and inner-city communities are taken as mere reflections of each other.
David A Green
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199230969
- eISBN:
- 9780191696497
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199230969.003.0010
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
This chapter explores the important distinction between public opinion and deliberative public judgment by illustrating the need for such a distinction in the first place. It considers the evolution ...
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This chapter explores the important distinction between public opinion and deliberative public judgment by illustrating the need for such a distinction in the first place. It considers the evolution of the field of public opinion research and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of public opinion assessment tools. It reviews what is known about the quality of public opinion about crime and punishment. It also considers why existing surrogates for informed public opinion play such an important role in democratic politics, especially in majoritarian countries like England and the USA, and why these surrogates are inadequate to justify the influence they have been given on matters of crime control policy.Less
This chapter explores the important distinction between public opinion and deliberative public judgment by illustrating the need for such a distinction in the first place. It considers the evolution of the field of public opinion research and assesses the strengths and weaknesses of public opinion assessment tools. It reviews what is known about the quality of public opinion about crime and punishment. It also considers why existing surrogates for informed public opinion play such an important role in democratic politics, especially in majoritarian countries like England and the USA, and why these surrogates are inadequate to justify the influence they have been given on matters of crime control policy.
Heather Schoenfeld
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226520964
- eISBN:
- 9780226521152
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226521152.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
Building the Prison State is a new look at why the United States locks millions of people behind bars, in harsh conditions, with little opportunity to better themselves, for long periods of time. ...
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Building the Prison State is a new look at why the United States locks millions of people behind bars, in harsh conditions, with little opportunity to better themselves, for long periods of time. Drawing on the story of one high incarceration state between 1950 and 2016, the book argues that racial conflicts led to the bureaucratization and modernization of policing, courts, and corrections. The book demonstrates that policymakers’ investments in carceral capacity in the 1960s and 1970s built the foundation for the punitive carceral state by empowering law enforcement and victims and incentivizing tough-on-crime political posturing. As a result, despite the high fiscal costs and grave collateral consequences, politicians from both sides of the aisle advocated for more prisons and longer prison sentences. Richly contextualized in Florida and the nation’s partisan and racial politics, the book takes readers through civil rights protests, lawsuits over prison conditions, attempts at sentencing reform, the advent of the War on Drugs, and the rise of conservative politics. By focusing on the choices made by politicians, bureaucrats, lawyers, and activists, the book demonstrates that mass incarceration was not inevitable. It concludes that reversing prison growth will require changing political incentives and developing a new ideological basis for criminal punishment.Less
Building the Prison State is a new look at why the United States locks millions of people behind bars, in harsh conditions, with little opportunity to better themselves, for long periods of time. Drawing on the story of one high incarceration state between 1950 and 2016, the book argues that racial conflicts led to the bureaucratization and modernization of policing, courts, and corrections. The book demonstrates that policymakers’ investments in carceral capacity in the 1960s and 1970s built the foundation for the punitive carceral state by empowering law enforcement and victims and incentivizing tough-on-crime political posturing. As a result, despite the high fiscal costs and grave collateral consequences, politicians from both sides of the aisle advocated for more prisons and longer prison sentences. Richly contextualized in Florida and the nation’s partisan and racial politics, the book takes readers through civil rights protests, lawsuits over prison conditions, attempts at sentencing reform, the advent of the War on Drugs, and the rise of conservative politics. By focusing on the choices made by politicians, bureaucrats, lawyers, and activists, the book demonstrates that mass incarceration was not inevitable. It concludes that reversing prison growth will require changing political incentives and developing a new ideological basis for criminal punishment.
