CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN A DIVIDED SOCIETY: NORTHERN IRELAND PRISONS (FROM CRIME AND JUSTICE: A REVIEW OF RESEARCH, P 51- 135, 1993, MICHAEL TONRY, ED. -- SEE NCJ-146350)

• NCJ Number: 146352
• Author(s): B Gormally; K McEvoy; D Wall
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 85 pages
• Sale Source: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Research and Justice Volume 17

Annotation

The prison system in Northern Ireland is used to examine three contrasting methods of managing divided and politically motivated prisoners.

Abstract

The reactive containment model is a military-style response of suppression combined with negotiation that treats inmates like prisoners of war. Under the criminalization model, authorities deny legitimacy to politically motivated offenders by imposing on them the symbols of regimes appropriate to ordinary violent criminals. The third model, normalization, treats division and a certain level of violence as commonplace, seeks to minimize conflict within the prisons, and engages constructively with politically motivated inmates. This third model, in which the authors posit the greatest promise for a simultaneous management of political violence and political progress, is examined in detail because it is a contemporary phase deserving scrutiny, it represents a departure in British policy in Northern Ireland, and its principles might have wider applicability beyond Northern Ireland than the other models. 27 notes, 101 references, and 1 appendix