Issues in Criminal Justice Administration

• NCJ Number: 92907
• Author(s): M Findlay; S J Egger; J Sutton
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 246 pages
• Sale Source: George Allen and Unwin
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

In exploring the workings of criminal justice administration in the Australian State of New South Wales, this collection of 14 studies includes discussions of decriminalization of public drunkenness, domestic violence, bail reform, sentencing, the role of police intelligence units, police relations with Aborigines, the politics of prison reform, and police interrogation.

Abstract

Using the work of the New South Wales' Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research as an example, one essay maintains that a criminal justice policy research unit within the government structure can be a valuable influence in the development and implementation of government policy in the criminal justice field. The analysis of the impact of the decriminalization of public drunkenness in New South Wales indicates that problems arise primarily because of the retention of police powers of compulsion without the protections offered by the criminal law. The study of battered women advocates provision for the subsistence needs of such women when they decide to extricate themselves from the abusive relationship, as well as more effective criminal justice intervention. Another study explored the legal aspects of the police interrogation of women accused of homicide in New South Wales over a number of months. A monitoring of the implementation of the 1978 Bail Act indicates that the intended reform has been largely successful, although some problems need to be resolved. A study of vandalism identifies the various forms of vandalism and the types of offenders involved, while a number of sentencing studies focus on causes and remedies for sentencing disparity. The essay on the politics of prison reform provides case examples to show how efforts to achieve basic reform in the prison system are dissipated by the system's manipulation of reform efforts so as to avoid basic change. Some of the dangers of an independent police intelligence gathering unit are noted, and a series of studies deals with the nature of police relations with Aborigines.