NCJ Number
158670
Date Published
1995
Length
35 pages
Annotation
The correctional policy shifts to more punitive approaches in England and Wales in recent years reflect wider social forces that result as much or more from the interaction of political, economic, and social forces, including the media than from expert opinion or any objective assessment of the available data.
Abstract
Thus, the anxieties that accompanied an increase in recorded crime in the 1970's and 1980's cannot be separated from the widespread political, economic, and social dislocation of these years and the development of what has been called the authoritarian consensus, of which tough law and order policies are in integral part. The fine is the most widely used sanction, followed by absolute and conditional discharges. Community service, combination, and probation orders are also popular sentences. However, the prison population is expanded, and new proposals may further destabilize the penal system. Recent changes are clearly intended to replace a formerly unified, hierarchical service with two more decentralized systems, one provided by the government and one provided by the private sector. Prisoners are overwhelmingly from economically and politically marginalized and racially disadvantaged groups. The numbers of offenders detained for immigration offenses, drug-abusing inmates, and inmates with HIV or AIDS is increasing. The future of corrections looks bleak due to the intensification of the historical marginalization of rehabilitation and reintegration and the emphasis on a penology that focuses on managing costs and controlling dangerous populations rather than social or personal transformation. Tables and 82 references