POLICY-MAKING PROCESS - HOW IT IS SEEN FROM THE HOME OFFICE (FROM PENAL POLICY-MAKING IN ENGLAND, 1977, BY NIGEL WALKER AND HENRI GILLER - SEE NCJ-63107)

• NCJ Number: 63116
• Author(s): M J MORIARTY
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 17 pages
• Corporate Author: University of Cambridge
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

THE POLICYMAKING PROCESS IN BRITAIN'S HOME OFFICE CONTAINS THREE DIMENSIONS: CHANGES IN LEGAL FRAMEWORK, QUALITATIVE DECISIONS ABOUT HOW THE PENAL SYSTEM IS RUN WITHIN THIS FRAMEWORK, AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION.

Abstract

MUCH OF PENAL POLICY IS A SERIES OF REACTIONS TO EVENTS, YET THERE ARE SOME CONSISTENT THEMES OF PENAL POLICY SINCE THE END OF WORLD WAR II. THESE INCLUDE A CONTINUING PREOCCUPATION WITH YOUNG OFFENDERS, A GROWING TENDENCY TO SEE AND DEAL WITH JUVENILE OFFENDING AS PART OF A WIDER SOCIAL PROBLEM, EFFORTS TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CUSTODIAL TREATMENT, AN INCREASING INSISTENCE ON DEVELOPING ALTERNATIVES TO CUSTODY, AND A GROWING REALIZATION OF THE NEED TO PROVIDE FOR VICTIMS OF CRIME. MUCH OF THE RESOURCES AND ENERGIES DEVOTED TO PENAL MATTERS ARE, HOWEVER, NECESSARILY DEVOTED TO THE DAY TO DAY TASK OF RUNNING A SYSTEM WHOSE TASKS INCLUDE MAINTAINING PUBLIC ORDER AND PREVENTING CRIME. POLICYMAKING GROWS OUT OF THESE PREOCCUPATIONS. TO IMPROVE THE COORDINATION OF POLICIES AND ACTIVITIES, A PLANNING ORGANIZATION WAS SET UP IN THE HOME OFFICE IN 1974. THE ORGANIZATION CONSISTS OF COMMITTEES OF SENIOR OFFICIALS AND A SMALL PLANNING UNIT OF FULL-TIME STAFF. THE UNIT SERVES AS A SMALL BUT GOOD QUALITY THINK-TANK WHICH CAN DEVOTE TIME TO LONGER-TERM ISSUES SUCH AS THE CONCEPT OF CRIME AND THE RELATION BETWEEN RESEARCH AND CRIMINAL POLICY. NOTES AND DISCUSSION ARE PROVIDED. (MJW)