Punishment in the Community: Managing Offenders, Making Choices Second Edition

• NCJ Number: 209651
• Author(s): Anne Worrall; Clare Hoy
• Date Published: 2005
• Length: 264 pages
• Sale Source: Willan Publishing
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

This book analyzes political and professional developments in policy and practice regarding noncustodial penalties in Great Britain, with a focus on the changing role of the probation service.

Abstract

The authors examine the role of community penalties in the criminal justice system (institutional goals); what can be achieved by community penalties (professional goals); and the packaging and "sale" of community penalties to the public (political goals). Central to this analysis is the changing role of the probation service and its relationship to the courts. The constraints of existing terminology and vocabulary are identified and critiqued as the book progresses. The four chapters of Part One focus on "The Principle and Politics of Punishment in the Community." They address the introduction of community penalties, the evolution from "alternatives to custody" to "punishment in the community," the Criminal Justice Act 1991 and its demise, and "constructing the punishing community under New Labour." The seven chapters of Part Two address "The Changing Role of the Probation Service." The first of these chapters reviews the history and traditions of the probation service and the impact of policy and legislative changes since the mid-1970's. This is followed by a chapter that discusses the role of the probation officer and the probation officers in court as "expert witnesses" and their relationship with sentencers. A third chapter examines the "newer rituals" of punishment and asks some of the old questions about how punishments are justified and the limits of punishment. Another chapter addresses the move away from psychotherapeutic approaches toward behavioral approaches and the resulting political and ethical dilemmas, followed by two chapters that illustrate the changing attitudes toward offenders, using sex offenders and juvenile offenders as case studies. The book concludes with a discussion of the future of punishment in the community. 7 recommended readings, 462 references, and a subject index