Criminal Policy in Transition comes along at a time when the literature in criminology is desperately short of “global” perspectives. It helps fill that gap while it presents important new insights into changing penal policy and practice. That it raises as many questions as it seems to answer is one of its great strengths. The authors write knowledgeably about their home societies without being prematurely bounded by comparative criteria. As a result,they develop a complex and uneven image of similarities and differences, of divergence and convergence through time. In this sense the collection offers a model of how international collaborative work should proceed. The book is the product of a workshop held at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law (IISL) in Onati, Spain. The IISL is a partnership between the Research Committee on the Sociology of Law and the Basque Government
This book explores how restorative justice is used and what its potential benefits are in situations where the state has been either explicitly or implicitly involved in human rights abuses. Restorative justice is increasingly becoming a popular mechanism to respond to crime in democratic settings and while there is a burgeoning literature on these contexts, there is less information that focuses explicitly on its use in nations that have experienced protracted periods of conflict and oppression. This book interrogates both macro and micro utilisations of restorative justice, including truth commissions, criminal justice reform and the development of initiatives by communities and other non-state actors. The central premise is that the primary potential of restorative justice in responding to international crime should be viewed in terms of the lessons that it provides for problem-solving, rather than its traditional role as a mechanism or process to respond to conflict. Four values are put forward that should frame any restorative approach - engagement, empowerment, reintegration and transformation. It is thought that these values provide enough space for local actors to devise their own culturally relevant processes to achieve longstanding peace. This book will be of interest to those conducting research in the fields of restorative justice, transitional justice as well as criminology in general.
This book brings together leading authorities in the field to analyse theoretical, empirical and policy issues relating to this neglected group of people, exploring different approaches to both crime prevention and offender treatment.
The increase in the number of countries that have abolished the death penalty since the end of the Second World War shows a steady trend towards worldwide abolition of capital punishment. This book focuses on the political and legal issues raised by the death penalty in "countries in transition", understood as countries that have transitioned or are transitioning from conflict to peace, or from authoritarianism to democracy. In such countries, the politics that surround retaining or abolishing the death penalty are embedded in complex state-building processes. In this context, Madoka Futamura and Nadia Bernaz bring together the work of leading researchers of international law, human rights, transitional justice, and international politics in order to explore the social, political and legal factors that shape decisions on the death penalty, whether this leads to its abolition, reinstatement or perpetuation. Covering a diverse range of transitional processes in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East, The Politics of the Death Penalty in Countries in Transition offers a broad evaluation of countries whose death penalty policies have rarely been studied. The book would be useful to human rights researchers and international lawyers, in demonstrating how transition and transformation, ‘provide the catalyst for several of interrelated developments of which one is the reduction and elimination of capital punishment’.
This book represents a brief treatise on the theory and research behind the concept of desistance from crime. This ever-growing field has become increasingly relevant as questions of serious issues regarding sentencing, probation and the penal system continue to go unanswered. Rocque covers the history of research on desistance from crime and provides a discussion of research and theories on the topic before looking towards the future of the application of desistance to policy. The focus of the volume is to provide an overview of the practical and theoretical developments to better understand desistance. In addition, a multidisciplinary, integrative theoretical perspective is presented, ensuring that it will be of particular interest for students and scholars of criminology and the criminal justice system.
Winner, W. E. B. DuBois Distinguished Book Award presented by the National Conference of Black Political Scientists Examines the lifelong consequences of a felony conviction through the compelling words of former prisoners Felony convictions restrict social interactions and hinder felons’ efforts to reintegrate into society. The educational and vocational training offered in many prisons are typically not recognized by accredited educational institutions as acceptable course work or by employers as valid work experience, making it difficult for recently-released prisoners to find jobs. Families often will not or cannot allow their formerly incarcerated relatives to live with them. In many states, those with felony convictions cannot receive financial aid for further education, vote in elections, receive welfare benefits, or live in public housing. In short, they are not treated as full citizens, and every year, hundreds of thousands of people released from prison are forced to live on the margins of society. Convicted and Condemned explores the issue of prisoner reentry from the felons’ perspective. It features the voices of formerly incarcerated felons as they attempt to reconnect with family, learn how to acclimate to society, try to secure housing, find a job, and complete a host of other important goals. By examining national housing, education and employment policies implemented at the state and local levels, Keesha Middlemass shows how the law challenges and undermines prisoner reentry and creates second-class citizens. Even if the criminal justice system never convicted another person of a felony, millions of women and men would still have to figure out how to reenter society, essentially on their own. A sobering account of the after-effects of mass incarceration, Convicted and Condemned is a powerful exploration of how individuals, and society as a whole, suffer when a felony conviction exacts a punishment that never ends.
Both the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) are now about to close. Bachmann and Fatic look back at the achievements and shortcomings of both tribunals from an interdisciplinary perspective informed by sociology, political science, history, and philosophy of law and based upon on two key notions: the concepts of legitimacy and efficiency. The first asks to what extent the input (creation) of, the ICTY and the ICTR can be regarded as legitimate in light of the legal and public debate in the early 1990s. The second confronts the output (the procedures and decisions) of the ICTY and the ICTR with the tasks both tribunals were assigned by the UN Security Council, the General Assembly, and by key organs (the president and the chief prosecutors). The authors investigate to what extent the ICTY and the ICTR have delivered the expected results, whether they have been able to contribute to 'the maintenance of peace', 'stabilization' of the conflict regions, or even managed to provide 'reconciliation' to Rwanda. Furthermore, the book is concerned with how many criminals, over whom the ICTY and the ICTR wield jurisdiction, have actually been prosecuted and at what cost. Offering the first balanced and in depth analysis of the International Criminal Tribunals, the volume provides an important insight into what lessons have been learned, and how a deeper understanding of the successes and failures can benefit the international legal community in the future.
This new textbook will provide students of criminology with a better understanding of criminal justice policy and, in doing so, offers a framework for analysing the social, economic and political processes that shape its creation. The book adopts a policy-oriented approach to criminal justice, connecting the study of criminology to the wider study of British government, public administration and politics. Throughout the book the focus is on key debates and competing perspectives on how policy decisions are made. Recognising that contemporary criminal justice policymakers operate in a highly politicised, public arena under the gaze of an ever-increasing variety of groups, organisations and individuals who have a stake in a particular policy issue, the book explores how and why these people seek to influence policymaking. It also recognises that criminal policy differs from other areas of public policy, as policy decisions affect the liberty and freedoms of citizens. Throughout, key ideas and debates are linked to wider sociology, criminology and social policy theory. Key features include: a foreword by Tim Newburn, leading criminologist and author of Criminology (2nd Edition, 2013), a critical and informed analysis of the concepts, ideas and institutional practices that shape criminal justice policy making, an exploration of the relationship between criminal justice and wider social policy, a critical analysis of the debate about how and why behaviour becomes defined as requiring a criminal justice solution, a range of case studies, tasks, seminar questions and suggested further readings to keep the student engaged. This text is perfect for students taking modules in criminology; criminal justice; and social and public policy, as well as those taking courses on criminal and administrative law.
Restorative justice is increasingly being applied to settings characterized by large-scale violence and human rights abuses. While many embrace this development as an important step in attempts to transform protracted conflict, there are a number of conceptual challenges in transporting restorative justice from a democratic setting to one which has been affected by mass victimisation or civil war. These include responding to the seriousness and scale of harms that have been caused, the blurred boundaries between victims and offenders, and the difficulties associated with holding someone to account and compelling reparative activities. Despite reams of paper being devoted to defining restorative justice within democratic settings (where the concept first emerged), restorative scholars have been slow to comment on the integration of restorative justice into the transitional justice discourse. Restorative Justice in Transitional Settings brings together a number of leading scholars from around the world to respond to this gap by developing and further articulating restorative justice for transitional settings. These scholars push the boundaries of restorative justice to seek more effective approaches to addressing the causes and consequences of conflict and oppression in these diverse contexts. Each chapter highlights a limitation with current conceptions of restorative justice in the transitional justice literature and then suggests a way in which the limitation might be overcome. This book has strong interdisciplinary value and will be of interest to criminologists, legal scholars, and those engaged with international relations and peace treaties.
What makes a juvenile delinquent develop into an adult criminal? What defines-cognitively, developmentally, legally-the transition from juvenile to adult and what determines whether patterns of criminal behavior persist? In most US states and Western nations, legal adulthood begins at age 18. This volume focuses on the period surrounding that abrupt transition (roughly ages 15-29) and addresses what happens to offending careers during it. Edited by two leading authorities in the fields of psychology and criminology, Transitions from Juvenile Delinquency to Adult Crime examines why the period of transition is important and how it can be better understood and addressed both inside and outside of the justice system. Bringing together over thirty leading scholars from multiple disciplines in both North America and Europe, this volume asks critical questions about criminal careers and causation, and whether current legal definitions of adulthood accurately reflect actual maturation and development. The volume also addresses the current efficacy of the justice system in addressing juvenile crime and recidivism, why and how juveniles ought to be treated differently from adults, if special legal provisions should be established for young adults, and the effectiveness of crime prevention programs implemented during early childhood and adolescence. With serious scholarly analysis and practical policy proposals, Transitions from Juvenile Delinquency to Adult Crime addresses what can be done to ensure that todays juvenile delinquents do not become tomorrows adult criminals.
