This book, first published in 1965, describes the British penal system as it existed in the 1960s. It describes how the system defined, accounted for, and disposed of offenders. As an early work in criminology, it focuses on differences between, and changes in, the views held by legislators, lawyers, philosophers, and the man in the street on the topic of crime and punishment. Walker is interested in the extent to which their views reflect the facts established and the theories propounded by psychologists, anthropologists, and sociologists.The confusion between criminologists and penal reformers was initially encouraged by criminologists themselves, many of whom were penal reformers. Strictly speaking, penal reform, according to Walker, was a spare-time occupation for criminologists, just as canvassing for votes is an ancillary task for political scientists. The difference is that the criminologist's spare-time occupation is more likely to take a ""moral"" form, and when it does so it is more likely to interfere with what should be purely criminological thoughts.The machinery of justice involves the interaction of human beings in their roles of victim, offender, policeman, judge, supervisor, or custodian, and there must be a place for human sympathy in the understanding, and still more in the treatment, of individual offenders. This book is concerned with the efficiency of the system as a means to these ends. One of the main reasons why penal institutions have continued to develop more slowly than other social services is that they are a constant battlefield between emotions and prejudices. This is a great empirical study; against which the policy-maker and criminologist can measure progress or regression in British criminals and punishments.
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This book, first published in 1965, describes the British penal system as it existed in the 1960s
Part One: Introduction 1: The scope and accuracy of the penal system 2: Trends and patterns in crime Part Two: Explaining and Predicting Crime 3: Constitutional theories 4: Mental subnormality and illness 5: Maladjustment, the normal offender, and psychopathy 6: Environmental theories 7: Explanation and prediction Part Three: The System of Disposal 8: Aims and assumptions 9: Measures for adults 10: Young offenders Part Four: Sentencing 11: The sentencing process 12: The efficacy of sentences Part Five: Special Categories of Offender 13: The disposal of the mentally abnormal 14: Women offenders 15: Recidivists Part Six: General 16: Influences on the Penal System Bibliography Index
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Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780202363516
Publisert
2010-04-15
Utgave
2. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
AldineTransaction
Vekt
544 gr
Høyde
229 mm
Bredde
152 mm
Aldersnivå
U, P, 05, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
373

Forfatter

Biographical note

Nigel Walker is Emeritus Wolfson Professor of Criminology and former director of the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of numerous books including A Man Without Loyalties; Behavior and Misbehavior; and Aggravation, Mitigation, and Mercy in English Criminal Justice