This chapter discusses the nature and structure of ‘criminal justice’; proving guilt and innocence; adversarial and inquisitorial theories of criminal justice; recent trends in criminal justice and crime; crime control and due process; the fundamental (human) rights approach to criminal justice; the managerialism approach to criminal justice; where victims fit into these approaches; and the adoption of freedom as the ultimate goal of criminal justice.
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This chapter discusses the nature, structure, values and objectives of ‘criminal justice’, together with recent trends, primarily in England and Wales. This includes examining the concepts of guilt and innocence, and the difficulty of ‘proving’ either in many cases; the adversarial nature of the Anglo-American system, contrasted with the inquisitorial approaches that traditionally underpin ‘European’ systems; and the analytical tools of ‘crime control’ and ‘due process’. The importance, and limitation, of the human rights approach in criminal justice is discussed, along with the increasing influences of managerialism and neoliberalism. The chapter then looks at how victims are catered for in these various approaches. It concludes that human rights provide only a bare minimum of protection for suspects and victims alike, and that the system is more exclusionary than inclusionary. Thus a new theoretical framework is proposed that is centred on ‘freedom’, which would prioritise three ‘core values’: justice, democracy and efficiency.
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26. Alternatives to punishment
Diversion and restorative justice
This chapter considers two alternatives to punishment: diversion and restorative justice. It begins by looking at approaches to the delivery of criminal justice which challenge conventional assumptions about crime and punishment. It then traces the origins and development of restorative ideas and practices and goes on to discuss the emergence and impact of diversion as an intervention strategy; the purpose of alternatives to punishment and offence resolution; the structure, organisation, and operation of alternatives to punishment; and the achievements of alternatives to punishment. It also cites examples of the implementation of alternatives to punishment before concluding with an assessment of the limitations of alternatives to punishment.
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This chapter evaluates the alternative means of responding to offenders and their crimes which have emerged in criminal justice and have been gaining wider recognition. Those who favour innovations of this kind tend to reject conventional assumptions and approaches, proposing new principles for the operation of the justice system. The chapter considers two distinct but similar challenges to conventional models of justice which have developed from this viewpoint: restorative justice and diversion. Restorative justice is based on the presumption that dealing with crime is a process rather than a single act or decision, that it involves collaboration between those with a stake in the offence, and that it emphasises healing as well as ‘putting things right’. Diversionary interventions, which can include community service, restitution, and education, as well as elements of restorative practice, provide an opportunity for the offender to avoid criminal charges or formal judicial processes, albeit sometimes by meeting certain conditional requirements.
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In this book, consideration has been given to various theories which have been put forward as to why people commit crimes. Some of these explanations claim that they can account for all criminality; others are more modest in their ambition. Some theories locate the primary source of criminality within the individual; others consider that aspects of the organisation of society are mainly responsible. The theories have been fully discussed in the main body of the book and there is no need to summarise them here. Some criminologists, especially in the USA, have tried to create integrated theories, combining both individual and societal explanations (for example, ...
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This chapter examines the role of anomie theory in the sociology of crime and deviance. It begins by discussing Émile Durkheim’s theory of anomie before turning to Robert Merton’s Americanization of anomie, and how sociologists adapted the basic Mertonian schema and modes of adaptation, such as innovation, to explain rising rates of crime under conditions of growing prosperity but persistent inequality. It then considers the contribution of anomie to the development of post-war theories of strain, as well as the questions raised by anomie theory, particularly as the underlying concern in theories of crime, modernization, and development. It also looks at the decline in social capital that has raised concerns about the pace and direction of social and economic change, citing two major works: Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone (2000) and Richard Sennett’s The Corrosion of Character: The Personal Consequences of Work in the New Capitalism (1998).
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Course-focused and comprehensive, the Textbook on series provides an accessible overview of the key areas on the law curriculum. This chapter examines juvenile criminality and peer groups. The discussions cover the concept of anomie and criminality; relative deprivation, strain, and social exclusion; subcultural theories of juvenile deviance; and David Matza and Gresham Sykes' theory of delinquency.
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This chapter examines appeal procedures. It discusses the values that should underpin appellate procedures; appeals from the magistrates' courts; appeals from the Crown Court to the Court of Appeal; and the role of the Criminal Cases Review Commission in referring cases back to the appeal courts once normal appeal rights are exhausted.
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This chapter examines the appeals system, the most important purpose of which from the legal system’s point of view is the development and clarification of the law. Reviewing the law in this way allows the higher courts to exert some control over the lower courts and adds much to an understanding of the forces shaping the appeals system. From the point of view of litigants, appeals offer a chance to challenge a result they are unhappy with. The chapter discusses restrictions on appeal rights; challenging jury verdicts; due process appeals; post-appeal review of convictions by the Criminal Cases Review Commission; miscarriages of justice, prosecution appeals; and double jeopardy and retrials.
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This chapter focuses on reflective learning and how it should be used by the criminology student to make the most of his/her degree. It guides the students on how to: engage with a reflective learning approach for enhancing their higher education; identify methods for independent learning in the different levels of higher education; apply reflective learning to their employability; and consider how their personal learning journey could help future directions of study for the discipline of criminology. The chapter encourages the students to do something with their newly acquired criminological knowledge and understanding. It also suggests how the core elements of reflective learning practice can be applied to the student's independent learning and official identity as an undergraduate.
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This chapter examines how far the police are, and should be, allowed to infringe the freedom of the individual through arrest. It considers the legal rules and their effectiveness in controlling the use of this power, and also looks at what reasons for arrest are lawful. The chapter shows that arrest is used for many purposes, some more legitimate than others.
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Alpa Parmar
This chapter examines how far the police are, and should be, allowed to infringe the freedom of the individual through arrest. It considers the legal rules that the police must follow when deciding to, and during, arrest, as well as their effectiveness in controlling the use of this power. This chapter considers the purpose of arrest and what reasons for arrest are lawful. The use of arrest in the context of suspected terrorism is explored, and ‘citizen arrest’ is also evaluated. Discussion about how the police use their discretion when exercising the power of arrest is situated in our understanding of police ‘working rules’. The chapter shows that arrest is used for many purposes, some more legitimate than others.
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This chapter guides the criminology student on how to undertake research and embark on knowledge production, with particular emphasis on the work required for doing a dissertation. It provides an array of practical and creative tips for developing the student's role as a knowledge producer and becoming a person who contributes to what is — and what is not — known about crime and the criminal justice system. The objective is to enhance the student's undergraduate studies by encouraging him/her to think and act as an independent researcher. The chapter explains why research is important and highlights the breadth of opportunities offered by being an undergraduate researcher in criminology. It considers effective ways of choosing one's research topic, the core features of a dissertation or research project, ethical standards for researchers in criminology, and unconventional methods of dissemination for research.
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1. Becoming a student
Tips, tricks, and tools for effective learning
This chapter describes the skills required to become an effective, engaged, and employable — or E3 — student of criminology in the university, higher education context. More specifically, it introduces a series of learning tips, tricks, and tools that are intended to make the E3 student a successful, capable, and committed individual who is attractive to employers. The chapter presents the criminology student's route to effectiveness, engagement, and employability as a reflective journey that he/she can embark upon in an informed, active, and critical way. Central to this journey is the identification and utilisation of the ‘travel partners’ located at the university and in the student's department, subject area, programme of study, and classroom. This chapter also considers a range of services, facilities, and people that can help students, including international students and those with disability, to meet their health, well-being, domestic, social, and academic needs.
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Benjamin Bowling, Robert Reiner, and James Sheptycki
The chapter surveys theories concerning the hybrid nature of the plural policing web. It evaluates the claim that a fundamental shift in policing occurred at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Holding police métier as a definitional constant, the chapter examines how policing is enacted from different institutional positions in plural policing. It outlines the history of claims about the rise of plural policing before discussing its relation to law, the military, technology, territory, locality, the rising importance of private ‘high policing’, and the centrality of surveillance. The chapter demonstrates the complex opportunity structure of the plural policing web, the variety of legal and technological tools involved in its operations, and suggests that it poses fundamental problems for the democratic governance of police that have not been resolved. It concludes that there is both continuity and change in the politics of the police and that claims of a fundamental break have been overstated.
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13. Biological and psychological positivism
Determined to predetermine
This chapter examines the contribution of biology and psychology to our understanding of crime and its causes from the perspective of individual positivism — those aspects of positivist criminological explanations that look for diffrences between criminal and non-criminal populations. It traces the development of biological and psychological positivist thinking from its roots in the nineteenth century through to more modern approaches in the twenty-first century where these biological and psychological traits are merely seen as one factor which may increase the likelihood of criminality rather than causing it. The chapter identifies the main biological and psychological theories relating to criminology and discusses the arguments of positivists regarding punishment and rehabilitation as a means to deal with offenders or criminals. It concludes with an analysis of learning theories that see most criminality as a product of learned behaviour.
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This chapter discusses how theories from biology and psychology can help in understanding crime. It studies individual positivism: that is, those aspects of positivist criminological explanations that look for differences between criminal and non-criminal populations. Biological and psychological positivists believe that by measuring biological and psychological differences between offenders and non-offenders they will discover a clear explanation of criminal behaviour, a truth that explains criminal actions. When researchers discovered physical or biological differences between offenders and non-offenders they tended to assume that those characteristics were causative and explained the behaviour. However, there is a big jump between finding differences and assuming that the difference explains the behaviour. The chapter traces the journey of biological and psychological positivist thinking from its roots in the 19th century through to the approaches in the 21st century where these biological and psychological traits are merely seen as one factor which may increase the likelihood of criminality rather than causing it.
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This chapter presents the idea that criminals can be distinguished from the rest of the population by some unusual physical or biological characteristic that renders them inferior. Havelock Ellis cites a law in medieval England that stated that ‘If two persons fell under suspicion of crime, the uglier or more deformed was to be regarded as more probably guilty.’ When Socrates was on trial, a study of his face conducted by a physiognomist was ordered; this showed that he was cruel and inclined to drunkenness. Physiognomy, which is the assessment of character from facial features, in due course, gave way to phrenology. Phrenology held that the workings of the mind are related to the shape of the brain and skull, and that measurement of bumps on the skull can provide an indication of personal characteristics.
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This chapter presents the idea that criminals can be distinguished from the rest of the population by some unusual physical or biological characteristic that renders them inferior. Havelock Ellis cites a law in medieval England that stated that ‘If two persons fell under suspicion of crime, the uglier or more deformed was to be regarded as more probably guilty.’ When Socrates was on trial, a study of his face conducted by a physiognomist was ordered; this showed that he was cruel and inclined to drunkenness. Physiognomy, which is the assessment of character from facial features, in due course, gave way to phrenology. Phrenology held that the workings of the mind are related to the shape of the brain and skull and that measurement of bumps on the skull can provide an indication of personal characteristics.
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This chapter first explains the nature of different books, journals, and articles encountered in the study of criminology. It introduces textbooks, edited collections, books of key readings, monographs, and dictionaries, together with journals as a key source of latest developments, research findings, criticism, and commentary. It moves on to consider how to find books and articles specified on a reading list. It then considers more generally how to find materials on a particular topic by developing a search strategy and using databases to locate relevant literature.
