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Analysing the historical circumstances and theoretical sources that have generated ideas about citizen and community participation in crime control, this book examines the various ideals, outcomes and effects that citizen participation has been held to stimulate and how these have been transformed, renegotiated and reinvigorated over time.

From reporting crimes to volunteering for the police, it is clear that citizens and communities play fundamental roles in policing and the construction of crime control. Embedded in the examples of police-community consultation, community policing, Neighbourhood Watch, citizen patrols, the Special Constabulary and Police Support Volunteers, this book provides a timely examination of the forms and functions of citizen and community participation in policing. Drawing on thinkers as diverse as Plato and Putnam, Bullock explores the historical circumstances and theoretical sources that have generated ideas about citizen and community participation in crime control. The book considers how these concepts have come to inform government policy and contemporary police practice, and the impact citizen participation has had upon political decision-making, accountability and the promotion of a 'democratic' police service. Analysing the nature, extent and parameters of citizens' participation and the problems that participation may produce in practice, this book will be an essential resource for scholars of Policing and Crime Control.

There has been optimism that social media will facilitate citizen participation and transform the communication strategies of public organisations. Drawing on a case study of the public police in England, this article considers whether social media are transforming or normalising communications. Arguing that social media have not yet served to facilitate interaction between constabularies and citizens in the ways that have been proposed and desired, the article considers factors that structure the transformative potential of social media. It is argued that the uses of social media are mediated by the existing organisational and occupational concerns of the police. This article reveals how an interplay of organisational, technological and individual and cultural dynamics come together to shape how social media are used in constabularies. Embedding social media into police communications is challenging and the technology itself will not bring about the organisational and cultural changes needed to transform police–citizen engagement.

This article examines the role of the victim and, more specifically, the nature of Women's Safety Work within cognitive-behavioural programmes designed to address the attitudes and behaviour of men with convictions for violence against their partners. It is an increasingly important part of probation practice. The article draws on an empirical study conducted in 10 probation areas across England and Wales. It identifies, and critically examines, the factors which shape working with victims of domestic violence. These include the challenge of engaging partners and ex-partners with Women's Safety Work; the 'contested' nature of work with women; and facets of risk management. This article is written with a practitioner focus in mind and implications for practice are discussed.

Abstract: Financial penalties are the most widely used sentence in England and Wales, but present difficulties for enforcement. This article examines the enforcement of confiscation orders – a relatively poorly understood financial penalty. Drawing on interviews with actors in the confiscation order process this article examines the processes through which confiscation orders are enforced. It is argued that enforcement is the result of an interaction of factors which include the initial decision making of police officers, financial investigators and prosecutors; the accuracy of information about offenders' financial affairs; enforcement powers, intelligence and operational support; and, the behaviour and attitudes of the offender.

Increasingly, the subject of grandparents raising their grandchildren is the focus in social service literature. In this article, the author explores the changing role of grandparents and provides a basis for assessment and intervention in rural communities. Grandmothers who were primary caregivers for at least 1 grandchild in southeastern North Carolina completed qualitative interviews regarding their experiences in transitioning from the role of grandparent to parent. The results suggest that raising grandchildren may cause financial stress, cramped living quarters, role restriction, and social isolation in this population. However, advantages to this role for grandparents can include greater life satisfaction and a positive influence on future generations within the family. Several key assumptions to guide practitioners in both assessing rural families and planning intervention are emphasized.