Suchergebnisse

Brings together contributions by academics and experts from different disciplinary backgrounds focused on false allegations of recent or historical abuse. The adjective 'false', used interchangeably with 'wrongful', includes allegations made in error as well as those which are deliberate fabrications or distortions of the truth.

Both probation and youth justice have undergone massive changes in recent years, and continue to face important new challenges. A key emphasis of new developments has been on developing effective evidence-based practice and disseminating this throughout the Probation and Youth Justice services - reviewed in this book

The formation of a coalition government, at a time of economic crisis, is likely to prove a watershed for criminal justice. Following a review of the achievements and disappointments in criminal justice over the years, this title stimulates fresh thinking in criminal justice by considering the policies which need to be adopted

Both probation and youth justice have undergone massive changes in recent years, and continue to face important new challenges. A key emphasis of new developments has been on developing effective evidence-based practice and disseminating this throughout the Probation and Youth Justice services -- reviewed in this book

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the origins of the Jimmy Savile Scandal in which the former BBC entertainer was accused of a series of sexual offences after his death in 2011. The case has had a massive impact on UK policing and criminal justice policy and on care work, with implications for due process and public expenditure in responding to reports of sexual abuse.


Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on an Economic and Social Research Council funded project to collate data on the Savile case. It is based, primarily, on interview material from former pupils and staff members from Duncroft School, from whence initial allegations against Savile emanate, contrasting these with media accounts.


Findings
The research provides a very different picture of Duncroft and the contemporary policy context to that presented in media accounts. A questioning account of the origins of the scandal emerges. The findings may lend themselves to a moral panics analysis but also point to the power of dominant stories in influencing public policy.


Research limitations/implications
This paper is based on only a very small sample of interviews. The material is ethically sensitive in that it may be claimed or used to cast doubt on accounts of abuse.


Social implications
The implications of the wider project from which it draws are potentially profound, casting doubt on the origins and detail of the Savile scandal.


Originality/value
The paper addresses one of the major socio-cultural episodes in recent British history, which has had a profound effect on the workings of the criminal justice system, signalling a shift away from a presumption of innocence. It also offers insight into the cultural context of care work and the possibility, especially for males, of being subject to allegations made against them.

The National Offender Management Service (NOMS), intended to integrate the Probation and Prison Services of England and Wales and to provide an operational framework for the end-to-end management of offenders throughout their sentences, was introduced in summer 2004. This major innovation came fast after a period of immense change to probation services which had culminated in the formation of the National Probation Service (NPS) in 2001. The present study, in which 41 probation practitioners from four probation areas were interviewed, sought to gain insight into frontline perspectives on the impact of NOMS. The study indicates that communication to frontline staff about NOMS has not been wholly effective and many practitioners are experiencing `initiative confusion' and `change fatigue' in endeavouring to meet an increasing range of demands from an expanding range of `masters'. While many remain open to the possible benefits of NOMS, particularly for offenders, considerable uncertainty remains about the implications of NOMS for themselves and the Probation Service. The `ogre of contestability' is linked with fears about future job security, whilst other aspects of the NOMS agenda are adding to a sense of demoralization and increasing alienation from the values that brought some into the service.

For decades, the relationship between the officer and offender (variously labelled as the 'casework relationship', the 'supervisory relationship' or 'one-to-one work') was the main channel for probation service interventions. In the modernized probation service in England and Wales, this relationship element has been marginalized, on a policy level at least, by accredited groupwork programmes and case management approaches involving referrals to specialist and other services. However, there are now promising signs that policy makers are re-instating the 'relationship' between the practitioner and offender as a core condition for changing the behaviour and social circumstances associated with recidivism. This article traces the factors behind the paradigm shift from casework (in its broadest sense) to case management (more recently termed 'offender management') in order to identify why an element of practice once regarded as vital became discredited. It then briefly draws on findings in the mental health field and desistance research to relocate the relationship element within a practice model that is focused on supporting desistance from crime.

Abstract: A 1992 study, The Dynamics of Recidivism, was cited by the Home Secretary of the Conservative government during the 1990s to support the political doctrine that 'prison works'. This claim drew on qualitative data from pre‐ and post‐prison interviews of 130 male offenders to uphold a narrow rational choice perspective that emphasised the perceived 'costs' of imprisonment to the offender. A ten‐year reconviction study was carried out as a follow‐up to the 1992 study. The subsequent criminal careers of the majority of the sample contradict an assumption that imprisonment has a deterrent impact. In the light of these findings, and an analysis of the differential impacts of subjective and social factors in the experiences of these ex‐prisoners, this article reviews the limitations of 'rational choice theory' as a basis for understanding recidivism and desistance from crime.

AbstractIn recent years, there has been rising concern that allegations of sexual abuse, particularly non‐recent abuse, have not received an appropriate response. From this has emerged a new determination to correct past and prevent further injustices, with police operations focusing considerable resources on the identification and prosecution of child abusers. Police and other services have reached out to encourage reporting, and developments in the trial process related to the rules of evidence have eroded due process protections for suspects. This article considers this changed legal and social context, and the processes entailed in responding to allegations of abuse, before presenting original empirical data, gathered from the accounts of 30 men and women who were wrongly accused of abuse related to their employment in occupations of trust. It demonstrates the considerable and lasting harms done to those who face allegations of such heinous crimes.