Suchergebnisse

This paper argues that in order to be properly comprehended, the 'riots' of August 2011 must be located in the context of an increasingly consumerist society. The suggestion is that the riots represented conformity to the underlying values of a consumerist society, if, momentarily, not its norms. To make this case, the riots are divided into three constituent 'moments'; the initial, the acquisitive and the nihilistic. Themes and ideas from the literature on consumer culture and crime are applied to the latter two.

Hidden older illegal drug users are a seldom researched group; most research on illegal drug users instead focusses on the young or the institutionalised. To counter this trend, this book reports on a study of current 'hidden' users of illegal drugs aged 40 and over. These are individuals who have sustained illegal drug use over the long term, largely away from the gaze of the authorities, whilst living otherwise 'conventional' lives, holding down jobs, raising families and so on. Thus they have much to tell us about how illegal substances can be integrated into life over the long term, how that integration intersects with other aspects of one's existence, and how illegal drug use is ultimately shaped by changes in personal circumstances and wider social contexts. Utilising insights from the 'life course perspective', the development of the participants' use over their lives is analysed and placed in social context. The book also details the nature of their current drug use. Thus, the book illustrates the place of illegal drugs in the lives of the participants, and how this came to be over the decades as they also juggled work, family and the everyday minutiae of life with their use. The result is a unique look at the illegal drug use of an often ignored group of older drug users, which charts the changing role that illegal drugs have played - and continue to play - in their lives. --Back cover.

Abstract: About one in five of defendants charged with triable‐either‐way offences is dealt with at the Crown Court. Yet a majority of those committed to the Crown Court because magistrates decline jurisdiction receive sentences which magistrates could have imposed. Among those electing trial, most of those convicted ended up pleading guilty and the research showed that many will have received much more severe sentences as a result of going to the Crown Court. Substantial differences were found in the sentencing pattern of individual courts, but the biggest difference was between the higher and lower courts with many more, and longer, custodial sentences being imposed at the Crown Court for similar offences.

Abstract: Increasing emphasis is being placed both on achieving a better Jit between sentencing policy and public opinion and on meeting the needs and wishes of victims of crime. There has, however, been a dearth of factual information about the views both of the general public and of victims on punishment. This paper presents findings from the 1982 and 1984 sweeps of the British Crime Survey. The British Crime Survey suggests that neither public opinion nor victims' views are more punitive than current practice, and that people favour sentences involving compensation by offenders either to the victim or to the community. The paper also examines what factors make for punitive attitudes.

The way we think about crime and the way that society responds to it are imbued with values that can determine what is considered important and what gets attention. Sometimes values that are claimed may not be the values expressed in practice, as we see in the multiple and confusing discourses about victims and offenders, punishment and protection, rights and responsibilities. This collection of writings considers values in crime theory, criminal justice and research practice, uncovering the many different 'sides' – to echo Howard Becker's famous phrase – that criminologists, policy makers and researchers take. It spans Marxist, postmodernist and feminist perspectives on criminology, analyses of the dynamics of race, gender and age, research methods and ethics, the working of the criminal justice system and engages with current debates about new challenges for criminology, such as the green movement and Islamophobia. This is a timely and thought-provoking collection which will be of interest to academics and students in criminology and criminal justice, and on professional courses, such as probation and youth justice practice