This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Jones, T. Articles by Newburn, T. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Policy convergence and crime control in the USA and the UK

Streams of influence and levels of impact

Cardiff University, UK, Goldsmiths College, UK

Tim Newburn

Cardiff University, UK, Goldsmiths College, UK

A number of authors have remarked upon growing similarities between the criminal justice systems of western industrialized countries, and in particular, the apparent spread of penal policies associated with the USA to other liberal democracies (Christie, 2000; Nellis, 2000; Garland, 2001; Jones and Newburn, 2002a). Two general approaches to describing and explaining such developments can be identified in the literature, which may be termed `structuralist' and `agency-led' respectively. The former approach links similar developments in crime control policy and discourse in different jurisdictions to deeper cultural and structural changes being experienced in all `late modern' capitalist societies. By contrast, the latter approach focuses more directly upon the arena of political decision making, and the incidence of policy transfer and imitation. This article argues that both these approaches would gain much from a more complex consideration of what `policy' is, and, in particular, where it comes from. More detailed empirical studies of the process of penal policy formation in different countries are a vital precondition to better understanding of how changes in social routines and cultural sensibilities are reflected in key political decisions. This is illustrated by consideration of three high-profile examples of British penal policy developments in recent years, all of which have been associated with similar changes in the USA. These are privatized corrections, `zero tolerance' policing strategies and the registration of sex offenders. We argue that these examples highlight the need for both broad generalizing studies of the structural and cultural preconditions for certain policy developments, and detailed studies of the process of criminal justice policy making.

Key Words: Penal Policy • convergence • Americanization • zero tolerance • private prisons • sex offender notification

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Parr Family Intervention Projects: A Site of Social Work Practice Br. J. Soc. Work, April 29, 2008; (2008) bcn057v2. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Karstedt Explorations into the sociology of criminal justice and punishment: leaving the modernist project behind History of the Human Sciences, May 1, 2007; 20(2): 51 - 70. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Mooney and J. Young The decline in crime and the rise of anti-social behaviour Probation Journal, December 1, 2006; 53(4): 397 - 407. [Abstract] [PDF]

				K. Ismaili Contextualizing the Criminal Justice Policy-Making Process Criminal Justice Policy Review, September 1, 2006; 17(3): 255 - 269. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. Jones and T. Newburn Three Strikes and You're Out: Exploring Symbol and Substance in American and British Crime Control Politics Br. J. Criminol., September 1, 2006; 46(5): 781 - 802. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Dixon and L. Maher Policing, crime and public health: Lessons for Australia from the 'New York miracle' JCriminology and Criminal Justice, May 1, 2005; 5(2): 115 - 143. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. Newburn and T. Jones Symbolic politics and penal populism: The long shadow of Willie Horton Crime Media Culture, March 1, 2005; 1(1): 72 - 87. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. Muncie The globalization of crime control--the case of youth and juvenile justice: Neo-liberalism, policy convergence and international conventions Theoretical Criminology, February 1, 2005; 9(1): 35 - 64. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. Korander and J. Torronen Zero confidence in youths?: Experiences of the zero tolerance experiment in Finland Young, February 1, 2005; 13(1): 47 - 71. [Abstract] [PDF]

				I. O'donnell Interpreting Penal Change: A Research Note JCriminology and Criminal Justice, May 1, 2004; 4(2): 199 - 206. [Abstract] [PDF]