Criminology and Criminal Justice current issue

The 2003 Licensing Act's impact on crime and disorder: An evaluation

Hough, M., Hunter, G. — 2008-07-31

The Licensing Act 2003, coming into force in November 2005 in England and Wales, abolished set licensing hours for pubs and clubs. The aim was to liberalize a rigid system while reducing the problems of drinking and disorder associated with a standard closing time. This article summarizes the results of an evaluation funded by the Home Office. Despite widespread concern that the legislation would lead to `24-hour drinking' and an increase in associated problems, the experience of the first year shows very little change. The scale of change in licensing hours was variable but modest: while the majority of pubs extended their hours, most of these extensions were short. Thus the average national increase in opening hours was small. Alcohol consumption showed a slight fall. There was no obvious impact on violent crime and disorder, according to a range of measures, including crime statistics, victim surveys and medical statistics. These results are not particularly consistent with findings in other jurisdictions which have relaxed controls over opening hours of pubs and clubs.

Prison privatization: In search of a business-like atmosphere?

Shefer, G., Liebling, A. — 2008-07-31

This article explores one interesting finding emerging from early findings of studies comparing private and public prisons in the UK: the relationship between prisoners and staff. These relationships appear to be better in some private prisons than in the public sector, at least during the early years of privatization. After presenting these findings, the authors provide three possible explanations for the positively evaluated prisoner—staff relationships in many private prisons during these early years: first, an intentional focus on relaxed and less formal regimes; second, the distinct balance of power which is the outcome of more powerless and inexperienced staff working in private prisons; and third, the legacy of a punitive atmosphere which still persists in some public sector prisons. While these findings do not constitute an argument in favour of privatization, they provide an opportunity to be less romantic about public sector values and practices, and more circumspect about the dangers of imprisonment more generally.

The Children's Fund and the prevention of crime and anti-social behaviour

Mason, P., Prior, D. — 2008-07-31

Early intervention prevention programmes form a significant element in the UK's complex and sometimes contradictory youth justice system. This article focuses on one such national programme in England, the Children's Fund, which has combined a broad aim of tackling children's social exclusion with a specific objective of reducing youth crime and anti-social behaviour, influenced by the Youth Justice Board's risk factors paradigm. In order to understand how these aims have been pursued in practice, the article discusses findings from a `Theory of Change' evaluation of a range of preventative initiatives developed through a single Children's Fund programme located in a large English city. The article discusses the implications of this kind of programme for the development of socially inclusive interventions with children and young people thought to be `at risk' of involvement in crime and anti-social behaviour, but also draws attention to uncertainties and tensions in the relationship between risk-based crime prevention interventions and initiatives addressing broader aspects of young people's social exclusion. The advantages of the Theory of Change approach to the evaluation of complex initiatives are also briefly considered.

Criminal convictions among children and young adults: Changes over time

Soothill, K., Ackerley, E., Francis, B. — 2008-07-31

This study focuses on court conviction rates—that is, the numbers and proportion of the population in England and Wales who are convicted of a crime between the ages of 10—25. Data on over 47,000 male and 10,000 female offenders for six specific birth cohorts (those born in 1953, 1958, 1963, 1968, 1973 and 1978) were extracted from the Offenders Index. We related convictions in three age groups (10—15, 16—20, 21—25) to population estimates for these age groups. Striking differences in the conviction rates over time were observed for both males and females. There is a remarkable decline among the 10—15 age group for more recent cohorts which echoes the increasing use of court diversionary procedures in this age group. There is no corresponding increase in conviction rates for the later age groups. These figures suggest that efforts in the 1980s and early 1990s to divert offenders away from court convictions have been successful, and that such diversionary schemes need to be encouraged.

Gender and probation in the Second World War: Reflections on a changing occupational culture

Worrall, A. — 2008-07-31

An autobiographical novel by Julia Steel recounts a year in the life of a probation officer working in London in 1945. The unpublished manuscript, written in the mid-1950s, provides a rare contemporary glimpse into the lives and social regulation of a group of families living on a housing estate at the end of the Second World War. Steel herself was a wartime graduate of the Cromwell Road Home Office Training Centre. This article sets primary source material, including lecture notes from Steel's training course, in the context of both contemporary and recent academic and professional literature. Following the centenary year of the Probation Service in England and Wales, it aims to contribute some new insights into the history of (women) probation officers and their daily work. It argues that Steel's manuscript and lecture notes can be interpreted within an analysis of state intervention in the lives of working-class families that places professional women in a tutelary and disciplinary relationship with mothers and daughters. It concludes by demonstrating the relevance of such an analysis to our understanding of the gendered nature of work in the Probation Service in England and Wales.

Determining the impact of intoxication in a desert-based sentencing framework

Dingwall, G., Koffman, L. — 2008-07-31

Research has consistently found a significant correlation between alcohol consumption and offending. Although this finding does not prove any direct causal link, many offenders subsequently claim that the fact that they had been drinking should mitigate their sentence. As the argument advanced by offenders is framed in retributive terms—culpability is reduced because of intoxication—this article aims to analyse the impact, if any, that intoxication should have under a desert model.

Book Review: T.L. Leap Dishonest Dollars: The Dynamics of White-Collar Crime New York: Cornell University Press, 2007. 243 pp. {pound}15.09 ISBN--13: 978--0--8014--4520--0

Croall, H. — 2008-07-31

Book Review: Alan Wright Organised Crime Cullompton, Devon: Willan, 2006. 237 pp. {pound}18.99 ISBN--10: 1-- 84392--140--5; ISBN--13:978--1--84392--140--0

Hornsby, R. — 2008-07-31

Book Review: Lol Burke From Probation to the National Offender Management Service: Issues of Contestability, Culture and Community Involvement Issues in Community and Criminal Justice Monograph 6, Napo, 2005. 50 pp. {pound}10 ISBN 0--901617--21--0

Hudson, K. — 2008-07-31