Crime and Social Control An Introduction

Crime and offending behaviour are major issues in society today. The ways in which society responds to crime are likewise a matter of constant public debate. Crime and Social Control introduces the key players in the criminal justice system, shows how state agencies and social institutions respond to (and create) offensive behaviour, surveys the strengths and weaknesses of existing forms and methods of crime control, and describes the development of general theories and practices of criminal justice. The book examines five broad areas of topical concern and interest - policing, courts and sentencing, punishment and prisons, diversion and community-based schemes, and victim services. Each of these areas has been marked by divergent opinion and much public controversy. The book provides an overview of the people and issues associated with each specific form of intervention and practice. In each case, the descriptions of actual processes and agencies are placed in the context of particular criminological perspectives and critiques. One of the messages of the book is that implicit within each institutional sphere are various, often competing, approaches to crime control.;A major underlying concern of the book is to expose the politics of social control as this relates to both the formal institutions of criminal justice, and community-based institutions and agencies. Crime and Social Control provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to the major institutions and central issues of criminal justice in Australia today. It will be of special interest to criminology, sociology and law students.