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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Crime & criminology > Offenders > General
Prisons and imprisonment have become a commonplace topic in popular culture as the setting and rationale for fiction and documentaries and most people seem to have a clear notion of what it is like in prison, ranging from the idea of the prison cell as a cosy nook with fast internet access to that of a dungeon with a hard bed and a diet of bread and water. But what is prison really like? Do prisoners have the same rights as everyone else? What are the similarities and differences between prisons in different European countries? This book answers all of these questions, whilst also presenting cutting-edge research on the living conditions of long-term prisoners in Europe and considering whether these conditions meet international human rights standards. Bringing together leading experts in the field, with comprehensive coverage of the issues in Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Spain and Sweden, this book offers the first comparative study on the subject. Whereas past research in this area has concentrated on the Anglo-American experience, this book offers a truly comparative European approach and pays due attention to the differences in prison systems between the post-Soviet countries and continental Europe. This book will be key reading for academics and students of criminology, criminal justice and penology and will also be of interest to students and practitioners of law.
The BSC Critical Criminology Network's Book of the Year 2016 Why do some men use physical violence against others? How do some men come to value physical violence as a resource? Drawing on in-depth ethnographic research conducted with men involved in serious violence and crime over a period of two years in the North of England, Anthony Ellis addresses these questions and the complex relationship between these men and their use of physical violence against others. Using detailed life-history interviews and extended periods of observation with these men, Men, Masculinities and Violence describes their 'inner' subjective lives and experiences, exploring how they came to value violence, why they are willing to use it against others and risk serious harm to themselves in the process. Over the course of the book a picture emerges of a group of men that have experienced and perpetrated serious violence throughout their lives. This book advances a critical psychosocial understanding of such violence by situating these masculine biographies within their immediate contexts of de-industrialisation, fracturing working class community and culture, and broader shifts within the political economy of liberal capitalism. With its synthesis of rich ethnographic material and new developments in criminological theory, this book is essential reading for students and academics interested in issues of gender and violence.
Disordered Personalities and Crime seeks to better understand how we respond to those individuals who have been labelled at various points in time as 'morally insane', 'psychopathic' or 'personality disordered'. Individuals whose behaviour is consistent with these diagnoses present challenges to both the criminal justice system and mental health systems, because the people who come to have such diagnoses seem to have a rational and realistic understanding of the world around them but they can behave in ways that suggest they have little understanding of the meaning or consequences of their actions. This book argues that an analysis of the history of these diagnoses will help to provide a better understanding of contemporary dilemmas. These are categories that have been not only shaped by the needs of criminal justice and the claims of expertise by professionals, but also the fears, anxieties and demands of the wider public. In this book, David W. Jones demonstrates us how important these diagnoses have been to the history of psychiatry in its claims for professional expertise, and also sheds light on the evolution of the insanity defence and helps explain why it remains a problematic and controversial issue even today. This book will be key reading for students, researchers and academics who are interested in crime and its relationship to mental disorder and also for those interested in psychiatry and abnormal psychology.
Convicted sex offenders released from custody at the end of their criminal sentences pose a risk for re-offense. In many US states, Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) laws have been enacted that allow for the post-prison preventive detention of high risk sex offenders. SVP laws require the courts to make dispositions that protect the public from harm while at the same time respecting the civil rights of the offender. This book describes these SVP laws, their constitutionality, and aspects of their operation. Courts hear expert risk testimony based heavily on the results of actuarial risk assessment. Problems associated with this testimony include the lack of a theory of recidivism risk, bias due to human decision-making, and the insularity of scholarship and practice along developmental lines. The authors propose changes in legal standards, as well as a unified developmental model that treats sexual violence as an "evolving" condition, with roots traceable to childhood and paths that extend into adolescence and adulthood.
In contrast to the widespread focus on ethnicity in relation to engagement in offending, the question of whether or not processes associated with desistance - that is the cessation and curtailment of offending behaviour - vary by ethnicity has received less attention. This is despite known ethnic differences in factors identified as affecting disengagement from offending, such as employment, place of residence, religious affiliation and family structure, providing good reasons for believing differences would exist. This book seeks to address this oversight. Using data obtained from in-depth qualitative interviews it investigates the processes associated with desistance from crime among offenders drawn from some of the principal minority ethnic groups in the United Kingdom. Cultures of Desistance explores how structural (families, friends, peer groups, employment, social capital) and cultural (religion, values, recognition) ethnic differences affected the environment in which their desistance took place. For Indians and Bangladeshis, desistance was characterised as a collective experience involving their families actively intervening in their lives. In contrast, Black and dual heritage offenders' desistance was a much more individualistic endeavour. The book suggests a need for a research agenda and justice policy that are sensitive to desisters' structural location, and for a wider culture which promotes and supports desisters' efforts.
This ground-breaking text is the first to provide a detailed overview of Investigative Psychology, from the earliest work through to recent studies, including descriptions of previously unpublished internal reports. Crucially it provides a framework for students to explore this exciting terrain, combining Narrative Theory and an Action Systems framework. It includes empirically tested models for Offender Profiling and guidance for investigations, as well as an agenda for research in Investigative Psychology. "Investigative Psychology" features: The full range of crimes from fraud to terrorism, including burglary, serial killing, arson, rape, and organised crimeImportant methodologies including multi-dimensional scaling and the "Radex" approach as well as Social Network AnalysisGeographical Offender Profiling, supported by detailed analysis of the underlying psychological processes that make this such a valuable investigative decision support toolThe full range of investigative activities, including effective information collection, detecting deception and the development of decision support systems. In effect, this text introduces an exciting new paradigm for a wide range of psychological contributions to all forms of investigation within and outside of law enforcement. Each chapter has actual cases and quotations from offenders and ends with questions for discussion and research, making this a valuable text for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Applied and Forensic Psychology, Criminology, Socio-Legal Studies and related disciplines.
The study of criminal careers is of increasing interest in criminology. It is now generally recognised that it is important to try to understand criminal behaviour across the life-course rather than focusing on fragmented incidents which provide only a partial picture. This is an accessible text which clarifies the crucial theoretical and methodological debates surrounding the study of criminal careers. It focuses on some major longitudinal studies discussing the onset, persistence, desistance and the duration of a criminal career. The important topics of prediction, risk and specialisation are addressed. The challenging question of 'When do ex-offenders become like non-offenders?' points a way forward. The book concludes by proposing an even more ambitious approach to the topic of criminal careers.
The study of criminal careers is of increasing interest in criminology. It is now generally recognised that it is important to try to understand criminal behaviour across the life-course rather than focusing on fragmented incidents which provide only a partial picture. This is an accessible text which clarifies the crucial theoretical and methodological debates surrounding the study of criminal careers. It focuses on some major longitudinal studies discussing the onset, persistence, desistance and the duration of a criminal career. The important topics of prediction, risk and specialisation are addressed. The challenging question of 'When do ex-offenders become like non-offenders?' points a way forward. The book concludes by proposing an even more ambitious approach to the topic of criminal careers.
Winner of the VanCity Book Prize, Unruly Women: The Politics of Confinement & Resistance is the seminal book about women's imprisonment that helped spark examinations around the world into the special circumstances women face in prison, as well as the sex and gender crimes that get them there. Most women who are incarcerated do not pose a danger to society but transgress patriarchal, capitalist norms that seek to control their bodies and choices, as seen in the case of prostitution and prosecutions of pregnant women for risky behaviors. Further, the majority of women who enter the criminal justice system have been victims of violence, which raises questions about the continuum from victimization to criminalization. Unruly Women explores patterns of female crimes and punishments, from the witch hunts to the present; institutionalized violence and sexual abuse against incarcerated women; women loving women in prison; motherhood inside prison; battered woman syndrome; Hollywood's formulaic women-in-prison films; political education in prisons; and acts of resistance, inside and out. Karlene Faith challenges misconceptions of "deviant" women, and celebrates the unruly woman: the unmanageable woman who claims her own body, and who cannot be silenced. As the "drug war" wages on, riddled with excessive and inequitable prison sentences; the incarcerated population skyrockets toward 2.5 million (up from less than 200,000 nationwide in 1970); and private prisons burgeon around the coasts, now is a critical moment to educate ourselves about what is at stake with our prison system. Faith's incisive work causes us to question the usefulness of the forced confinement and surveillance of mostly nonviolent people.
"The third in a series explicating the criminal mind, this volume summarizes observations, interpretations, and conclusions derived from a study of 121 criminal men who used drugs and/or alcohol to excess. Originally set in writing by Yochelson before his death in 1976, the materials were edited and updated by Samenow for publication. Systematic, probing and repeated interviews were used as the vehicle for gathering information on common mental themes among men apprehended and sentenced for criminal acts.... Yochelson and Samenow attribute crime to a series of early irresponsible choices that predate drug use among drug-using criminals. Personality and personal choice variables are conceptualized as critical in initialing and maintaining use. In what is called an indiscriminate search for excitement, drug-using criminals are characterized as expanding their criminal repertoire while excusing their actions by rationalizations sometimes invented by sociologists, psychologists, and psychiatrists. Although these ideas are of considerable interest, the real value of the text lies in its intriguing presentation of drug-user thinking. Specifically, three chapters are well worth reading. The description of mental activities associated with such constructs as 'the high, ' 'the nod, ' and 'the rush' are probably on target for many drug users, whether criminal or not. The chapter explaining drugs as facilitators offers several notions worthy of systematic inquiry, as does the one devoted to principles for encouragement of behavior change. Of perhaps greatest benefit to most readers are caveats regarding management of drug users in what may be seen as a cognitive-behavioral framework. Yochelson and Samenow contend that drug-using criminal men represent the architects of their criminal life-styles and that it is they themselves who can correct irresponsible thoughts and behaviors through application of logic over emotion." Contemporary Psychology A Jason Aroson Book"
From the crowning of C
It is traditionally viewed that vulnerable inmates form captive audiences for violent terrorist offenders who, in turn, are destined to turn prisons into training grounds for militant activities; all the while forming alliances with more hardened criminals to produce an even greater threat. However, there is limited empirical grounding to underpin these assertions. Inmate Radicalisation and Recruitment in Prisons challenges existing perceptions about prison radicalisation. Whilst not downplaying the seriousness of the prison radicalisation threat, it seeks a more balanced interpretation of current discussion. Drawing on original research in the Philippines and case studies from Australia, the US, Canada, Indonesia, the UK, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium, the authors posit an alternative view that suggests that the imprisonment of a terrorist may mark the beginning of physical disengagement and psychological de-radicalisation. Offering evidence-based insights to help determine how best to house terrorist offenders, this volume will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as Criminology and Criminal Justice, Terrorism, Prisons, and Organised Crime.
This is the first collection of art therapy work concerned exclusively with offenders. It describes how the use of art therapy has grown in adult prisons, young offender institutions, secure psychiatric and probation centres. Examples of work by women and men of many different backgrounds show how art therapy can contribute to the understanding of offenders, and to their own understanding of themselves. This opens up the possibility of personal change, and of developing a more constructive life style. At a time of great concern about the damaging effects of crime, this book shows a positive way forward. It is illustrated with black and white photographs and many line drawings.The authors are all experienced art therapists who explore different ways of working, both in groups and with individuals. The book will be of interest to all those who work in the criminal justice system, as well as art therapists.
This revised and updated edition of Care of the Mentally Disordered Offender in the Community provides a comprehensive, evidence-based guide to theory and practice. The social and clinical context within which mental health care is provided to offenders in community settings has changed significantly in recent years. An increasing proportion of all mental health care is provided in the community and our knowledge of the links between violence and mental illness has advanced. Existing psychological and pharmacological treatments have been refined and new treatments have been introduced. Epidemiological and intervention-based research has evaluated these changes and suggested new avenues for clinical development. Over three sections, the second edition of Care of the Mentally Disordered Offender in the Community explores the key areas of the field. Part 1 describes the social, administrative and clinical context within which care is now given. Part 2 discusses treatment and the evaluation of violence risk when determining the most appropriate treatment. Part 3 explores psychiatric services and their relationship with other agencies. The text has been updated to cover recent developments in theory and practice. New chapters have been added that cover US provision for people with mental disorders leaving prison, the community management of sexual offenders, the relationship between care and coercion and the treatment of personality disorders. Written by a global team of experts, the book provides critical insights into the social, clinical, and institutional aspects of an increasingly important part of psychiatric community care.
"The Psychology of Criminal Justice" integrates aspects of psychology's contributions to criminology and to socio-legal studies within a single narrative framework. It does this by describing the interpersonal and group dynamics of decision-making at key stages in the processing of accused persons from the time an alleged offence is committed to the moment sentence is passed. The book bears directly on many current debates concerning the ability of the criminal justice system to deliver reliable verdicts. It recognizes the interdependence of decision makers in the system and addresses questions at an appropriately social-psychological level. The book examines systematically and critically the dynamics of criminal decision-making, the response of victims, the assumptions, attitudes and behavior of police officers, the conduct of court proceedings, the performance of witnesses, the strengths and weaknesses of juries, and the sentencing of magistrates and judges. Discussions of law and morality, the attribution of blame in court and in everyday life, and the achievement of justice in interpersonal and organizational contexts, provide a definitive account of the social psychology of law in the context of criminal justice. Problems with our adversarial system of justice have led to the establishment of a Royal Commission on Criminal Justice. It is commonplace to seek a scapegoat in the behavior of one or other protagonist in the system - especially the police. It will become clear to readers of this book that breakdowns of the system are a product of persuasive interpersonal and intergroup processes of organization, reaching well beyond the behavior of any one agent.
Assessing Risk: A Relational Approach offers the practitioner a novel framework for understanding the complex and subtle issues involved in assessing and managing risks related to violence and sexual offending. The authors draw on their considerable experience working with high risk individuals in assessment and treatment. They have for many years consulted to practitioners in forensic mental health services and the criminal justice system and taught renowned courses at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. This book outlines a comprehensive model of risk which draws on mainstream empirical research, threat assessment, developmental psychopathology, attachment theory, and a relational model derived from psychoanalysis. The framework incorporates intrapersonal and interpersonal dimensions and is designed to enhance the reader's capacity to make a thorough risk formulation. The approach highlights the significance of childhood development in understanding violent and sexually violent acts, and the complicated interpersonal processes involved in managing individuals who have a propensity to violent enactment. These dynamic processes between people impact on risk and risk perception, and can distort judgement if not recognised and understood. Assessing Risk will be of practical use in enhancing the skills of professionals to assess and manage risk in a comprehensive and effective way, and will appeal to all those mental health and criminal justice practitioners working with risky individuals.
Lonnie H. Athens' path-breaking work examines a problem that has baffled experts and the general public alike: How does a person become a predatory violent criminal? In the original edition, the process that Athens labeled "violentization" encompassed four stages: brutalization, defiance, dominative engagements, and virulency. In this edition, Athens identifies a new final stage, violent predation, as the culmination of the violent criminal's development. He uses vivid first-person accounts gleaned from in-depth interviews and participant observation of nascent and hardened violent criminals to back up his theory. In this vastly expanded edition, Athens examines how his thinking and ideas have evolved over the past thirty years and renames and clarifies two stages of development. Athens also addresses, for the first time, criticisms of his original theory. Milestones of this important work are discussed, as well as the paradoxes surrounding its present-day status in the field of criminology. Athens proposes a revised theoretical model that will be useful for classroom use, as well as for interested general readers and professionals.
Why do some men use physical violence against others? How do some men come to value physical violence as a resource? Drawing on in-depth ethnographic research conducted with men involved in serious violence and crime over a period of two years in the North of England, Anthony Ellis addresses these questions and the complex relationship between these men and their use of physical violence against others. Using detailed life-history interviews and extended periods of observation with these men, Men, Masculinities and Violence describes their 'inner' subjective lives and experiences, exploring how they came to value violence, why they are willing to use it against others and risk serious harm to themselves in the process. Over the course of the book a picture emerges of a group of men that have experienced and perpetrated serious violence throughout their lives. This book advances a critical psychosocial understanding of such violence by situating these masculine biographies within their immediate contexts of de-industrialisation, fracturing working class community and culture, and broader shifts within the political economy of liberal capitalism. With its synthesis of rich ethnographic material and new developments in criminological theory, this book is essential reading for students and academics interested in issues of gender and violence.
Is there an alternative way of treating sexual offenders beyond traditional psychiatry? Sexual Offenders explores and develops personal construct theory in terms of forensic and social psychology, and examines the possibilities for sexual offender assessment and therapy. Rather than viewing sexual offenders as having a mental illness or possessing a set of pathological personality traits, personal construct theory indicates that all people learn particular ways of understanding their own experience, and use these 'personal constructs' to anticipate the future. Through a variety of experiences, sexual offenders appear to develop a set of constructs that demands a particular understanding of themselves and other people. James Horley suggests that if they desire change sexual offenders can alter these constructs through psychotherapy. Sexual Offenders describes a number of techniques used by the author and other clinicians as well as presenting new and more dynamic approaches to psychological assessment. Based on over 20 years of the author's clinical and research work, this book will provide professionals and students in the field of forensic psychology and psychiatry with an alternative way of treating sex offender clients.
In Offending and Desistance, Beth Weaver examines the role of a co-offending peer group in shaping and influencing offending and desistance, focusing on three phases of their criminal careers: onset, persistence and desistance. While there is consensus across the body of desistance research that social relations have a role to play in variously constraining, enabling and sustaining desistance, no desistance studies have adequately analysed the dynamics or properties of social relations, or their relationship to individuals and social structures. This book aims to reset this balance. By examining the social relations and life stories of six Scottish men (in their forties), Weaver reveals the central role of friendship groups, intimate relationships and families of formation, employment and religious communities. She shows how, for different individuals, these relations triggered reflexive evaluation of their priorities, behaviours and lifestyles, but with differing results. Weaver's re-examination of the relationships between structure, agency, identity and reflexivity in the desistance process ultimately illuminates new directions for research, policy and practice. This book is essential reading for academics and students engaged in the study of criminology and criminal justice, delinquency, probation and criminal law.
Combating white-collar crime is a challenge as these criminals are found among the most powerful members of society, including politicians, business executives, and government officials. While there are many approaches to understanding this topic, Policing White-Collar Crime: Characteristics of White-Collar Criminals highlights the importance of police intelligence in confronting these crimes and criminals and focuses on the identification, retrieval, storage, and application of information resources. Combining theory with case examples of some of the most notorious criminal enterprises in recent years, the book explores: White-collar crime typologies and characteristics The roles and structure in a white-collar crime enterprise Sociological perspectives on why women are substantially less involved in white-collar crime Why chief executives are vulnerable to the lure of white-collar crime Characteristics of victims who fall prey to these crimes Theoretically based yet practitioner-oriented, this book offers a unique study of the contingent approach to policing white-collar criminals-emphasizing the essential elements of information management strategy, knowledge management strategy, information technology strategy, and value configuration in law enforcement. By implementing the techniques presented in this volume, law enforcement organizations can better develop and implement detection and prevention methods. This effective use of the critical element of police intelligence is a powerful tool for circumventing the tactics of white-collar criminals.
"Assessments in Forensic Practice: A Handbook" provides practical guidance in the assessment of the most frequently encountered offender subgroups found within the criminal justice system. Topics include:
Just as consumer demands for mobile devices have risen rapidly, the use of cell phones by prison inmates has grown as the U.S. prison population continues to expand. This use is considered contraband by prison officials. The number of cell phones confiscated by prison officials has dramatically increased in only a few years. This increase in unauthorised cell phone use by inmates is a mounting concern among correctional administrators across the country. This book investigates and examines wireless technology solutions to prevent contraband cell phone use in prisons, such as jamming, managed access, and detection.
While the use of imprisonment continues to rise in developed
nations, we have little sociological knowledge of the prison's
inner world. Based on extensive fieldwork in a medium-security
prison, The Prisoner Society: Power, Adaptation and Social Life in
an English Prison provides an in-depth analysis of the prison's
social anatomy. It explains how power is exercised by the
institution, individualizing the prisoner community and demanding
particular forms of compliance and engagement. Drawing on
prisoners' life stories, it supplies a detailed typology of
adaptive styles, showing how different prisoners experience and
respond to the new range of penal practices and frustrations. It
then explains how the prisoner society - its norms, hierarchy and
social relationships - is shaped both by these conditions of
confinement and by the different backgrounds, values and identities
that prisoners bring into the prison environment.
"[A] significant contribution to the national debate about violent criminal behavior."—Senator Joe Lieberman |
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