Based on a survey of probation work with almost 1400 young adult offenders, this book provides a unique insight into the realities of probation practice in a context of increasing poverty, drug use and community breakdown. Starting with an outline of the current policy environment, the book discusses the relevance of criminological theory to the harsh experience of young offenders in modern Britain. It goes on to develop a typology of offending behaviour on the basis of detailed and often disturbing accounts of the histories and troubles of young people afflicted by poverty, disruption of family relationships and long term unemployment. While much of the book is concerned with the difficulties young offenders experience, and the problems probation officers have in trying to help them change, the overall message of the book is not one of despair. The authors show that good probation practice can make a difference, and the book is written in a way which will be useful to practitioners and policy-makers involved with supervising offenders in the community. From the typology of offending the authors extract lessons for appropriate and relevant practice which should help to improve the quality and effectiveness of the probation service. Some of these implications are explored in the concluding chapter, by Cedric Fullwood, Chief Probation Officer of Greater Manchester. As well as criminal justice practitioners, students of criminology, probation trainees and other social work students will find in the book many vivid examples of how sociological theory can be used to understand and interpret practice. The book is likely to provoke much debate about what constitutes positive practice in a probation service facing the challenges of the future.

Produced in association with MIND and the Department of Health, this book is a practical guide to planning, establishing and managing diversion from custody schemes for multi-agency groups. It is a practical, how-to guide which explains partnership work and how such schemes can be implemented.

Examines dumpers of hazardous waste as criminals, comparing their behavior to other criminals. Finds a fairly unusual environment, in which the intensity, duration, and methods of the crime are determined by opportunities in the legitimate marketplace, rather than by a crime syndicate. Annotation co

Drawing heavily on original research designed to train police officers to survive deadly encounters, Profiling Cop-Killers examines the sociological history, psychology, and motives of 50 murderers of police officers in 2011. The book identifies the commonalities and differences between groups of offenders by age, examining the previously hidden connections between an offender's lethal choices, criminal history, drug and alcohol usage, and interpersonal relationships. Using Erikson's theory of life span development, the author applies the test of the struggle for identity to offender profiles, words, and actions-analyzing the interaction of offenders' maturity levels, mastery of challenges by phase, and degree of deviancy exhibited in their violent acts. The book also includes a closer look at diagnoses of concern and the crossroads of offender behavior and officer actions. This book aims to equip those who work with offenders, police officers, and the mentally ill to read the signs of future violence. Demonstrating the complex set of circumstances that may lead an individual to commit these crimes, this book will challenge readers to think differently about the people who take the lives of law enforcement officers. In doing so, it seeks to answer the question: Who are cop-killers and why do they commit the ultimate crime of violence against the peacekeepers of society?

Irish Political Prisoners presents a detailed and gripping overview of political imprisonment from 1920-1962. Sean McConville examines the years from the formation of the Northern Ireland state to the release of the last border campaign prisoners in 1962. Drawing extensively and, in many cases, uniquely on archives and special collections in the three jurisdictions, and interviews with survivors from the period, McConville demonstrates how punishment came to embody and shape the nationalist consciousness. Irish Political Prisoners 1920-1962 commences with the legacy of the Anglo Irish and Irish Civil Wars - militancy, division and bitterness. The book travels from the embedding of Northern Ireland's security agenda in the 1920's, and the IRA's search for a role in the 1930's (including the 1939 bombing campaign against Britain) to the decisive use of internment during the war and the border campaign years. This volume will be an essential resource for students of Irish history and is a major contribution to the study of imprisonment. .

The press called Martin's actions a "crime spree." Already convicted of armed robbery, Martin was facing the death penalty. In less than two weeks the jury would decide his fate. Terrified that his son would be sentenced to die, Phillip did the only thing he felt he could do: in an act of faith and desperation in his garage with the car exhaust running, Phillip made the consummate sacrifice to spare his son the ultimate punishment. Ironically, his suicide presented Martin's with another chance at life; the jury, moved by Martin's loss, spared his life.
Phillip's story-like those of the other parents, siblings, children, and cousins chronicled in this book-vividly illustrates the precarious position family members of capital offenders occupy in the criminal justice system. At once outsiders and victims, they live in the shadow of death, crushed by trauma, grief, and helplessness. In this penetrating account of guilt and innocence, shame and triumph, devastating loss and ultimate redemption, the voices of these family members add a new dimension to debates about capital punishment and how communities can prevent and address crime.
Restorative justice theory, which views violent crime as an extreme violation of relationships; searches for ways to hold offenders accountable; and meets the needs of victims and communities torn apart by the crime, organizes these narratives and integrates offenders' families into the process of transforming conflict and promoting justice and healing for all. What emerges from hundreds of hours' worth of in-depth interviews with family members of offenders and victims, legal teams, and leaders in the abolition and restorative justice movements is a vision of justice strongly rooted in the social fabric of communities. Showing that forgiveness and recovery are possible in the wake of even the most heinous crimes, while holding victims' stories sacred, this eye-opening book bridges the pain of living in the shadow of death with the possibility of a reparative form of justice.
Anyone working with victims, offenders, and their families-from lawyers and social workers to mediators and activists-will find this riveting work indispensable to their efforts.

This work explores the history of single mothers and infanticide in Ireland over a 50-year period. Based primarily on underused archival material, Rattigan provides a detailed analysis of the diverse experiences of unmarried mothers who faced criminal charges because they were suspected of having commited infanticide.

'Charlie Smith is only one of many similar men who are at this moment living unhappily among us, or are confined in prison now but must sooner or later be released.' The Unknown Citizen (1963) was Tony Parker's second study of a criminal recidivist. 'Mr Parker's very moving book tells what happened the day Charlie left prison and in his first year of freedom. Charlie himself contributes a pitiful attempt at a self-portrait. We have the author's conversations with the magistrate who sentenced him, with his sorely tried elder sister and with others who have come into his life in the last 18 months... The final chapter is masterly... This is literature, not just another book on crime.' D.L. Howard, Telegraph

Offering nuanced portraits of women s lives inside razor wire and prison walls, Razor Wire Women puts incarcerated women in dialogue with scholars, artists, educators and activists who live outside of prisons but work on issues connected to the prison industrial complex. Women make up the fastest-growing group of the U.S. prison population, yet prison scholarship largely overlooks the struggles of incarcerated women, and their voices are often silenced both in and out of the prison infrastructure. From the vantage points of those both inside and outside of prisons, this collection of essays and art illuminates many of the distinct experiences and concerns of incarcerated women, including those of girls in prison, abuse and rape, the policing of women, incarcerated motherhood, mental health issues in prisons, incarcerated women s artistic and cultural production, and prisons impact on families, health, and sexuality. Combining the transcendence, hope and clarity of art with powerful analytical and conceptual tools, Razor Wire Women reveals the gendered dimensions of the incarceration now experienced by a growing number of women in the U.S.

The new vols. 4 and 5 offer an additional 40 new entries and eight updates of entries from the original set.

The Last Days of John Lennon is the amazing story of John Lennon's life and career, from his earliest days up to his last seconds. It tells the story of the most profound rock-and-roll genius of all time - and of the consummate Nowhere Man who took him from us.

John Lennon achieved with The Beatles a level of superstardom that defied classification. "We were the best bloody band there was", he said. "There was nobody to touch us". In the summer of 1980, ten years after the break-up of The Beatles, Lennon signed with a new label and hired a top producer to recruit the best session musicians, ready to record new music for the first time in years. They were awestruck when Lennon dashed off '(Just Like) Starting Over'. Lennon was back in peak form, with his best songwriting since 'Imagine'.

Even before Lennon left The Beatles, becoming a solo artist and making a life with Yoko Ono in New York City, Mark David Chapman had become obsessed with murdering his former hero. Chapman was convinced that Lennon had squandered his talent and betrayed fans with messages of hope and peace. In December 1980, Chapman quit his security job in Hawaii, signing out as 'John Lennon', and boarded a flight to New York with a handgun and bullets stowed in his luggage. He was never going home again.

Enriched by exclusive interviews with Lennon's friends and associates, including Paul McCartney, The Last Days of John Lennon is a true-crime drama about two men who changed history. One whose indelible songs enliven our world to this day, and the other who ended the beautiful music with five pulls of a trigger.

The new vols. 4 and 5 offer an additional 40 new entries and eight updates of entries from the original set.