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

The risk assessment process, the interventions and treatment commenced as a result of it and the theory behind it are central to the administration of criminal justice programmes around the world. Most youth and adult corrections departments routinely conduct risk assessments, which are then used to inform the nature and intensity of subsequent criminal justice interventions. In this unique and important text, a team of the world's leading researchers in the field of criminal justice come together to provide a critique of this risk paradigm, and to provide practical guidance for professionals, students and academics on how to move to a more effective way of working with offenders. Divided into three sections, the book provides coverage of topics such as: - The development of risk assessment in criminal justice practice, and its advantages and disadvantages. - The significance of risk factor research in understanding and explaining juvenile delinquency - as well as the problems it creates. - The argument that the risk paradigm fails to accommodate diversity, further disadvantaging women, ethnic minorities and other marginalized groups. - The various ways in which real or imagined risk posed by offenders has been regulated under the risk paradigm, the powerful influence of media reporting, and ways of moving 'beyond risk' to support successful reintegration of offenders. - Ways forward for criminal justice interventions that do not rely on risk, but focus rather on the vitally important aspects of social context, relationships and motivation. With strong links between theory and practice, Beyond the Risk Paradigm in Criminal Justice provides a fresh new direction for criminal justice work.

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

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 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.