In 1907 the Probation of Offenders Act introduced a system which allowed offenders to be rehabilitated at home under supervision, rather than being sent to prison. This book explores how the probation system was used to regulate the private lives, emotions and behaviours of people in Britain between 1907 and 1962. Access to the private sphere, both physically and psychologically, meant that the probation system was particularly well-suited to offences related to intimate and personal relations. With each chapter focusing on a particular type of offence, including wife assault, attempted suicide, male sexual offences and female prostitution, Settle shows how experiences of the probationers were shaped by the everyday practices of probation, and assesses the extent to which probation was successful in rehabilitating offenders and protecting the public. Also examining the role of probation officers in marriage reconciliation, the book explores how ideas about gender and domesticity were crucial to both the process of rehabilitation and the endeavour to make the home a safe environment in which these domestic ideals could come into fruition. Probation and Policing of the Private Sphere in Britain enriches our understanding of the role of the state in policing, monitoring and promoting the well-being of its citizens, and explores the nuances of probation's dual purpose as a form of social control as well as a social work service designed to help the most vulnerable in society.

The never-before published autobiography of Raphael Lemkin, a giant among twentieth-century ethical thinkers Among the greatest intellectual heroes of modern times, Raphael Lemkin lived an extraordinary life of struggle and hardship, yet altered international law and redefined the world’s understanding of group rights. He invented the concept and word “genocide� and propelled the idea into international legal status. An uncommonly creative pioneer in ethical thought, he twice was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Although Lemkin died alone and in poverty, he left behind a model for a life of activism, a legacy of major contributions to international law, and—not least—an unpublished autobiography. Presented here for the first time is his own account of his life, from his boyhood on a small farm in Poland with his Jewish parents, to his perilous escape from Nazi Europe, through his arrival in the United States and rise to influence as an academic, thinker, and revered lawyer of international criminal law.

Comparative studies can reveal much about how law is formed out of social reality and political power by exploring these interactions in different national contexts. In this work Mauricio Garcia-Villegas compares ideas about law and society in France and the United States, demonstrating different approaches to sociopolitical legal studies. Using the interdisciplinary tools of the sociology of law, critical legal theory, and sociolegal studies, Garcia-Villegas builds up an insightful overview of what constitutes law and society theory and practice in France and the United States. He brings together diverse perspectives and practices that generally do not communicate well with one another, as is often the case between the critical theory of law of jurists and the legal sociology of sociologists. This study will allow readers to understand the sociology of law in a comparative perspective and sets out a new research agenda for the field of sociopolitical legal studies.