Showing papers in "Howard Journal of Criminal Justice in 1985"

The Mission Transformed: Professionalisation of Probation Between the Wars

Abstract: This paper explores the early stages of the transition of the English probation system from a service devoted to the mission of saving souls through divine grace to one dedicated to the scientific diagnosis of offenders. A crucial element in that transition was the rise of notions of professionalism between the wars, and the article traces that rise with especial reference to the social enquiry report as a key exemplar of probation practice.

Dealing with Offenders: Popular Opinion and the Views of Victims

Abstract: Increasing emphasis is being placed both on achieving a better Jit between sentencing policy and public opinion and on meeting the needs and wishes of victims of crime. There has, however, been a dearth of factual information about the views both of the general public and of victims on punishment. This paper presents findings from the 1982 and 1984 sweeps of the British Crime Survey. The British Crime Survey suggests that neither public opinion nor victims' views are more punitive than current practice, and that people favour sentences involving compensation by offenders either to the victim or to the community. The paper also examines what factors make for punitive attitudes.

Elderly Victims of Crime and Exposure to Risk

Abstract: It has been debated for some time whether lower rates of personal victimisation among the elderly are due to the fact that - because of fear or other reasons - they shield themselves from situations in which they might be victimised. This ‘differential exposure’ explanation is examined using data from the 1982 British Crime Survey which provides risks for different age/ sex groups and detailed information about respondents' ‘lifestyles’. Looking at evening ‘street’ offences, differences in risks between the age groups change very little when account is taken of different patterns of going out: irrespective of frequency, means of travel, destination and activity, the elderly are still less frequently victimised. Some theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Drinking Drivers: The Limits to Deterrence

Abstract: Both the 1982 and 1984 British Crime Surveys included questions about drinking and driving. These findings have been used to show that -for a significant minority of drivers -manipulating drink-driving laws and their enforcement probably represents an ineffective crime control strategy. The deterrent impact of legal sanctions is likely to be blunted by drivers'failure to recognise that they are committing an offence, by their failure to regard the offence in a serious light or by their limited understanding of the severity of legal penalties. Moreover, the difficulties of sustaining reductions in drink-driving in response to perceived increases in enforcement suggest that a broader-based approach to the problem posed by drinking drivers needs to be identified. The final section of the paper puts forward a number of initiatives which could have some long-term effect on the incidence of offending.

Police Force Cautioning: Policy and Practice

Abstract: In June 1984 the Home Office published a Consultative Document entitled Cautioning by the Police. This followed the deliberations of a working group set up to ‘recommend a basis for more consistent and effective police cautioning practice’. The research described in this article was commissioned by the Working Group on Cautioning to consider the discrepancy in police force cautioning rates and the extent to which it resulted from differences in force policy and practice. © 1985 Howard League and BPL

Class Bias in Prosecutions

Abstract: The police prosecute most detected offences, and caution very few. Agencies which enforce safety, pollution, fraud, and tax laws prosecute very rarely; other enforcement methods are used which are comparable with police cautions. Consequently, working class crime is prosecuted frequently while middle class crime is not. This article compares prosecution practices in the police and the Factory Inspectorate by drawing on recent E.S.R.C.-financed research on police prosecutions. It concludes by evaluating various justifications and explanations for those differences. Class bias is not deliberate. Rather, it is a product of considerations that are inevitably influential in a capitalist society.

Moving Away from Help?: Policy and Practice in Probation Day Centres

Abstract: The function of the probation service is the subject of increasing attention. There is much disagreement both within the service and amongst other interested parties, about the direction of future policy. The issue of compulsory attendance at day centres draws together the main issues being debated. This paper describes the short history of day centres in this field and suggests that during this period there has been a significant change in the political climate affecting the development of practice. The paper is written from a practitioner's standpoint and it argues that a rapid expansion of day centres without adequate forethought and resource provision, will contribute significantly to a move away from the service's traditional role of helping people in trouble. It examines the dilemma surrounding voluntary or compulsory attendance and whilst suggesting that the principle of diverting people from custody through the use of probation orders and voluntary day centre attendance needs to be tested out, asserts that compulsory attendance need not be an attack on people's integrity. This paper underlines that there is a place for day centres within the criminal justice system and delineates a set of principles which should underpin both policy decisions and actual day to day practice.

Bringing Victims and Offenders Together: A Comparison of Two Models

Abstract: Evidence which suggests that victims of crime and criminal offenders can benefit from being brought together is briefly reviewed before two models of such encounters are compared. These are the VORP model, which involves the victim meeting his/her offender to discuss terms of reparation and the Rochester model where victims and unassociated offenders meet as a group. It is concluded that the Rochester model is more effective in providing victims and offenders with a learning experience through which their prejudices and stereotypes can be dynamically challenged.

Delinquency as a Scarce Resource

Abstract: This article suggests that demographic change may be one of the reasons why the overall number of recorded delinquents is falling. In the light of projections that the juvenile population will continue to decline, the paper examines what this might mean in the context of the current level of provision and resources for young offenders.

Obscene Telephone Calls to Women in England and Wales

Abstract: Data from the British Crime Survey are analysed which suggest that approximately 10% of women with access to a private telephone receive obscene calls per year. Young and middle-aged women, separated and divorced women, and women living in inner cities, are more prone to victimisation, suggesting that some recipients of obscene calls are known to the caller. Women who have received obscene calls are more worried about burglary of their empty home, sex offences, ‘possibly sexual’ assault, and mugging than are women not receiving calls. It is suggested that it would be helpful to know more detail about patterns of victimisation: for example, do ex-directory numbers ever receive obscene calls?

Young Persons Convicted of Grave Crimes: the 1933 Children and Young Persons Act (S.53) and its Effect Upon Children's Rights

Abstract: Children and young persons convicted of ‘grave crimes’ may be sentenced to indeterminate custody under Section 53 of the 1933 Children and Young Persons Act. Recent trends in sentencing indicate an increasing use of this disposal. This article examines the trends and the legislative background to the recent changes. Based on a period of observational fieldwork, interviews with children sentenced under S.53 and interviews with staff charged with their care, the experience of the trial process and post-sentence circumstances of the juveniles is described. The research findings are considered in relation to the tension between the care and control of juvenile offenders.

Extending the Welfare Tariff for Juvenile Offenders

Abstract: The measures introduced in the 1982 Criminal Justice Act show signs of accelerating the trend towards the use of custodial penalties for persistent and/or serious juvenile male offenders. This situation places an unwelcome obligation on practitioners within social services or the probation service to develop programmes offering sufficient control and containment to appear to magistrates as credible alternatives to custody. At the same time strategies must be devised to maintain the place of such programmes at the top of the tariff so that they take only those offenders who would otherwise have been placed on detention centre or youth custody orders. Recently initiated time-intensive community-based schemes may help some young offenders, but the authors argue that a realistic alternative is presented by developing structured goal-oriented packages which involve a determinate period in residential care.

A Juvenile Justice Pre-Court Tribunal at Work

Abstract: This paper has as its focus a largely neglected, but growing area of juvenile justice: the structure and practice of a pre-court tribunal. Although the ostensible purpose of the body that is the subject of this analysis is to exercise a discretion as to whether or not families should be taken to court because of a child's non-attendance at school, we argue here that its underlying purpose can be interpreted as upholding and ensuring commitment to a normative view of the world which may bear little relation to the world as it really is for those appearing before the tribunal. The process by which this task is achieved is documented and is followed by a discussion of the issues that this raises for the administration of justice in this area.

Pre‐Trial Settlement in the Magistrates' Courts

Abstract: An attempt is made to assess the effects of the introduction of pre-trial settlement procedures on the disposition of criminal cases in the lower courts. The negotiating strategies adopted by solicitors at pre-trial reviews in the Nottingham Magistrates' Court are examined and the effect of the informal exchanges that take place on levels of case settlement is explored. There is no doubt that pre-trial reviews induce high settlement rates although it is by no means clear how these are achieved. Some explanations are discussed in this paper together with the implications for the victim and the accused.

Group Protests in Penal Institutions: The Polish Case

Abstract: In 1981 prisoners'protests occurred in 116 of Poland's 146 prisons, with almost half of the Country's total prison population taking part. The causes, course and consequences of these protests are examined in this article, which identifies four distinct phases, culminating in the riots of the (phase of hopelessness'. As a result of the protests a number of improvements were made to prisoners' living conditions and legal status, as well as some alleviation of prison discipline and the extension of conditional release. Many of these reforms were brought to an end when martial law was introduced in December 1981. The Polish prison system is in urgent need of further reform if it is to avoid another wave of protests and a deepening of the crisis in its penal institutions.

Intermittent Custody: A Response to the Green Paper

Abstract: The Green Paper Intermittent Custody, published in June 1984, demonstrates the Home Office's interest in the idea of part-time prison, and signals its intention to introduce some variant of it on at least an experimental basis. This article comments on the Green Paper, and discusses the likely effects of intermittent custody in England and Wales in the light of its use elsewhere, and of experience here with the introduction of other penal innovations, such as suspended sentences and detention centres here. The principles involved in the Home Office's proposals are also related to themes of the ‘return to justice’ penal reform agenda, and finally to broader issues of the relationship of the prison to the community, and the shifting balance between the provision of welfare and the imposition of social control. It is argued that the introduction of intermittent custody in England and Wales would be particularly unwelcome coming at the same time as the current prison building programme.

Crime on Offshore Installations

Abstract: Little crime takes place on offshore oil and gas installations in the North Sea. ‘Pilfering’ from the companies is the most frequent crime; assaults are almost non-existent. The reasons for this law abiding behaviour are examined. The attitude of the workers, the lack of alcohol, the lack of opportunities to commit crime, the likelihood of being caught and the severe sanctions imposed by the oil companies combine to discourage crime. It is concluded that a ‘control’ theory framework provides the best explanatory model. It is not overly positivistic and is consistent with both the fact that little crime occurs and the nature of that crime.