The punitive prison currently dominates the practice of Anglo-American criminal justice, stigmatising
its victims as perpetual ‘offenders’ and failing to change a majority of them for the better.
Books of academic ‘readings’ sometimes profess neutrality over the controversies they invigilate.
Offenders or Citizens? sits on no such fences, its pages reflect the fiercely partisan nature of the
contest between rehabilitation and punishment. Probation, social work, youth justice, law,
corrections, criminology, journalism, philosophy, politics, popular culture, psychology, anthropology,
and sociology – the voices of participants, professionals, and writers from many realms
are all represented in this lively selection. Its aim – to stimulate and furnish a debate about the
proper place of rehabilitation within a plural, morally defensible, and effective response to crime.
The book is divided into three sections, covering:
Part 1 The historical roots and early forms of rehabilitationReadings in this section provide an historical overview of how criminologists and
others have explored the purposes of criminal justice, and engaged with
competing philosophies of punishment and rehabilitation. They shed light on,
amongst other things, the nature of criminal justice, the purpose of punishment,
the function of prison, and the meaning of rehabilitation.
Part 2 Modern trends and formsThe continuing debate between punishment and rehabilitation, the emergence
of the justice model, reactions to the pessimism of ‘nothing works,’ and the
struggle to establish and maintain different approaches to helping people
change their behaviour and reduce re- offending are reflected in these selected
extracts. A wide range of ideas, proposals, and working examples of practice are
provided – from New Careers to therapeutic communities, from community
service to focussed group work; from self-change to restorative justice.
Part 3 Can rehabilitation be rehabilitated?
Some possible futures for the theory and practice of rehabilitation are sketched
by the selections in this section; just communities and other post-prison
paradigms; community justice and problem solving courts; work with minorities;
prisoner re-entry; redress; and desistance from crime.
The editors provide a general introduction setting the context for the debate, an
introduction to each section highlighting the themes explored, and a conclusion
which summarises the debate and maps a way forward via a ‘citizen’ theory of
rehabilitation and probation.
This book will be essential reading for both students and practitioners within
criminal justice, who have an interest in the rehabilitation of convicted
individuals, and providing an essential broader context to the 'what works'
debate.
The New Punitiveness: Trends, theories, perspectives
Edited by John Pratt, David Brown, Mark Brown, Simon Hallsworth, Wayne Morrison
Offending Behaviour: Moral reasoning, criminal conduct and the rehabilitation of offenders
Emma J. Palmer
