The Making of Criminal Justice Policy

‘How does criminal justice policy get made? More importantly, who has the greatest influence? ... and how? … and why? This book critically explores the making and breaking of criminal justice policy, showing just how political criminal justice policy making can be. In a number of striking case studies the book explores who pulls the strings, who holds the purse, who shouts the loudest and whether this is what really makes the difference. The book is a particularly useful addition to criminal justice studies and criminology, drawing upon the insights of policy studies to explain how laws get made, while comprising plenty of useful activities to develop in the classroom.’ - Peter Squires, Professor of Criminology & Public Policy, University of Brighton, UK

'A fresh, original and highly stimulating approach to the study of criminal justice policy.' - Professor Emeritus David Downes, Mannheim Centre, LSE, UK

‘Many practising and academic criminal lawyers complain frequently about the never-ending stream of criminal justice legislation, as they would complain about the weather. The Making of Criminal Justice Policy goes far beyond a critique of the final form and content of legislation. It explains in social, economic and political terms how the policies emerge which ultimately cash out in terms of the legislation that we have. Lawyers, as well as criminologists, should read this book and be educated by it in the fullest sense of that term.’ - Bob Sullivan, Professor of Criminal Law, University of Sussex; emeritus Professor of Law, University College, London, UK

‘Most scholars and researchers accept that the definition and punishment of certain acts as crime is an intrinsically social and political process. Yet there is a dearth of useful accounts or books on how this process unfolds through policy and its effects across the full range of criminal justice institutions. Furthermore, too many students are taught about crime through a fragmented study of offences, theories and methods and then remain bewildered about the criminological big picture.

In filling these gaps, this is a stand-out read among current criminal justice textbooks on the international market. It does not overly simplify its subject matter but with detailed real world examples it gives a lucid account of the complexities of policymaking in contemporary criminal justice.' - Professor Stephen Tomsen, Sociology and Criminology, University of Western Sydney, Australia