Customer Reviews:
 A Superb Summary of Recent Criminal Justice Developments April 1, 2001
Steve P Taylor
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
David Garland completes his trilogy of books on crime and criminal justice with this superb synopsis of changes over the last thirty years.He argues that the UK is increasingly moving in line with the US in terms of the 'punitive state', and ponders the issues relating to the demise of welfarism in penology, with policy-makers and governments seemingly preferring to move towards punitivity as the answer. The rise in victim-input is also considered - as are many other important issues. This book is recommended reading for anyone with an interest in crime control - not only criminologists, but also sociologists, political scientists, and anyone with an interest in contemporary society. I cannot express how brilliant this work is - buy it NOW and you'll be as gushing with praise as I am. Utterly superb.
The most important criminological text this century January 5, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Garland's thesis charts the emergence of a bourgeoning 'culture of control' in both the UK and USA. It engages with questions as to why we have seen such a cultural shift in the ways we think and deal with crime? In particular it deals with the logics and rationalities which have given rise to such changes, rooted in both the social organisation of 'late modernity' and the proliferation of free market economic changes during the last 25 years. Garland's book describes in clear and approachable langauge how such changes in the organisation of society have given rise to
the ways governments have battled to maintain their sovereign role as 'controllers' of crime, together with the changing ways in which crime has been woven into the fabric of the everyday lives of citizens on both sides of the Atlantic. I would advise the book not only to criminologists and sociologists involved in the study of crime and its control, but also practitioners who would find the arguements both compelling and invaluable.
Also a reassurance to the 'freaked out' student engaging with such grand ideas of 'late modernity' and 'neo liberalism', that this book is not dressed in heavy- going langauge and can easily be bedtime reading (if keen enough). However it is far from a cure for insomnia!
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