Privatizing Criminal Justice [Paperback]

Without abdicating their ultimate responsibility for law enforcement and criminal justice, Western governments are increasingly seeking to delegate aspects of this task to the private and voluntary sectors. The contributors assess both the actual and potential impact of privatization in this highly controversial area, and examine the experience of private prisons, especially in North America, the activities of private security firms and current developments in electronic monitoring techniques. Privatizing Criminal Justice explores the changing relations between the state and the market and evaluates whether privatization can improve the control of crime and the administration of justice.Without abdicating their ultimate responsibility for law enforcement and criminal justice, Western governments are increasingly seeking to delegate aspects of this task to the private and voluntary sectors. The contributors assess both the actual and potential impact of privatization in this highly controversial area, and examine the experience of private prisons, especially in North America, the activities of private security firms and current developments in electronic monitoring techniques. Privatizing Criminal Justice explores the changing relations between the state and the market and evaluates whether privatization can improve the control of crime and the administration of justice.`A contribution in British experiences of informal justice, a critique of its language, and the redefinition of the concept of social control... a book which is stimulating because of the different analytical orientations included and the diverse aspects which are highlighted.' - International Journal of Sociology of Law

`This volume will serve as a useful source-book' - British Journal of Criminology

`recommended reading.... The contributors inl³!