Crime & criminology

This book re-assesses the benefits and failures of competition, how public and private prisons compare, the impact of competition on the public sector’s performance, and how well Government has managed this ‘quasi-market’.

This book focuses on developments since the publication of the 2007 Corston Report into women and criminal justice. The challenges of working with women in the current climate also explored, translating lessons from good practice to policy development and recommending future directions arising from the ‘Transforming Rehabilitation’ plans.

Covert violence occurs in all social institutions and this compelling, much-needed book is for all those who seek to understand—and strive to prevent—violence in society. This book takes a new and engaging focus on the perpetrators of surreptitious violence on unsuspecting victims.

‘Desistance’ - understanding how people move away from offending – has become a significant policy focus in recent years, with desistance thinking transplanted from the adult to the youth justice system in England and Wales. This book is the first to critique this approach to justice-involved children.

This book offers a theory of trafficking and modern slavery with implications for policy. Going beyond polarised debates on the sex trade, this book shows the importance of coercion and the societal complexities that perpetuate modern slavery.

In the first academic analysis of the ‘spycops’ scandal, the author draws on extensive fieldwork and his first-hand experience of police infiltration in this exploration of covert policing practices.

The ultimate expression of power is the ability to act beyond the confines of law. Illuminating the condition of ‘panoramic power’, this book offers new thinking on damaging structures of power and privilege – and the political activities needed to achieve intervention and change.

This ambitious book is the first to provide a detailed insight into the politics and practices of internal school exclusion, highlighted through the experiences of the young people attending internal behaviour support units.

Drawing on the findings of a two-year European research project, this book presents a new model for responding meaningfully and effectively the 'problem' of how to respond to violence involving young people that continues to challenge youth workers and policy makers.

The relationship between crime and social media has become an increasingly important topic. This unique book analyses what those involved in homicide do with social media. It investigates the practices of those involved and argues that confessions convey insights into the social and cultural context of contemporary homicide.

Drawing upon unique empirical data based on interviews with high-profile ex-offenders and experts in the field, this book sheds new light on drug markets, organised crime and gangs in the UK. McLean sparks new debate on the subject, offering solutions and alternatives for how to best tackle gang violence.

Revisiting the young men interviewed in Deuchar’s original fieldwork in Glasgow, this dynamic book explores the evolving nature of gangs and the contemporary challenges affecting young people, including drug distribution, football-related bigotry and the mental health repercussions emerging from social media.