Justice, Community and Civil Society: A Contested Terrain

by Shapland; Joanna

• ISBN13: 9781843922322
• ISBN10: 1843922320
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-01-01
• Publisher: Willan

Summary

Over the last decade there has arisen considerable disquiet about the relationship between criminal justice and the public. This has been expressed in a variety of different ways, ranging from a concern that state criminal justice has moved too far away from the concerns of ordinary people (become too distant, too out of touch, insufficiently reflective of different groups in society) to the belief that the police have been attending to the wrong priorities, that the state has failed to reduce crime, that people still feel a general sense of insecurity.Governments have sought to respond to these concerns throughout Europe and North America but the results have challenged people's deeply held beliefs about what justice is and what the state's role should be. The need to innovate in response to local demands has hence resulted in some very different initiatives.This book delves further into this contested relationship between criminal justice and the public. Written by experts from different countries as a new initiative in comparative criminal justice, it reveals how different the intrinsic cultural attitudes in relation to criminal justice are across Europe. This is a time when states' monopoly on criminal justice is being questioned and they are being asked on what basis their legitimacy rests, challenged by both globalisation and localisation. The answers reflect both cultural specificity and, for some, broader moves towards reaching out to citizens and associations representing citizens.

Table of Contents

Contested ideas of community and justice	p. 1
'Proximity justice' in France: anything but 'justice and community'?	p. 30
How civil society is on the criminal justice agenda in France	p. 47
Crime control in Germany: too serious to leave it to the people - the great exception?	p. 63
Sweeping the street: civil society and community safety in Rotterdam	p. 87
Lay elements in the criminal justice system of the Netherlands	p. 107
Refiguring the community and professional in policing and criminal justice: some questions of legitimacy	p. 125
Who owns justice? Community, state and the Northern Ireland transition	p. 157
Policing, 'community' and social change in Ireland	p. 190
New directions in Canadian justice: from state workers to community 'representatives'	p. 209
Index	p. 235
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