Prosecutors and Politics

by Tonry, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780226009674
• ISBN10: 022600967X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Compared to most developed countries--most strikingly the United States--Scandinavian criminal justice systems are, and long have been, humane. Punishments are moderate, prisons are small and orderly, and few people are locked up. As elsewhere in Europe, however, Scandinavian countries face social and political challenges. Populations are becoming more diverse, the region has been affected by the global recession, and conservative political parties have gained increased influence and are beginning to politicize crime policy debates. Crime and Justice in Scandinaviaoffers the first comprehensive English-language account of the Scandinavian systems, showing why they are as they are, how they are different from those in other countries, and how they are changing. The writers, from all five Scandinavian countries, are leading scholars of our time. Scandinavian approaches to crime and punishment offer important lessons to scholars, citizens, and policy makers in other countries. Their present may be our future. More ominously, if they succumb to the xenophobic and populist political pressures that exist everywhere, ours may be theirs.