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Book Review: Community Justice: Issues for Probation and Criminal Justice

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
DOI10.1177/026455050605300212
AuthorLen Cheston
Published date01 June 2006
Date01 June 2006
Subject MatterArticles

Reviews 179
Fragile Moralities and Dangerous Sexualities makes an original theoretical
contribution to criminology. It draws upon feminist theoretical perspectives to
understand hostels that are neither formal nor informal sites of regulation and
social control. Barton concludes that hostels occupy a unique position on the
continuum of social control, incorporating formal mechanisms associated with
prisons and an informal one allied to the domestic sphere and the ‘community’.
One of the main problems with the book is that it has been a long time in the
making. The interviews and participant observation were conducted over 10 years
ago. As a result the claim made in the introduction that these would ‘bring the
case study up to the end of the twentieth century’ (p. 6) was exaggerated. The last
few years of the 20th century have witnessed some major changes with respect to
hostels for offenders; although admittedly these have been less marked in relation
to those only accommodating women. For instance, hostels have become increas-
ingly used to accommodate high-risk offenders, especially those recently released
from prison. As a result, the level of social control experienced by offenders has
increased as hostel staff need to enforce hostel rules, comply with National Stan-
dards and ensure residents comply with licence conditions.
On the back cover, Joe Sim states that this ‘is a book that deserves to be read
by the widest possible audience’. At first glance, the book may have a limited
appeal. However, on closer examination it becomes obvious that it will be of
interest to a wide range of groups. It deserves to be added to the reading lists of
criminology modules covering gender and crime and penology. Whether it will
appeal to practitioners is a moot point. As Barton makes explicit in the book, the
study does not have a policy orientation. However, practitioners currently engaged
in residential work with female offenders should read this book and reflect upon
their conclusions reached in terms of...

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