Book review: Maggy Lee, Trafficking and Global Crime Control
| Author | Michael Puniskis |
| DOI | 10.1177/1748895811435589 |
| Published date | 01 April 2012 |
| Date | 01 April 2012 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
222 Criminology & Criminal Justice 12(2)
The argument surrounding the RNR, GLM and Desistance paradigms is as much a
product of the manner in which RNR, the market leader in the English-speaking penal
policy world, has been employed administratively by the National Offender Management
Service (NOMS) and parallel agencies as anything inherent in the model itself. As
Maguire et al. (2010) have pointed out, the suggestion that RNR: placed too much
emphasis on quantitative data, promoted centralization and top–down administration,
contained demanding procedures of accreditation and audit, reduced diversity and crea-
tivity in practice and gave too much weight to standardized cognitive behavioural pro-
grammes, has to a large extent been a reaction to the introduction of evidence-based
policies and quality management rather than RNR per se. As the editors of this collection
suggest in their conclusion (p. 535), the apparently competing paradigms are more com-
patible than appears at first sight. There is now a huge diversity of interventions grounded
on RNR tenets well supported by solid research evidence and the fact is that all penal
systems must strike a balance between ensuring effective organisational management
and promoting human dignity and positive relationships.
The editors’ introduction to this collection is entitled ‘What’s new and exciting’. I
doubt anyone will get excited by the contents. But there is evidence of solid progress
which deserves positive recognition by those civil servants and politicians who will
determine the future of our youth justice and probation services.
References
Lösel F (2012) What works? Offender treatment and rehabilitation. In: Maguire M., Morgan R and
Reiner R (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology. Oxford: OUP.
Maguire M, Grubin, D, Lösel F and Raynor P (2010) ‘What works’ and the Correctional Services
Accreditation Panel: Taking stock from an inside perspective. Criminology and Criminal
Justice 10(1): 37–58.
Padfield N, Morgan R and Maguire M (2012) Out of court, out of sight? Criminal sanctions and
non-judicial decision making. In: Maguire M, Morgan R and Reiner R (eds) The Oxford
Handbook of Criminology, 5th Edition. Oxford: OUP.
Maggy Lee
Trafficking and Global Crime Control, SAGE: London, 2010; 192 pp.: 9781412935579, £22.99 (pbk)
Reviewed by: Michael Puniskis, Middlesex University, UK
The interconnectivity of late modernity has created new opportunities and challenges
alike, for both the legitimate and underground sectors. Consequently, new forms of
surveillance and regulation have emerged in order to monitor and control the global flow
of people and goods. In Trafficking and Global Crime Control, Maggy Lee provides an
authoritative and up-to-date critique of the policing-led and punitive-based nature of
contemporary international immigration control in favour of a more sociologically
driven and human rights-oriented policy response, which is the thesis underpinning this
thought-provoking book.
The Introduction states the purpose of the book as being ‘to inject more critical insights
into our understanding of the complex social phenomenon of, and responses to, the
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