Book Review: A Primer on Radical Criminology
| Author | R Kreissl |
| Published date | 01 December 1986 |
| Date | 01 December 1986 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/000486588601900409 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
BOOK REVIEWS 287
The
final type of non-judicial settlement will be quite familiar to a criminological
audience, since it includes a
broad
range of processes concerned with what is
termed
"diversion from formal justice". Involved here are procedures which sociologists
would clearly recognize within a narrow definition of diversion, such as police
cautioning and pre-trial diversion programmes, as well as wider components such
as decriminalization and pre-sentence diversion.
These substantive sections are followed by aconcluding chapter which pulls
together the various alternatives into a"systematic approach".
The
author
here
re-states an argument for the development of community alternatives to formal
justice system processing, and then proceeds to develop adiagrammatic model (or
system) for treating alternative processes of dispute processing.
In addition, it is important to alert readers to the fact that four substantive
appendices are found in the book, these covering the topics of domestic violence,
corporate crime, discrimination laws and drunkenness offences. Scholars interested
in these topics will find these discussions competent,
the
issues current,
and
the
bibliographies thorough.
Amajor strength of this book rests in its solid documentation, especially in terms
of the legal literature. It will be of greatest interest to those interested in such
non-judicial arrangements as mediation, arbitration and
other
formal or informal
community justice processes. It is to this writer unfortunately disconnected from
many of the current sociological debates about social control and justice. Such
writers as Cohen and Scull receive no mention at all. While there is a brief
discussion on the concept of net-widening, the literature cited is somewhat
dated
and does
not
reflect the debate on this topic that has taken place since 1980. Thus,
while this is a valuable source book regarding particular aspects of social control,
by itself it lacks the overall theoretical perspective to direct analysis about social
control. It is regrettable that such a comprehensive overview of the various forms
of non-judicial settlements was written independently of Cohen's Visions
of
Social
Control, or that Cohen's volume could
not
make
better
use of the material
reported
in this book. Without question, those interested in the general processes
that
Cohen
has called "de-structuring" might make good use of the various forms of community
justice alternatives discussed in Alternatives
(0
Criminal Courts.
Melbourne CHRISTINE
ALDER
A
Primer
on Radical Criminology, MJLynch and W B Groves, Harrow and
Heston, 125pp.
This
book
which addresses an undergraduate audience in criminology
and
legal
studies starts with the observation that "[tjhe world view of Marx and Engels is
complex and fascinating." (p I). This is definitely true.
The
authors have set
themselves the difficult task to present on 110 pages in an introductory textbook
fashion some of the consequences this world view has for the study of crime and
social control.
That
leaves about 12 pages for the discussion of "Marxist Methods
and Concepts" (Ch I), another eight pages for "Marxist Theories on State and Law"
(Ch 2) and the rest of the book to focus on the more specific
and
narrow issues of
theories of crime and the institutions of social control.
Four
chapters deal with more
theoretical issues (The Radical Concept of Crime, Conflict and Labelling Theories,
Causes of Crime, and Traditional Contributions to Radical Criminology).
The
theoretical perspective developed in these chapters is then applied to
the
different
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