Book Review: R. Hopkins Burke, Young People, Crime and Justice, Willan Publishing, Cullompton, 2008, £19.50 Pb, ISBN 978—1—84392—367—1
| Author | Daniel Marshall |
| Published date | 01 December 2009 |
| Date | 01 December 2009 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14732254090090030903 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
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Oxbridge. No opportunity is lost to observe that a particular fi gure studied, held a Fellowship or
taught at Oxford or Cambridge. Indeed, the authorial voice in the book often seems very detached
from youthful concerns, sounding more like the lofty observations of a High Court Judge than the
insights of a commentator familiar with the day-to-day matters of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll.
Reference
Cohen, S. (1992) Folk Devils and Moral Panics, 3rd Edition. London: Routledge.
R. Hopkins Burke, Young People, Crime and Justice, Willan Publishing, Cullompton,
2008, £19.50 Pb, ISBN 978–1–84392–367–1.
Reviewed by: Daniel Marshall, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, UK.
The study of young people, crime and justice continues to attract fervently contested opinions,
themes and debates. To rigorously cover such a complex and diverse subject area requires that sub-
stantial attention be given, not least to the young people themselves and the system that young
offenders are drawn into, but also the wider structural and contextual issues that impact upon
young people’s lives. Young People, Crime and Justice provides a very good introduction to this
area; exploring the involvement of young people in criminality and the subsequent response of the
authorities to their activities. The book is written within the left realist tradition and broadly aims
to incorporate a wide range of theories of crime and criminal policy, something which has been
infl uential in the political thinking of New Labour since they entered government in 1997 with the
intention of being ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’.
The book is divided into three integral parts; each broken down into concise chapters intro-
ducing key topics within the overarching theme of the relevant section. Firstly, 'Young People,
Criminality and Criminal Justice' guides the reader through a history and development of young
people in the modern era from their social...
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