Book Review: Sentencing as a Human Process
| Author | Allen A. Bartholomew |
| Published date | 01 June 1972 |
| Date | 01 June 1972 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/000486587200500209 |
128 AUST. &N.Z. JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY (June, 1972): 5, 2
Book Reviews
Sentencing as a Human Process: John
Hogarth; University of Toronto Press;
1971; 432pp; $C 15.00. ISBN
OM8020
MI750-9.
There can be no doubt in
any
thinking
mind
that
the magistrate or judge charged
with
the
responsibility of sentencing a
convicted person has an extremely difficult
task;
the
more
so
with
sentencing becom-
ing increasingly more "tailor-made"
than
"tariff".
Where
the sentencer has a wide
discretion one would expect aconsiderable
variation in
the
manner in which
the
judge
or
magistrate
sets
about his
task
and
a
variation in
the
final disposition. This
book is essentially an analysis of
the
attitudes
and
personality of
"most
of the
full-time magistrates in the province of
Ontario some 71 in all" (p.16). (Shortly
after
the
data
was collected the magistrates
and
their
courts were abolished by
statute
and
replaced by a Provincial Court,
with
acriminal
and
family division, presided
over by a Provincial
Court
Judge, p.46).
There is in this book, which is essentially
aresearch report, aplethora of statistical
data. This
data
is, no doubt, of value to
avariety of research workers.
For
example,
when asked
the
proportion of offenders
appearing in magistrates' courts who,
though
not
legally insane or certifiable,
were
mentally ill, the 71 magistrates
answered: "Most" 10; "A significant
minority" 26; "None
or
very
few" 31;
"Do
not
know" 4 (p.84), and
the
use of
psychiatric reports is dealt
with
on page
238. The pre-sentence
report
is considered
(p.238, 9), where it is
stated
that
some
20
per
cent
of magistrates considered
them
too long; some 14
per
cent
thought
them
too full of technical words;
and
some 11
per
cent
considered the reports did
not
contain sufficient specific recommenda-
tions. This is only an example, and work-
ers
with
other
interests will have no
trouble in finding
data
relevant to
their
particular
concern.
What
is of more immediate importance
is
whether
such a piece of
research
work
is really
very
valuable, and
whether
its
value is
worth
the
time of a research
worker
of
the
calibre of Professor Hogarth
and his various collaborators;
not
to men-
tion
the
money involved. This reviewer is
of
the
opinion
that
there
are
so
many
pressing problems presenting to
the
criminologist
that
there
is much to be said
for more research of smaller dimensions
involving alesser usage of
the
total
re-
search resources. It may well be
that
there are
research
workers whose efforts
are "directed
to
the
pursuit of knowledge"
(p.383),
but
one keeps asking oneself
"so
what"
when
reading
that
magistrates differ
the one from
the
other. Thus, to
try
and
answer
the comment,
"so
what", one
turns
to
"An
Afterword" for some practical
suggestions for change stemming from the
research findings. At this point
the
reader
is
rather
disappointed
with
the
end result
of the research endeavour. He is informed
that
the law might be "simplified";
that
attention should be paid to
the
selection
of magistrates and judges;
that
the
train-
ing of judges is important -
but
sentencing seminars do not get a mention;
and
that
modem
technology
may
have
something to offer the sentencer in
terms
of information retrieval systems and
the
calculation of probabilities. This is hardly
new and is not presented as
the
end result
of this quite immense research effort.
The book, as is stated in
the
Foreword
by Professor J.LI.J. Edwards.
"marks
the
inception of a series devoted to Canadian
studies in criminology
under
the
aegis of
the Centre of Criminology, University of
Toronto." This book is well produced and
is a useful collection of research data; it
should be on
the
shelf of
any
crim-
inological department library. As such it
is a
worthy
first in
what
may be antici-
pated as a series of significant
research
monographs. However, it is not considered
the
book should be thought of as a
"must"
for
the
general criminology
student
or
the practical
worker
- the
"here
and
now" men (p.383).ALLEN A. BARTHOLOMEW
Melbourne.
Death On
The
Road: A
Study
in Social
Violence, F.A. Whitlock, Tavistock Publi-
cations in association with Hicks Smith and
Sons, London, 1971, $9.30.
PROFESSOR
Whitlock
has chosen a popu-
lar
and topical subject. The bibliography
on driving, accidents and the like is enor-
mous and in inverse proportion to
the
solu-
tions which seem to have eluded those who
want
to
stop
death
and injury on the high-
way, or who at least
want
to find
out
why
it happens. This book is a good
summary
of
the
research, with an hypothesis tacked
on which the
author
claims to have proved
-
"that
road violence is one aspect of
social violence, and
that
the higher
the
incidence of such intrasocial aggression
becomes, the higher will be the
rates
for
death
and
injuries on the road"
(at
125).
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