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Book Review: Stuart Waiton The Politics of Antisocial Behaviour: Amoral Panics New York: Routledge, 2008. ISBN10: 0—415—95705—2

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date01 February 2009
AuthorPeter Ramsay
DOI10.1177/17488958090090010603
Date01 February 2009
Subject MatterArticles
/tmp/tmp-17bdL9Cu0mkAc2/input Book Reviews
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of this emphasis is the extraordinarily low levels of public trust and confi-
dence in criminal justice, which are not just evident in England and Wales
but also across the globe. Thus it appears we are indeed living in a society
that has a large interest in criminal justice but with a low level of knowl-
edge and high level of misperceptions and misunderstandings that are
impacting on attitudes to criminal justice. The significance of this conflict
between the public’s lack of knowledge and attitude is the increasing focus
of government policy on reconnecting with public and their desires.
The conclusion of the book considers exactly what role the opinion of
the public should actually play in criminal justice policies and how public
knowledge of criminal justice could be improved. The text efficiently and,
most importantly, accessibly highlights the contention between public
knowledge and public attitudes and how these are an international issue.
Thus it appears that England and Wales is not alone in its public’s lack of
knowledge of the aims and objectives of criminal justice and how the sys-
tem works. Ultimately Roberts and Hough highlight how this ignorance is
encouraging public belief in leniency within the criminal justice system and
the popularity of increasing punitivity. Overall this book is a useful foun-
dation for students to gain insight into public attitudes to criminal justice
in England and Wales with international comparisons.
Stuart Waiton
The Politics of Antisocial Behaviour: Amoral Panics
New York: Routledge, 2008. ISBN10: 0–415–95705–2
• Reviewed by Peter Ramsay, London School of Economics, UK
Anti-social behaviour powers are criticized because they are routinely used
against young people, prostitutes, the mentally ill and others regarded as
‘vulnerable’. Stuart Waiton makes an important and original contribution
to the literature on anti-social behaviour (ASB) by showing that a concept
of ‘vulnerability’ is also central to the ...

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