Book review: The Voluntary Sector and Criminal Justice
| Author | Philippa Tomczak |
| DOI | 10.1177/1748895816668100 |
| Published date | 01 November 2016 |
| Date | 01 November 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
Book reviews 625
policy-makers who seek (often with good intentions) to respond to distinct crime policy
problems’ (p. 204). He argues that while both domestic and international models may be
considered, ‘domestic ideas are more likely to be caught for transfer because of easier
accessibility to reliable information’ (p. 204). Further, and resonating with my own
research, Ogg argues that the legal department within the Home Office (or other relevant
government ministry) forms the ‘critical path’ – policy intentions can only be given
effect through, and by, the law. This is one manner in which Ogg’s findings thus provide
insights into how the ‘irresistibility’ identified by Ashworth and Zedner is experienced
and given effect in a specific political and historical context.
In summary, Preventive Justice provides an important analysis of the theoretical,
empirical and normative issues raised by the developments surveyed, whose value is
bolstered by the authors’ willingness to engage with the criminological literature,
including the sociology of punishment literature that has made criminology such a
vibrant field of inquiry. There is, however, also an increasing recognition in the crimi-
nological community of the value of work that engages in sustained, nuanced analysis
of the political processes that underpin, influence and inform penal policy change (see,
for example, Annison, 2015; Rogan, 2011). Preventive Justice and the Power of Policy
Transfer provides a thoughtful analysis of the role of policy transfer, building upon
existing work in this field to provide important insights into penal policymaking.
In their respective ways, Ashworth and Zedner’s Preventive Justice and James Ogg’s
Preventive Justice and the Power of Policy Transfer make an important contribution to
these developments and to the broader criminological canon.
References
Annison H (2015) Dangerous Politics. Oxford: OUP.
Loader I (2006) Fall of the ‘Platonic Guardians’. British Journal of Criminology 46(4): 561–586.
Rogan M (2011) Prison Policy in Ireland. London: Routledge.
Anthea Hucklesby and Mary Corcoran (eds), The Voluntary Sector and Criminal Justice, Palgrave:
Basingstoke, 2016; 252 pp.: £68.00 (hbk) 978-1-137-37066-2
Reviewed by: Philippa Tomczak, University of Sheffield, UK
This collection provides a wide-ranging examination of an area that has long deserved
more scholarly attention. Chapters are written by academics from criminology, criminal
justice, law and politics and practitioners from Clinks, the umbrella organization repre-
senting some penal voluntary organizations. This breadth of commentary, and the wider
literature signposted, is a strength.
The editors introduce the collection in Chapter 1, defining the book as examining
‘voluntary sector organisations who consider themselves as working with or alongside
the criminal justice system and openly acknowledge that at least some of their service
users are involved in’ criminal justice (pp. 3–4). Chapter 2, from Clinks, explores how
voluntary organizations can contribute to desistance from crime, names some specific
projects and signals risks to the sector’s ‘voice and leadership’ for growing numbers of
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