Books Received
| Date | 01 December 1970 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486587000300417 |
| Published date | 01 December 1970 |
| Subject Matter | Books Received |
AUST. &N.Z. JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGY (Dec., 1970): 3, 4 253
ALLEN
A.
BARTHOLOMEW
Melbourne.
Ward
and Mr. R. P. Roulston. Although
the
reports
are
both
early
and interim
there
is a
great
deal of interesting statis-
tical information to be found so
far
and
the results provided some questions for
further
study.
ALLEN
A.
BARTHOLOMEW
Proceedings of
the
Institute
of Criminology
1968
(No.2),
(Ed.) Obtained from
the
Secretary
of the Institute, University of
Sydney. $A4 or $A5 overseas. pp. 251.
THIS number of
the
Proceedings, aseries
now
becoming firmly established
and
of
recognized worth, is of
particular
interest.
Not only interest in a
rather
general sense,
but
an especial interest due to
the
truly
extra-ordinary vistas opened up. To
the
mathematically and
computer
oriented
naive this collection of
papers
read at a
weekend seminar entitled "Computers and
the
Lawyer" is
both
fascinating and
frightening: fascinating in relation to
what
the
future
may
hold
and
frightening be-
cause of the unknown
areas
one is intro-
duced to.
One
area
that
is quite easily understood
is
the
value of
the
computer
process to
simply speed techniques up,
and
this
is
appreciated in relation
to
the
paper
by
Bryan writing in
terms
of
the
Librarian
(pp. 55 et seq.),
and
Gallagher
when
con-
sidering "Legal Education
and
Methods"
(pp. 71-73). The problems arising in rela-
tion to copyright (Tamberlin, pp. 75
et
seq.)
and
"Computers
and
the
Law
of Evidence"
(Cross, pp 165 et seq.)
are
fascinating,
but
one can reasonably follow
the
argu-
ment
and
accept
the
notion of changes
that
are
inevitable in
our
present
law.
When, however, one
turns
to
the
later
papers
it is
then
there
is
the
feeling of
perturbation.
For
example, to
attempt
to
understand
the
paper
by Blackshield
("Analysis of
the
U.S. Supreme
Court
Decisions", pp. 205
et
seq.) is
nearly
im-
possible for a
person
not
reasonably
sophisticated in
mathematics
and
statistical
techniques. Finally,
the
paper
by Tammelo
and
Klinger (Computers
and
Legal Logic,
pp. 231-40) reduced
this
reviewer to a
feeling of
total
intellectual impotence.
Clearly much of
our
present
teaching of
criminology, particularly in the juris-
prudential field, is
very
simple, indeed
naive and primitive.
Whether
one likes it or not, under-
stands
it or not,
the
fact
remains
that
computers
are
here,
are
here
to stay,
and
witIbe increasingly
used
in a
variety
of
ways. It is therefore essential
that
the
criminologist, and all
other
workers
in
the
criminological field should at least be
aware
of
the
presence
and
patentiol of
the
computer
and, better, have some under-
standing
of its use.
Quite
apart
from
the
matters
already
noted, Mr.
Ward
in
the
Introduction makes
two points, one in
terms
of privacy
and
one of
more
criminological moment. These
may be quoted:
The use of computers is certainly going
to
destroy
our
present-day concepts of
individual privacy. Two
sorts
of society
seem possible. The first, like Orwell's
"1984" or
Packard's
Naked
Society,
has
its citizens continually
under
surveillance
and
forces drab conformity on everyone.
The second would reduce
the
entire
society to one large
country
village, with
everyone knowing everyone else's busi-
ness. Both alternatives
are
probably
unpalatable to
the
present-day reader,
but
it
may
well
tum
out
that
in
the
near
future
the
lawyer
must
try
to decide
which
path
society
must
take,
and
frame
appropriate
statutes.
The detection of crime will in
the
future
be made much more efficient by
the
computer. If we
are
not
to end up with
the
situation of 95
per
cent of
the
popu-
lation being
kept
in prison by
the
re-
maining 5
per
cent (q.v. Kinsey) some
serious consideration
must
be given to
redefining
what
constitutes a crime,
probably along
the
lines of
the
Wolfen-
den Committee report.
This volume is valuable
and
might
very
well be
the
starting point for a
number
of
seminars conducted by
Law
Departments,
Departments of Criminology and, indeed,
all
and
every
group of persons or depart-
ments
likely to be professionally involved
with computers -
and
that
is nearly
everybody. Again, one commends
the
Institute
of Criminology of
the
University
of Sydney for
the
imaginative
seminar
and
the
subsequent well produced "Proceed-
ings".
BOOKS
RECEIVED
Leonard, V. A., The Police Detective
Function. Charles Thomas, Illinois, 1970.
Mental
Health
Book Review Index: Annual
Bibliography of Books
and
Book Reviews
in
the
Behavioral Science, v. 15, 1970,
$10.00 (annual subscription).
Adams, Thomas F.,
Law
Enforcement: An
Introduction to
the
Police Role in
the
Community. Prentice Hall, 1968, 256 pp.
Bloch, H. A., &Geis, G., Man, Crime
and
Society, 2nd edition, Random House,
New
York, 1970, 553 pp.
Flammang, C. J., The Police
and
the
Under-
protected Child, Charles Thomas, Illinois,
1970, $11.75.
Gold, Martin, Delinquent Behaviour in an
American City. Prentice Hall, 1970.
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