Catherine A Appleton, LIFE AFTER LIFE IMPRISONMENT Oxford: Oxford University Press (www.oup.com), Clarendon Studies in Criminology, 2010. xxiii + 252 pp. ISBN 9780199582716. £50.
| DOI | 10.3366/elr.2011.0067 |
| Published date | 01 September 2011 |
| Pages | 492-493 |
| Author | Neil Hutton |
| Date | 01 September 2011 |
This book examines the process of resettlement for a cohort of life-sentenced prisoners in England released on license between 1992 and 1997. It is based predominantly on interviews with 37 prisoners and 113 probation officers and supported by analysis of case files and some statistical analysis. Discretionary lifers have committed predominantly violent and/or sexual offences, hence their status as presenting a risk to the public. Over 90% had experienced mental health problems (compared to 75% of the general prison population), 87% had records of previous criminal offences, and the sample exhibited high levels of alcohol abuse, poor educational achievement, histories of childhood abuse, poor employment record etc. There were very few female lifers.
The first chapter deals with the legal regulation of the life sentence. Appleton points to the discrepancy between the judicial process governing the release of lifers and the administrative process governing recall. She argues that the procedural protections available for release processes should also be available for recall procedures. However the main focus of the book is on the work of probation officers and their relationship with the lifers.
Readers of this journal will be familiar with the various theories of “the new penology” which argue that the welfarism which underpinned criminal justice in the post-war years has been replaced by an actuarial approach to managing the risks presented by dangerous populations. These theories (necessarily) have relied to a significant extent on analyses of legislative reform, government policies and political rhetoric. There have been relatively few empirical studies of criminal justice practices. Such research is expensive, resource intensive and small scale and it will always be difficult to build a comprehensive evidence base about what is “really happening on the ground”. However, this empirical study shows that “new penology” discourses do not dominate the day-to-day working practices of probation officers who continue to treat offenders as moral agents with the potential to change and make judgments based on professional expertise rather than actuarial data in their work with offenders. The analysis and management of risk are important aspects of probation work but so is supporting offenders in their efforts to desist from offending and establish a life in the community. Appleton argues convincingly that rehabilitation and public protection are not mutually...
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