Matthew Bacon, Taking care of business. Police detectives, drug law enforcement and proactive investigation
| Author | Charlie Lloyd |
| DOI | 10.1177/0004865817739758 |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology 51(2)
in Hong Kong and Singapore and (2) specific assessment tools for offenders of different
gender and crime. The collection of chapters from Part 2 brings together the practical
experiences of clinical psychologists working in offender rehabilitation services thus
serving as a useful tool for students and academic researchers to enhance their compre-
hension between theory and application. Part 3 of the book, looking at research and
future directions, highlighted the potential of using localized riots as contextual back-
ground for further studies on psychological and behavioral assessments aimed at both
offenders and law enforcement officers. Chapters 13 and 14 effectively illustrated this
potential by examining the Little India riot in Singapore. Chapter 15 highlights the
psychology of violent extremism while Chapter 16 concludes with procedural justice
and legitimacy in Hong Kong with a focus on young offenders and defence lawyers.
In the epilogue of the book, the editors push forward for an etic–emic approach in the
development of legal systems and rehabilitation services in Asia. Rehabilitation is only
effective if it takes into consideration that behavior is culture specific and if service
providers cater to local needs.
There are two small drawbacks with this text. First, the book could have focused
solely on one aspect of the criminal justice system instead of making an ambitious
endeavor to cover aspects of the criminal justice system in both pre- and post-conviction
stages. Yet, this could well be attributed to the fact that there is simply not enough room
in a single book to describe all of the aspects from Hong Kong and Singapore. Second,
although the book is comprehensive in its scope, some criminal justice actors are over-
looked. For example, lawyers and judges also play important roles in the legal system,
and a psycho-criminological analysis of their work would be a valued contribution for
the field. Both suggestions are to be interpreted in a constructive light since it reflects the
potential for another collection of studies in this area.
Leaving the minor blemishes to the side, Psycho-Criminological Perspectives of
Criminal Justice in Asia is well suited for students and practitioners in the field seeking
to understand the application of theories and the theoretical bases for real-life...
To continue reading
Request your trial