Reviews : Adventures in Criminology Sir Leon Radzinowicz Routledge, 1999; pp480; £39.99, hbk
| Author | Kiran Kaur |
| Published date | 01 December 1999 |
| Date | 01 December 1999 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/026455059904600421 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
276
people
are
placed
in
foster
care
or,
more
frighteningly,
bed
and
breakfast
accommodation,
with
little
or
nothing
to
fill
their
time
constructively,
they
slip
into
the
cycle
of
persistent
offending.
She
argues
for
a
better
provision
in
terms
of
foster
care
and
remand
beds,
and
proposes
a
convincing
argument
for
the
abolition
of
bed
and
breakfast
for
under
18s.
Curtis,
a
magistrate,
speaks
with
knowledge
about
the
mental
age
of
young
offenders
involved
in
the
Youth
Courts,
and
how
well
they
may or
may
not
understand
the
Court
System.
She
calls
for
substantial
reform
of
the
youth
court.
Refreshingly,
she
also
questions
the
provision
for
young
people
who
misuse
drugs
and
asks
why
there
is
not
age
appropriate
provision
for
them.
Curtis
argues
that
we
need
to
change
the
direction
of
the
anger
and
frustration
about
juvenile
offending,
from
obsession
with
punishment
to
really
working
at
prevention.
She
argues
that
only
giving
the
young
person
one
chance
is
unacceptable.
The
ethos
of
reparation
and
reintegration
offered
in
the
Crime
and
Disorder
Act
1998
and
the
Criminal
Evidence
Bill
are
positive
if
there
is
the
funding
to
make
this
work.
It
remains
to
be
seen
whether
Mr
Straw
will
read
her
final
chapter
in
which
she
addresses
him
directly
and
argues
that
the
government
change
their
rhetoric
and
tactics
into
an
effective
strategy
against
offending
and
young
people.
As
the
government
seems
to
be
ruled
by
popularist
opinions
with
regard
to
youth
crime,
there
is
a
danger
that
this
very
insightful
book
may
simply
be
used
as
a
text
for
aspiring
Youth
Justice
professionals.
It
deserves
a
wider
audience.
Susan
Ashmore
Probation
Officer,
Kent
Adventures
in
Criminology
Sir
Leon
Radzinowicz
Routledge,
1999;
pp480;
£39.99,
hbk
Sir
Leon
Radzinowicz
is
the
first
Wolfson
Professor
of
Criminology
and
the
Founding
Director
of
the
first
criminological
institute
established
in
Britain
(the
Institute
of
Criminology
at
the
University
of
Cambridge).
He
has
been
a
leading
figure
in
the
development
of
criminology
in
the
twentieth
century.
This
compelling
book
traverses
his
personal
experiences
of
a
career
that
has
spanned
over
seventy
years,
from
the
1920s
to
the
present
day.
The
foreword
to
the
book
is
written
by
Lord
Woolf,
Master
of
the
Rolls,
who
is
an
ardent
admirer
of
Radzinowicz’s
work.
He
states
that
Radzinowicz
still
remains
essential
reading
for
anybody
remotely
interested
in
criminology,
and
I
would
readily
agree
with
this.
The
book
is
easily
accessible
to
those
with
little
previous
criminological
knowledge,
and
it
is
well-written,
with
an
informative
style.
Radzinowicz’s
book
pays
particular
attention
to
the
Criminal
Justice
System
in
the
United
States
since
the
end
of
the
Second
World
War.
He
states
that
the
American
system
has
never
functioned
satisfactorily,
and
has
been
in
constant
decline,
with
its
basic flaws
and
defects
becoming
ever
more
pronounced.
The
pace
of
regression
has
quickened
since
the
late
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