Reviews: Handbook of Restorative Justice
| Author | Catherine McManus |
| Published date | 01 September 2007 |
| Date | 01 September 2007 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/02645505070540030903 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
authors’ comment that ‘in the 1980s the variables of “race”, crime and public
order did not just interact, they came in part to define each other’ (p. 33).
The book goes on to explore the role of the media and political policies coupled
with legislative forms of control over certain sectors of society. Having such a
debate on the issues provides the reader with more of an understanding and grasp
of the key factors that have materialized over the past decade. Chapter 7 focuses
upon the ASBO culture and shows how such measures tend to isolate the very
people who we are aiming to reintegrate into society. A broader discussion ranging
from custody through to community penalties provides a factual and critical account
of overly punitive measures to deal with young people’s offending. The book also
critically considers the implications of the language used to address such issues.
This book is highly recommended.
Out of Sight may well be of interest to those in the field of youth and community
work, or those working in the voluntary or local authority sectors, who are rela-
tively new to this subject. But overall it lacks ‘spark’ and spends far too much time
‘setting the scene’: it focuses on the lives of a group of young people on a deprived
housing estate in the North of England, their social exclusion and involvement in
offending. There are such communities and characters across the country and, via
their contrasting methods, the voluntary and statutory sector are attempting to
address the difficulties they present. Chapters 4–7 contextualize the key features
of inner city life and how young people specifically, and adults generally, tend to
survive and cope with the problems of unemployment, crime, drug (mis)use and
leisure time. This gives the reader some insights and is the primary focus of the
book. But of course you have to be patient enough to get to that stage of the book.
Gurmit Heer
Lecturer in Criminal Justice, University of Central England
Handbook of Restorative
Justice
Gerry Johnstone and Daniel W.
Van Ness (eds)
Willan Publishing, 2007; pp 650, £29.95, pbk
ISBN 13 978–1–84392–150–9
ISBN 10 1–84392–151–0
The Handbook of Restorative Justice is a broad survey of
the field of restorative justice. A particular strength of the
book is the complexity and depth of its coverage, which
means that it is much more than a mere introduction. However, that is not to say
that it would prove inaccessible to beginners who will find in it a valuable and
comprehensive point of access to much current thinking and practice. Many of the
chapters not only describe current theory and practice but also offer new contri-
butions and challenges.
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