Reviews : Sex Offenders: Law, Policy and Practice Cathy Cobley Jordans, 2000; pp49D; £45.00, pbk ISBN 0 85308 622 2
| DOI | 10.1177/026455050104800123 |
| Author | Maria Ansbro |
| Published date | 01 March 2001 |
| Date | 01 March 2001 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
62
Sex
Offenders:
Law,
Policy
and
Practice
Cathy
Cobley
Jordans,
2000;
pp49D; £45.00,
pbk
ISBN
0
85308
622
2
This
is
a
fairly
weighty
text,
clearly
mdexed
for
use
as
a
reference
book.
It
starts
with
a
general
section
on
types
of
offendmg,
prevalence,
and
then
is
arranged
more
or
less
as
a
chronology
of
the
criminal
justice
process,
covering
all
matters
of
relevance
to
sexual
offending.
It
is
written
by
an
academic
lawyer,
and
declares
itself
to
be aimed
at
all
professionals
workmg
m
child
protection,
treatment
of
offenders,
housing
and
victims.
It
certamly
offers
an
encyclopaedic
covermg
of
legislation,
and
for
this
it
would
certamly
be
useful.
If
this
is
its
strength
it
needs
to
be
quahfied,
as
at
a
time
when
criminal
justice
legislation
is
being
passed
by
the
shedload,
this
is
just
the
area
that
will
become
obsolete.
For
example,
the
reduction
of
the
age
of
homosexual
consent
is
stated
as
18
rather
than
the
recently
reduced
16.
Moreover,
the
arrival
of
the
broad
rangmg
review
of
sexual
offences
which
is
expected
soon
will
leave
a
good
deal
of
the
content
outdated.
This
book
is
heavy
on
the
law
and
light
on
the
practice.
It
is
excellent
m
laymg
out
in
a
detailed
and
comprehensive
way
the
background
to
legislation
and
how
it
is
implemented.
For
example,
m
the
sections
on
Sex
Offender
Orders
all
aspects
of
the
relevant
legislation
are
set
out
perfectly
clearly,
and
would
be
exactly
what
a
practitioner
or
manager
would
need
for
factual
mformation.
What
you
would
not
get
from
this
book
is
a
discussion
of
the
ambiguities
and
debates
that
surround
the
order.
The
author
does
have
a
section
on
Sex
Offender
Orders
in
which
she
concludes
that
the
low
numbers
of
orders
being
made
mean
that
the
leglisation
has
not
been
a
success.
She
does
not
enter
into
the
debate
about
civil
liberties
(cnmmal
offences
resultmg
from
breach
of
civil
orders,
prison
sentences
stemming
from
essentially
legal
but
worrying
behaviour),
views
of
practitioners
and
sentencers,
and
doubts
about
how
workable
such
orders
are
in
controlling
behaviour.
The
concludmg
chapter
‘Sex
offenders -
where
do
we
go
from
here?’
is
the
one
space
where
the
author
sets
out
her
ideas
for
improved
management
of
abusers.
It
is
a
disappointmg
chapter,
and
agam
reflects
that
this
book
is
ideal
for
factual
legislative
material,
but
weak
on
ideas
and
debate.
She
argues
for
adjustments
to
the
Criminal
Justice
System
to
mcrease
the
conviction
rate,
and
also
the
importance
of
risk
assessments
and
m
some
cases
commumty
notification.
Readers
m
the
Probation
Service
might
be
frustrated
by
the
unquestioning
presentation
of
the
risk
assessment
process,
and
the
assumption
that
selective
commumty
notification
would
mcrease
public
confidence.
Discussion
of
more
fundamental
changes
m
the
way
that
abusive
sexual
behaviour
is
addressed,
such
as
through
public
health
initiatives
is
absent.
A
useful
text
to
have
access
to,
but
not
one
which
will
enhance
practice.
Maria
Ansbro
Senior
Lecturer
in
Criminal
Justice,
University
of Hertfordshire
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