Transforming Criminal Policy
| Author | Rob Canton |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059604300216 |
| Date | 01 June 1996 |
| Published date | 01 June 1996 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
105
There
is
a
lot
of
excellent
and
stimulating
material
here,
some
of
which
is
very
pertinent
to
probation
officers
and
I
will
certainly
refer
to
many
of
the
subjects
covered
again.
People
coming
from
different
areas
of
the
criminal
justice
system
at
different
levels
may
need
to
pick
and
choose
the
bits
relevant
to
them.
Overall,
I
would
have
liked
the
author
to
have
been
given
his
head
a
bit
more
and
blow
the
structure,
which
anyway
seems
a
little
artificial.
But
perhaps
that’s
another
book...
Andy
Taylor
Probation
Officer,
Inner
London
A
Companion
Guide
to
Mentally
Disordered
Offenders
Nigel
Stone
Owen
Wells,
1995;
pp
159;
£12
pbk
Trying
to
make
sense
of
the
complicated
interface
between
criminal
law
and
mental
health
legislation
can
be
a
daunting
task
at
the
best
of
times.
This
book
attempts
to
cover
that
wide
spectrum
by
documenting
each
piece
of
criminal
justice
law
specifically
related
to
mental
disorder,
slotting
in
the
roles
and
responsibilities
of
the
relevant
agencies
along
the
way.
From
the
first
contact
with
the
criminal
justice
system
to
the
eventual
outcome
or
sentencing
disposal,
the
book
explains,
in
a
comprehensive
and
comprehensible
way,
which
part
of
the
law
is
relevant,
the
criteria
for
inclusion
and
the
options
available.
It
also
outlines
the
requirements
on
agencies
(eg
the
use
of
’appropriate
adults’
at
interviews
with
persons
suspected
or
known
to
have
a
mental
disorder,
Police
and
Criminal
Evidence
Act
1984)
and
gives
some
very
interesting
and
informative
case
histories
to
illustrate
how
the
legislation
can,
and
can’t,
be
used.
It
is
significant
that
this
book,
in
laying
out
the
provisions
available
within
the
law
and
through
Government
guidance
such
as
the
Care
Programme
Approach
(CPA),
underlines
the
dominance
of
the
medical
model
and
the
importance
of
a
diagnosis
in
accessing
mental
health
disposals.
The
main
concern
of
much
of
the
current
literature
and
guidance
has
been
to
focus
on
strategic
responsibilities
of
health
and
social
services
departments,
with
scant
attention
to
the
needs
of
probation
staff
in
terms
of
’what
can
actually
be
done’
to
manage
offenders
whose
mental
health
problems
are
often
a
cause
for
continued
concern.
With
this
in
mind,
I
would
like
it
to
have
included
a
specific
section
on
the
other
pieces
of
legislation
and
guidance
(eg
CPA,
care
management)
through
which
probation
staff
might
access
services
for
offenders
with
mental
health
problems;
perhaps
next
time?
This
is
not
to
detract
from
the
value
of
this
guide.
It
is
a
concise
and
useful
reference
book
and
it
has
one
of
the
best
short
glossaries
on
drugs
and
their
side-effects
that
I’ve
seen.
Barbara
Swyer
The
Wessex
Project,
Winchester
Transforming
Criminal
Policy
Andrew
Rutherford
Waterside
Press,
1996;
pp
160;
£12
pbk
This
book
explores
the
development
of
criminal
policy
during
the
1980s
in
USA,
the
Netherlands
and
Britain
through
an
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