Source: (1986) Contemporary Crises 10(1):21-38.
This essay describes three irrational assumptions of modern crime policies: that crime can be reduced by doing something to persons who have committed criminal acts; that the state is exclusively responsible for taking these actions; and that punishment of offenders is the best way to control crime. It is argued that conflicts must be treated without the use of social exclusion. Social, technical and organizational imagination could be used to cope with crime pragmatically. Negotiations would enable them to mobilize their imaginations, step back from the conflict to empathize with the other side, and reduce reliance on imprisonment.
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