“Prospects for progress in penal reform”

Source: (2007) Criminology and Criminal Justice. 7(2): 135–152

The article considers the situation which the Government’s reforms
of sentencing and penal treatment had reached by the autumn of
2006, and the issues which are likely to arise as the changes take
effect. It examines the underlying attitudes to the purpose and
nature of punishment, and of criminal justice more generally; the
implications for sentencing and the relationship between sentencers
and those responsible for giving effect to the sentences imposed;
and the prospects for the reforms’ success. It reviews the questions
that arise from the evidence for ‘what works’, the ‘science’ of risk
assessment and the Government’s plans for ‘contestability’ and the
related issues of accountability and legitimacy. It concludes with
some suggestions for themes that might be further developed and
new themes that might be introduced.