This book provides an overview of recent government initiatives in the field of crime and punishment, reviewing both the policies themselves, the perceived problems and issues they seek to address, and the broader social and political context in which this is taking place. The underlying theme of the book is that a qualitative change has taken place in the politics of crime control in the UK since the early 1990s. Although crime has stabilised, imprisonment rates continue to climb, there is a new mood of punitiveness, and crime has become a central policy issue for the government, no longer just a technical matter of law enforcement. At the same time the politics of crime control have taken on a pronounced gender, race and age preoccupation. This book will be essential reading for anybody seeking an understanding of why crime and criminal justice policy have risen to the top of the political agenda.

1. New Labour, crime control and social exclusion, Jock Young and Roger Matthews 2. Winning the fight against crime? New Labour, populism and lost opportunities, Jock Young 3. Institutional racism in policing: the Macpherson report and its consequences, John Lea 4. Youth justice in England and Wales, John Pitts 5. It's the family, stupid: continuities and reinterpretations of the dysfunctional family as the cause of crime in three political periods, Jayne Mooney 6. Drugs: the great cannabis debate, Catriona Woolner and Betsy Thom 7. Urban regeneration and crime reduction: contradictions and dilemmas, Lynn Hancock 8. The politics of policing: managerialism, modernization and performance, Denise Martin 9. Of crowds, crimes and carnivals, Patrick Slaughter 10. Probation into the millennium: the punishing service? Anthony Goodman 11. Rethinking penal policy: towards a systems approach, Roger Matthews