Respect and Criminal Justice : Clarendon Studies in Criminology

Respect and Criminal Justice offers the first sustained examination of the role and value of 'respect' in policing and imprisonment in England and Wales, where the value is elusive but of persisting significance.

The book takes the form of a sustained critique of the 'respect deficit' in policing and imprisonment. It is especially concerned with the ways in which both institutions are merely constrained and not characterised by respect. It emerges that both institutions appeal to the word 'respect' - relying on its inclusive ethos in official discourse when it is expedient to do so - but rarely and only superficially address the prior question of what it is to respect and be respected. Despite academic interest in the democratic design of these institutions in recent decades, respect is more akin to a slogan than a foundational value of criminal justice practice. The book offers a challenging corrective to current criminal justice scholarship which, at best, gestures towards the significance of respect for those we seek to police and punish.

The book will be of particular interest to academics and students in the social sciences, law, and philosophy, as well as criminal justice policy, practice, and reform practitioners.

Featured in the February 2020 Law newsletter.
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