Beyond the Risk Paradigm in Criminal Justice

Description

The risk assessment process, the interventions and treatment commenced as a result of it and the theory behind it are central to the administration of criminal justice programmes around the world. Most youth and adult corrections departments routinely conduct risk assessments, which are then used to inform the nature and intensity of subsequent criminal justice interventions. In this unique and important text, a team of the world's leading researchers in the field of criminal justice come together to provide a critique of this risk paradigm, and to provide practical guidance for professionals, students and academics on how to move to a more effective way of working with offenders. Divided into three sections, the book provides coverage of topics such as: - The development of risk assessment in criminal justice practice, and its advantages and disadvantages. - The significance of risk factor research in understanding and explaining juvenile delinquency - as well as the problems it creates. - The argument that the risk paradigm fails to accommodate diversity, further disadvantaging women, ethnic minorities and other marginalized groups. - The various ways in which real or imagined risk posed by offenders has been regulated under the risk paradigm, the powerful influence of media reporting, and ways of moving 'beyond risk' to support successful reintegration of offenders. - Ways forward for criminal justice interventions that do not rely on risk, but focus rather on the vitally important aspects of social context, relationships and motivation. With strong links between theory and practice, Beyond the Risk Paradigm in Criminal Justice provides a fresh new direction for criminal justice work.

Chris Trotter is a Professor in the Department of Social Work at Monash University, Australia. Gill McIvor is Professor of Criminology at the University of Stirling, UK. Fergus McNeill is Professor of Criminology and Social Work at the University of Glasgow, UK.

'This book brings together a range of authors to 'problematize' a topic which, too often, is treated as an orthodoxy. It needs to be compulsory reading on probation training courses, and I would certainly recommend it to students.' - Professor Mike Nash, Emeritus Professor of Criminology, University of Portsmouth, UK