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This thesis constitutes a theoretical and empirical study of early release on licence (parole) as an instance of penal practice, from a perspective which is based on a certain 'radical ' problematic derived from the Marxist social theory. More specifically, it tries to exolore the ambiguous nature of this penal measure, the inherent antagonism between its liberating (early release) and restraining (on licence) elements, and the conditions under which either element becomes dominant, as well as specify, at various levels of analysis, its main repressive, ideological and other functions and multidimensional importance for both the penal system in general, as a cardinal component of the repressive state apparatus, and the capitalist state itself, as the guarantor of the existing order, the framework of reproduction of the capitalist relations of.product ion, and the basic protector of the ruling and powerful class 'in the last analysis'. However, far from taking early release on licence as an isolated fact of penal practice operating within a social and historical vacuum, as most traditional penological studies, the present work attempts to show that the various types of early release on licence, examined here, have been not only historically linked with certain punishments immediately preceding them, like transportation or incarceration, but also determined by the socio-economic, political and ideological conditions prevailing in certain capitalist societies and states in concrete and historically determinate conjunctions. More than being sociological this thesis is also historical, not in the sense of studying the development of the 'idea' or the 'institution' of early release on licence from its 'origin' to the present moment, in a linear process of evolution and 'progress', but in the sense of examining concrete types of early release on licence within their concrete penal and social contexts as autonomous and unique objects of analysis. Thus, here are examined: 'ticket of leave' in Australia in the late eighteenth century, 'licence to be at large' as an integral Dart of the famous Irish Convict system of the 1850s, 'indenture' from the American Houses of Refuge in the 1820s, 'parole' in the Elmira reformatory as an important component of the 'reformatory movement' in post- Civil War America and 'release on licence' in modern Britain as an expression of the 'treatment' ideology and the welfare state. The thesis ends with a critique of early release on licence and penal practice as a whole, and proposes instead of piecemeal penal reformism radical changes in the social structure as the only way of tackling the problems of crime and punishment in capitalist society.

In early and mediaeval times in Scotland there was no imprisonment in the modern sense. Prison was mainly custodial, where the wrongdoer was housed until claimed by execution, banishment, punishment by mutilation or public humiliation. The object of authority usually was to get rid of the wrongdoer as swiftly and permanently as possible. Prison did not loom large in the scheme of things. The sixteenth century found Scotland a lawless, turbulent society. The absence of a strong central authority meant that the power of pit and gallows yielded by the barons in their heritable jurisdictions was virtually unlimited. Following the Reformation the Presbyterian Church took over the functions of the temporal authority, such as it was, and their jurisdiction operated in parallel and in competition with the jurisdictions of the barons. They were concerned less with law and order than with the enforcement of a religious code of behaviour, so that the emphasis on punishment shifted from crimes secular to offences against a moral and religious code. In the early eighteenth century the Presbyterian dynamic petered out and the influence of the Church had waned. The Union of 1707 brought Scotland under a strong central authority, and the abolition of heritable jurisdictions resulted in a unified system of administration of justice. Nevertheless the theory of the offender as a disposable nuisance remained a convenient expedient, and the Colonies took the place of the next parish as a dumping ground for undesirables. In the eighteenth century reformers like Howard, Elizabeth Fry, Neild and Gurney, appalled at the squalor of the congregate system, attempted to alleviate prison conditions but had to contend with a public opinion apathetic or at times hostile. The insane led lives of misery and degradation, chained in darkness in the prisons or hidden away in lofts and box-beds in their homes, until the establishment of Lunatic Asylums in the early nineteenth century. The problem of housing and securing French and American prisoners-of-war led to the building, for the first time, of prisons on a scale familiar today. With the end of transportation in 1867, imprisonment became the normal penalty for most serious crimes, and the influence of American advocates of solitary confinement meant the replacement of the promiscuous congregate system by grim isolation in the nineteenth-century fortresses with their emphasis on repression and punitive deterrence. The twentieth century places emphasis squarely on rehabilitation and reform. Alternatives to imprisonment are suggested for many offences and there is an increasing tendency to "treat" the criminal within the community and to use non-custodial methods. The public's attitude is changing towards particular types of behaviour, with the result that acts called "crimes" in one age become permissible in another.

This thesis describes and explains the impact of a number of policy initiatives intended to tackle the demand for, and supply of, street-level markets operating in Nottingham. The research triangulated survey data undertaken with 104 men attending a Nottingham-based ‘Kerb-Crawler Rehabilitation Programme’ (the ‘Change’ Programme) and interview data with twenty-two ‘working girls’, ten ‘punters’ and ten agency/Criminal Justice professionals. Current sociological and criminological writings on prostitution suggest that recent policy interventions are broadly representative of a ‘paradigm shift’ away from punitive-only initiatives aimed at working girls, towards the criminalisation of men that pay for (street-level) sex. Whilst these policy interventions are bedevilled by contradictions and inconsistencies, there is an inherent assumption that demand reductions can, and will, lead to a corresponding contraction in supply. In light of this, the thrust of the analysis in this thesis focused on several key questions: do policy interventions – particularly those concerned with ‘re-educating’ punters - reduce the recidivism rates amongst identified street-level punters? Do ‘new’ policy initiatives deter ‘new’ punters into Nottingham’s street-level sex markets? Do they facilitate ‘exiting’ for street-level working girls? And overarching all of this: can we rely upon simplistic economic assumptions about the relationship between supply and demand to street-level markets? In addressing these questions, the thesis concludes that ‘re-education’ has some notable value in challenging the attitudes and beliefs of street-level punters (particularly ‘first-timers’ and ‘intermediates’) that cannot be achieved by ‘traditional’ Criminal Justice interventions alone. However, it is also argued that any long-term/additive benefits associated with ‘re-education’ (including recidivism reductions) may be compromised in the absence of a better-targeted curriculum and suitable aftercare support. The threat of ‘re-education’ – as opposed to education - is demonstrated to be insignificant as a deterrent, because it appears to be trumped by the threat of this private activity being publicly ‘outed’ and to a lesser extent by traditional Criminal Justice sanctions. Paradoxically, the findings suggest that moderate demand reductions – on their own – are unlikely to have any significant impact on the number of working girls operating ‘on the street’. More insidiously, there is strong evidence that the combination of demand reductions and a move towards ‘Compulsory Rehabilitation Orders’ will have displacement, operational and safety issues for working girls, all of which remain significant barriers to ‘exiting’ prostitution.

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