The aim of this study is to understand changes in the criminal justice system and their effects on policy and practice within the probation service In England and Wales. Towards this aim it utilises the techniques of participant observation, interviews, documentary research and an extensive self-completion questionnaire. The study proceeds by examining the history and politics of the Service and the relationship of these to changes in internal policy and occupational practice. More specifically, it then considers the responses of one probation area. Therefore, the study does not separate the issue of environmental effects on an organisation and how that has consequences for policy and practice within the Service. Within the Treen policy process, an 'implementation gap' is found to exist between probation management (ACPO and above) and the front-line (probation officers and ancillaries). However, the study goes further by examining the issues of autonomy and accountability of probation staff in relation to the organisation itself , as well as other groups and agencies. Further, alterations in the roles of personnel are examined in relation to the changes which policy implies. Again, significant differences are found to exist between the two groups of staff mentioned above. In order to further understand these differences, the study then examines ‘everyday work’ and finds that discretion is a necessary feature for managing and controlling a probation work setting . In the process, the issue of the compatability of policy and practice is raised and found to be wanting. Utilising a model developed in chapter 2, the study then seeks to understand these tensions as stemming from the 'politics' of the ‘alternatives to custody industry’ with its emphasis on central control and punishment; a philosophy at odds with the Service's traditional humanitarian concerns. The study finds in the nature of policy, a need for both both uniformity and predictability in probation work. However, the working environment is found to be neither uniform nor predictable, with front-line personnel also firmly believing that they need discretion in order to exercise their duties effectively. Finally, from a further understanding of this 'politics of probation', the study finishes with beliefs on the future development of the Service.

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The aim of this thesis is to assess how far trial on indictment in nineteenth century England conformed to -." the present day concept of a fair trial. What by contemporary English standards are considered the essential elements of a fair trial the thesis deduces from current statute and case law. Having identified these elements it attempts to discover how far they were present in the nineteenth century system. The analysis broadly follows the chronology of the trial itself, with particular attention paid to legal aid, the campaign to abolish the rule rendering prisoners and their spouses incompetent as witnesses in their own defence, and appellate remedies. The conclusion reached is that, although at the start of the nineteenth century the trial system fell well short of the twentieth century model, by the century's end it had (except in relation to legal aid and appellate remedies) moved much closer to it. For its analysis of the trial system the research draws upon eighteenth and nineteenth century law texts supplemented by evidence as to trial practice gleaned from contemporary reports of trials (in particular the reports in The Times, the Central Criminal Court Sessions Papers and Legal Journals), legal memoirs and biographies, and unpublished material in the Public " Record Office and elsewhere. The most important single unpublished source consulted has been the notebooks which record the reserved criminal cases which came before the Common Law judges between'*1785 and 1828. Reports of Royal Commissions, and Select Committees, draft Bills and the Reports of Parliamentary Debates (supplemented by articles in newspapers and journals) have provided the raw material upon which the account given of the reforms made and attempted during the century is based.

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Includes bibliographical references / The thesis researches literacy practices in South Africa's criminal justice system by focusing specifically on the production and flow of police dockets across institutional boundaries in a police station and regional courts renamed Blue Hills police station and Blue Hills regional courts in the Western Cape Province respectively. Through the use of ethnography, the production and flow of police dockets are tracked across three moments - Moment One, Moment Two and Moment Three - in the criminal justice system. The three moments also show how the production of the police docket allows humans and nonhumans to be displaced across these institutional boundaries. Apart from drawing on the New Literacy Studies (also referred to as Literacy Studies in this thesis), the research draws extensively on Actor Network Theory - a theory which argues that the social world and therefore reality are constructed through the creation of networks of associations or networks of relations consisting of human and nonhuman entities. In this study, these associations or relations are referred to as material - semiotic relations. When the relations between human and nonhuman entities achieve some form of stability, that is when they hold, they can have intended and unintended ordering effects on the social world. Therefore, the primary focus of the research is to understand how trans-contextual order is created by building the network of the criminal justice system - referred to as "the network" in this study - through the production of the police docket by police officers (Uniform Branch police officers and detectives) and state prosecutors. The three moments that are identified in the study highlight the complexity of the literacy practices which lead to the production and flow of the police docket across institutional contexts. These moments are snapshots of the possible ways in which the network can be built through assemblies of con figurations of material - semiotic relations. Moment One focuses on the opening of a police docket. During this moment the literacy practices between Uniform Branch police officers and detectives are highlighted when they attempt to classify the crime which should be recorded in the police docket after a member of the public visited the police station to report a possible crime. Moment Two deals with the investigation of crimes. This moment documents the literacy practices of detectives as they attempt to produce written witness statements for inclusion in the police docket from potential state witnesses. The literacy practices that are highlighted here focus on the strategies detectives employ to encode potential state witnesses with meaning and their strategies to ensure that witnesses do make it to court to act as spokespersons on behalf of the network and circulate in the network. Moment Three, the final moment, deals with how state prosecutors animate witnesses and their written witness statements in court so that the network can secure a successful prosecution. By highlighting the literacy practices and text production that characterize the three moments, the research concludes that network stability is contingent on three factors which are inter-related. The first, 'material durability', refers to the level at which material - semiotic relations are successful at staying intact. The second, 'strategic durability', refers to the successes of various strategies (which include specific literacy practices) employed by officials to ensure that entities in the network perform their specific functions in order to ensure trans-contextual stability. Finally, 'discursive stability' refers to institutional ways of measuring productivity in the criminal justice system and which must have trans - contextual reach and ordering effects on literacy and literacy practices across the three moments so that the network can achieve some form of stability.

Demographic factors can influence criminal justice system outcomes. We examine legal system processing in 12 U.S. states from 1976-1991. Variables included: 1) race, age, and gender; 2) violent, sexual, and drug- and alcohol-related charges; 3) level of charge; 4) charges at arrest, trial, and final disposition; 5) time-lengths between each stage; 6) dismissal, plea bargaining, and conviction; and 7) final sentencing length. Significant differences in arrest, prosecution, plea bargaining, charge severity, and final sanctioning were observed dependent on race, gender, age, and the intersectionality of these characteristics. Implications for research policy to reduce the impact of disparities are discussed.

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The debate surrounding the impact of gender on sentence severity is ongoing. The majority of the research contributing to this debate has been based in the United States and has focused primarily on the effect that offender characteristics have on sentencing outcomes. This study utilizes 28 years of homicide data from a large Canadian urban jurisdiction to examine the effect that the gender of both the victim and offender has on determining sentence length. Results show that an offender’s gender alone has no effect on sentence length, but that offenders who kill female victims receive longer sentences and male offenders who kill female offenders receive the longest sentences. A deep-sample exploratory qualitative analysis further demonstrates that other gendered factors such as prior victimization and familial roles may have an impact on sentencing decisions in Canada. Future research directions from this analysis are discussed.

The criminalization of women is an area of study that has intrigued many researchers. Using critical race theory, multiracial feminist theory, and radical feminist theory, this research attempts to explain this phenomenon. Through the use of personal interviews with women who are currently reintegrating back into society after being incarcerated, I attempt to uncover the factors which influence female criminality, and analyze the experiences women encounter when confronted by the Canadian criminal justice system. A key hypothesis that fuels this study is that discriminatory practices exist within the Canadian criminal justice system which negatively impact women of colour and Aboriginal women. I argue that the criminalization of women of colour and Aboriginal women occurs as a result of failing to take into consideration the intersectionality of race, class and gender in women who commit criminal acts. This phenomenon occurs due to patriarchal and classist biases that seek to maintain current power structures and relationships by continually oppressing those who do not fit within their group. The findings that emerged from the interviews support my hypothesis and confirm that changes within the criminal justice system are imperative in order to ensure women are treated fairly. / Thesis (Master, Sociology) -- Queen's University, 2009-05-21 12:25:50.747