Books in the Researching Criminal Justice series

Current youth justice policy aims to introduce principles of restorative justice and involve victims in responses to crime. The challenges involved in delivering this in a form that is sensitive to victims are considerable. This report provides an evaluation of the manner in which one Youth Offending Service sought to integrate victims.

This report presents the findings from the first national, representative survey of public attitudes to youth crime and youth justice in England and Wales. It carries clear policy implications in relation to both public education and reform of the youth justice system.

Alongside the current media preoccupation with high risk offenders, there has been a shift towards a greater focus on risk and public protection in UK criminal justice policy. This report draws together a distinguished panel to consider both the theory and application of the risk concept in work with young people and young adults that offend.

The 2008 UK government Youth Crime Action Plan emphasises early intervention in work with young people who offend or considered to be 'at risk' of offending. This approach includes targeted work with families and a reduction in the numbers of young people entering the justice system. This report takes a critical look at early intervention policies.

Lord Carter's "Review of Prisons" (2007), proposed the construction of vast 'Titan' prisons to deal with the problem of prison overcrowding, the establishment of a Sentencing Commission for keeping judicial demand for prison places in line with supply, and further use of the private sector. This book is a response to these controversial proposals.

Over the last decade, the reformed youth justice system has seen increases in the numbers of children and young people in custody, a sharp rise in indeterminate sentences and the continuing deaths of young prisoners. This report brings together contributions from leading experts to critically examine current policy and practice.

Short-term prisoners have exceptionally high reconviction rates. Growing recognition of this and of deficiencies in prison-probation coordination has accelerated 'resettlement' of ex-prisoners up the penal agenda. This report looks at the effectiveness of these strategies in detail through three case studies of 'Resettlement Pathfinders' projects.

With the growth in the use of restorative justice and restorative approaches, this book takes an in-depth look at their applicability in the environment of children's residential care homes.

This report draws together the findings of a two-year study of developments in the provision of visible policing in England and Wales, combining an overview of national developments with a detailed analysis of six focused case studies.

Bail is a fundamental human right which measures society's democratic credentials. Taken alongside an increasing prison population, there is an urgent need to find alternatives to custodial remands which do not increase risks to the community. This important book evaluates a bail support scheme called the Effective Bail Scheme (EBS), which was the first such scheme directed at adults, and places its findings in the context of bail law and practice. Based on up-to-date research, this book will make a valuable contribution to an under-researched area and provide useful insights for policy makers and practitioners.