This book represents a brief treatise on the theory and research behind the concept of desistance from crime. This ever-growing field has become increasingly relevant as questions of serious issues regarding sentencing, probation and the penal system continue to go unanswered. Rocque covers the history of research on desistance from crime and provides a discussion of research and theories on the topic before looking towards the future of the application of desistance to policy. The focus of the volume is to provide an overview of the practical and theoretical developments to better understand desistance. In addition, a multidisciplinary, integrative theoretical perspective is presented, ensuring that it will be of particular interest for students and scholars of criminology and the criminal justice system.

Contributors to this volume present and discuss new data which suggest that major mental disorder substantially increases the risk of violent crime. These findings come at a crucial time, since those who suffer from mental disorders are increasingly living in the community, rather than in institutions. The book describes the magnitude and complexity of the problem and offers hope that humane, effective intervention can prevent violent crime being committed by the seriously mentally disordered.

All organisations, whether private or public sector, seek to improve criminal justice workplace practice from an evidence base, but often find it difficult to effectively translate research findings into policy or design best-practice interventions. This book provides a direct bridge between academic research in organisational behaviour and the management of workers within criminal justice agencies. The public sector in particular is currently experiencing significant funding cuts and increasingly needs to create optimal workplace strategies to maintain frontline services and preserve the well-being of the work force. The aim of this book is to equip managers with knowledge about key processes and appropriate research methods, thereby enabling them to more readily understand and apply academic research to their workplaces. The means to translate research findings into implementation strategies are also clearly explained. Furthermore, essential organisational issues that either impede or enhance productivity, employee effectiveness, and management responsiveness to change are discussed, following a common chapter template of problem definition, research and analysis, evidence translation, implementation, and evaluation. Written by experts in the field, this book applies cutting-edge theoretical discussions and research findings to evidence-based policy. It examines new strategies and best practice in the context of widespread demoralization of staff in the criminal justice sector due to the impact of increased austerity. Improving Criminal Justice Workplaces is essential reading for leadership teams, managers and supervisors in the court, police, probation, and prison services, as well as allied professionals such as forensic psychologists and HR professionals.

This innovative and pioneering new book establishes links between crime reduction and the law, uniquely offering a detailed examination of how specific legislation and performance targets aid or undermine attempts at crime reduction. Providing a sustained analysis, this ground-breaking book considers the social policy, politics and legislation that surround and drive the crime reduction agenda. It analyzes: the creation of 'safe environments' through Town and Country Planning legislation the role of local authorities in crime reduction initiatives the nature of drug policy, paedophilia legislation and programs to control mental disorder crime. Bringing together the work of internationally renowned experts in this field, this book will prove very useful to students of criminology and sociology, as well as crime prevention and reduction practitioners, police officers and community safety partnership professionals.