Beyond Law and Order

"Law and Order" was a central part of the platform which took Mrs Thatcher and the Conservatives into office in 1979. They highlighted increasing crime rates and growing disorder, blaming these on the Labour Government. They pledged to reduce crime through a package of tough "law and order" policies. After a decade in office it is clear that the programme has failed to deliver. Crime rates and disorder have escalated relentlessly. This has forced the government into a U-term, emphasizing the limits of the criminal justice system as a means of controlling crime. The Left for its part has espoused a "new realism" in the area of crime control. The essays in this volume report on recent research on the changing contours of policy on "law and order". They provide a comprehensive account of the main features of crime control practice in the 1980s, and the likely key trends of the 1990s.