ABSTRACT
In these respects, and developing the work of Tyler and Boeckmann (1997), penal populism emerges out of concerns to restore a disintegrating social and moral cohesion that these changes have brought about rather than as a specific response to crime problems. This does not mean, however, that there is no relationship between crime levels and penal populism. Indeed, rising crime up to at least the early 1990s can be seen as one indicator,2 amongst numerous others, of this disintegrating social and moral cohesion: in addition, perceptions that crime is still rising continue and add to the sense of decline and disintegration that populism claims it is able to address.
