ABSTRACT
Public views on crime—what threat it poses to society, what the law should be and how it should be enforced—for the first time become the main subject of inquiry. This chapter explores the consensus hypothesis that the criminal law reflects the dominant values of a society, and the contradictory view from conflict theory of its reflecting the interests of the holders of power. The criminal law reflects social priorities to the extent of treating offences of violence more seriously than offences against property. The chapter considers the hypothesis of enforcement practices reflecting public views of the threat of crime, along with the conflict proposition of their reflecting the interests of the holders of power. The NDP government in British Columbia embarked on an even more ambitious law and order campaign. The NDP, the 'socialist' party in Canada, has been no better than the bourgeois parties, any more than has Labour been better than the Conservatives in Britain.
