ABSTRACT
The present trend towards law-and-order politics has emerged at a time when governments, weakened by unstable economies, have embraced the rhetoric of 'get tough on crime' (Braithwaite, 1999). A topic high on the public agenda, crime has become a useful foil in the barrie against rising unemployment and budget deficits. Crime dominates news stories and demands a substantial share of government spending. It also has the capacity to influence decisions about where people live and how they vote. Moreover, the level of injustice and human suffering that crime inflicts can sometimes generate a fear so pervasive and intense that the public is left feeling powerless. Politicians use this fear to considerable advantage. Policies such as mandatory prison terms, life sentences for threetime felons, and support for the death penalry are offered as signs of political strength, and crime control becomes a mechanism by which governments seek to retain political power.
