ABSTRACT
This highly controversial new book considers how the dangerous offender has become such a figure of collective anxiety for the citizens of rationalised Western societies. The authors consider:
* ideas of danger and social threat in historical perspective
* legal responses to violent criminals
* attempts to predict dangerous behaviour
* why particular groups, such as women, remain at risk from violent crime.
This inspired collection invites us to rethink the received wisdom on dangerous offenders, and will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of criminology and the sociology of Risk.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |2 pages
PART I Dangerousness: a sociological history
part |2 pages
Part II Legal responses and responsibilities
chapter 3|20 pages
Guerrillas in our midst? Judicial responses to governing the dangerous
chapter 4|20 pages
Civil commitment as social control: managing the risk of sexual violence
part |2 pages
PART III Practical risks: danger in the penal context
chapter 7|18 pages
Risk and blame in criminal justice controversies: British press coverage and official discourse on prison security (1993–6)
part |2 pages
PART IV Violence, danger and modern government: the future