ABSTRACT
Opening his pathbreaking work on British and Dutch penal policy, David Downes observed that ‘Comparative criminology is nothing new,’ and that, as many have noted, work as far back as that of Beccaria, Bentham, Quetelet, and John Howard had been comparative in its focus. There are good reasons, then, why greater attention is now being paid to comparative questions within criminology generally, and to understanding comparative trends in penal policy and practice more particularly. As David Garland observes, for example, the assumption that ‘there is generally some relationship, however mediated and indirect’ between ‘crime problems’ and ‘penal solutions’ appears generally accepted. The case of England and Wales can be used as a good illustration of why it may be important to consider some of the ways in which the reach of the penal state may go well beyond formal criminal sanctioning. Regular comparative research now appears to be a more realistic prospect within criminology.
