PUNITIVE CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND POLICY IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
Abstract
This paper examines the influence of so-called popular punitivism on contemporary society. Concerted efforts by policy makers have, in recent times, promoted the use of punitive criminal justice methods and rhetoric to maintain a castigatory sentiment amongst the public. This has lead to the acceptance that crime and anti social behaviour are more effectively controlled by harsh and authoritarian measures. Central to this rise in punitive sentiment and attacks on social deviants known as the ‘other’ is the use of media and other agencies to legitimize and encourage a sensationalized fear of crime which owes more to imagery and emotive elements than criminological research. The question of whether this political and media manipulation of criminal policy has resulted in a more punitive society is not without difficulty however. Despite this punitive political and media driven focus a number of important factors need to be addressed in order to better understand punitivism in contemporary society.
Published
Jun 30, 2009
How to Cite
MONTEROSSO, Stephen.
PUNITIVE CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND POLICY IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY.
QUT Law Review, [S.l.], v. 9, n. 1, p. 13-25, june 2009.
ISSN 2201-7275.
Available at: <https://lr.law.qut.edu.au/article/view/39>. Date accessed: 01 feb. 2021.
doi: https://doi.org/10.5204/qutlr.v9i1.39.
Section
Articles - General Issue
Since 2015-12-04
Abstract Views
3037
PDF Views
9357
Until 2015-12-04:
Abstract Views
1075
PDF Views
4717
Authors who publish with this journal retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Articles in this journal are published under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC-BY). This is to achieve more legal certainty about what readers can do with published articles, and thus a wider dissemination and archiving, which in turn makes publishing with this journal more valuable for authors.