The Making of the Modern Police, 1780–1914, Part I Vol 1


Book Description

Over six volumes this edited collection of pamphlets, government publications, printed ephemera and manuscript sources looks at the development of the first modern police force. It will be of interest to social and political historians, criminologists and those interested in the development of the detective novel in nineteenth-century literature.







The Association


Book Description

The generations of Britons living through the reign of George III saw basic changes in economic and social structure: industrial revolution, agricultural revolution, demographic revolution. Romanticism displaced classicism. The religious and spiritual life of the nation changed dramatically. The rise of the mass constituency, the extension of political consensus, proved the salient new political fact. Traditional institutions and relationships were not impervious to change, but extraparliarmentary political organizations forced the pace. They reflected the interests of the community far more closely than the traditional, fragmented political factions. National extraparliamentary political organizations attempted, in parliamentary constituencies, to secure the election of members pledged to a specific program. Potential supporters were organized, after a fashion, in parliament. This is the nucleus of modern party organization, platform, and propaganda. Mr. Black examines a number of these associations—their motives, their leaders, their opponents, their means of expression and operation, their accomplishments and failures. Names such as Wilkes, Wyvill, Gordon, Jebb, and Reeves are found in cooperation with and opposition to Rockingham, Pitt, Fox, and North. Organizations such as the Associated Counties; the Protestant Association; the Society for the Commemoration of the Glorious Revolution; and the Association for the Preservation of Liberty and Property against Republicans and Levellers are represented in this narrative of eighteenth-century political history.




The First English Detectives


Book Description

This is the first comprehensive study of the Bow Street Runners, a group of men established in the middle of the eighteenth century by Henry Fielding to confront violent offenders on the streets and highways around London.







Controlling the Constable


Book Description

In the early 1980s, the question of how far the police should be accountable for their actions had become extremely vexed. The impending new Police Bill, the Scarman report and the pressure from many sides for an independent complaints machinery hinged on this issue, and a careful review of the problem was badly needed. The Cobden Trust commissioned Tony Jefferson and Roger Grimshaw to research into the matter, and Controlling the Constable, originally published in 1984, is the result of their findings. The authors examine closely the concept of constabulary independence at the time. They look at the relevant legal history and at how this independence was used by chief constables from day to day. On this basis, they then re-assess two of the most controversial policing operations of modern times – Brixton prior to the 1981 Riots and Southall on 23 April 1979, a day which resulted in hundreds of arrests and the death of Blair Peach. They conclude that the concept embodies a fundamental incoherence: the reliance on the law to guide the chief constable, and the failure of the law to do so. They show that all the current proposals for reform, which entailed greater emphasis on the democratic system as a guide, could result in similar incoherence. A new approach to the conflict between legal authority and democratic authority was urgently needed. Controlling the Constable points the way to the only satisfactory resolution – and this included a concept of justice which was coherent and which could serve as a real guide for the chief constable in using his discretion. The book was controversial, but quite clear on one point: however independent any new complaints procedure may become, and however much committees were ‘consulted’ by chief constables via ‘Scarman-type’ liaison committees, until the problem was tackled on this fundamental level, there could be no significant change in police behaviour.




An Introduction to Criminological Theory


Book Description

This book provides a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to criminological theory for students taking courses in criminology at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Building on previous editions, this book presents the latest research and theoretical developments. The text is divided into five parts, the first three of which address ideal type models of criminal behaviour: the rational actor, predestined actor and victimized actor models. Within these, the various criminological theories are located chronologically in the context of one of these different traditions, and the strengths and weaknesses of each theory and model are clearly identified. The fourth part of the book looks closely at more recent attempts to integrate theoretical elements from both within and across models of criminal behaviour, while the fifth part addresses a number of key recent concerns of criminology: postmodernism, cultural criminology, globalization and communitarianism, the penal society, southern criminology and critical criminology. All major theoretical perspectives are considered, including: classical criminology, biological and psychological positivism, labelling theories, feminist criminology, critical criminology and left realism, situation action, desistance theories, social control theories, the risk society, postmodern condition and terrorism. The new edition also features comprehensive coverage of recent developments in criminology, including ‘the myth of the crime drop’, the revitalization of critical criminology and political economy, shaming and crime, defiance theory, coerced mobility theory and new developments in social control and general strain theories. This revised and expanded fifth edition of An Introduction to Criminological Theory includes chapter summaries, critical thinking questions, policy implications, a full glossary of terms and theories and a timeline of criminological theory, making it essential reading for those studying criminology and taking courses on theoretical criminology, understanding crime, and crime and deviance