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Farrall, S., Burke, N. and Hay, C. (2016) Revisiting Margaret Thatcher's Law and Order agenda: The slow-burning fuse of punitiveness. British Politics, 11 (2). pp. 205-231. ISSN 1746-9198
Abstract
In recent years, criminologists have devoted growing attention to the extent to which ‘punitiveness’ is emerging as a central feature of many criminal justice systems. In gauging punitiveness, these studies typically rely either on attitudinal data derived from surveys which measure individual support for punitive sentences or on the size of the prison population. We take a different approach, exploring the aims, content and outcomes of various Acts of Parliament passed between 1982 and 1998 in England and Wales. Our argument is that whilst a trend towards punitiveness is detectable, this was, in the case of England and Wales, attributable to wider discourses stemming from the New Right of the 1980s. This in turn promoted a new conception of how best to tackle rising crime. We show that whilst the year 1993 stands out as a key point in the growing trajectory of punitiveness in England and Wales, the ideas and rhetoric around ‘toughness’ in the criminal justice system can be traced back much further than this. Our article brings these matters to the attention of political scientists and demonstrates how historical institutionalist thinking can guide and inform interdisciplinary work at the interface between political science and criminology.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 Palgrave Macmillan. This is an author-produced version of a paper accepted for publication in British Politics. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy |
Keywords: | punitiveness; Thatcherism; Criminal Justice Acts; historical institutionalism; 1980s |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > School of Law (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 29 Jul 2015 14:30 |
Last Modified: | 30 Nov 2016 14:40 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1057/bp.2015.36 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Verlag |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1057/bp.2015.36 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:88311 |
Available Versions of this Item
- Revisiting Margaret Thatcher's Law and Order agenda: The slow-burning fuse of punitiveness. (deposited 29 Jul 2015 14:30) [Currently Displayed]