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Hay, C.S., Farrall, S. and Burke, N. (2016) Revisiting Margaret Thatcher’s law and order agenda: The slow-burning fuse of punitiveness. British Politics, 11 (2). pp. 205-231. ISSN 1746-919X
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 that 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 while 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 while 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 subsequently published in British Politics. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in British Politics. The definitive publisher-authenticated version 'Revisiting Margaret Thatcher’s law and order agenda: The slow-burning fuse of punitiveness' is available online at: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/bp/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/bp201536a.html |
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) > Department of Politics and International Relations (Sheffield) The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Politics and International Relations (Sheffield) > Political Economy Research Centre (Sheffield) The University of Sheffield > University of Sheffield Research Centres and Institutes > Political Economy Research Centre (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 23 Sep 2015 15:44 |
Last Modified: | 23 Jan 2017 17:08 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/bp.2015.36 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Palgrave Macmillan |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1057/bp.2015.36 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:88666 |
Available Versions of this Item
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Revisiting Margaret Thatcher's Law and Order agenda: The slow-burning fuse of punitiveness. (deposited 29 Jul 2015 14:30)
- Revisiting Margaret Thatcher’s law and order agenda: The slow-burning fuse of punitiveness. (deposited 23 Sep 2015 15:44) [Currently Displayed]