Drawing on a body of empirical, qualitative work spanning three decades, this unique text traces the significance of critical social research and critical analyses in understanding some of the most significant and controversial issues in contemporary society. Focusing on central debates in the UK and Ireland – prison protests; inner-city uprisings; deaths in custody; women’s imprisonment; transition in the north of Ireland; the ‘crisis’ in childhood; the Hillsborough and Dunblane tragedies; and the ‘war on terror’ – Phil Scraton argues that ‘marginalisation’ and ‘criminalisation’ are social forces central to the application of state power and authority. Each case study demonstrates how structural relations of power, authority and legitimacy, establish the determining contexts of everyday life, social interaction and individual opportunity.
This book explores the politics and ethics of critical social research, making a persuasive case for the application of critical theory to analysing the rule of law, its enforcement and the administration of criminal justice. It is indispensable for students in the fields of criminology, criminal justice and socio-legal studies, social policy and social work.
1. Challenging Academic Orthodoxy: Recognising and Proclaiming ‘Values’ in Critical Social Research 2. ‘Unreasonable Force’: Policing Marginalised Communities in the 1980s 3. ‘Lost Lives, Hidden Voices’: Deaths and Violence in Custody 4. Hillsborough: Negligence without Liability 5. ‘Licensed to Kill’: The Dunblane Shootings and their Aftermath 6. Children on Trial: Prosecution, Disclosure and Anonymity 7. ‘Asbo-mania’: The Regulation and Criminalisation of Children and Young People 8. Children, Young People and Conflict in the North of Ireland 9. Self Harm and Suicide in a Women’s Prison 10. ‘Nasty Things Happen in War’ 11. ‘Speaking Truth to Power’: Critical Analysis as Resistance
Biography
Phil Scraton is Professor of Criminology in the Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Queen’s University, Belfast. His primary research includes: the regulation and criminalisation of children and young people; violence and incarceration; the politics of truth and official inquiry; critical analysis. His most recent books are Hillsborough: The Truth (2000) and Beyond September 11: An Anthology of Dissent (2002).
This book is one of the most powerful and well written sociological treaties on power and criminalisation of this decade. It demonstrates the inherent weaknesses of much of mainstream sociology, advocating with great force and empathy the need for critical analysis of the forces of marginalisation and exclusion and for seeing the criminal justice system "from below".’ Professor Thomas Mathiesen, Professor of the Sociology of Law, University of Oslo, Norway‘An important contribution to criminological theory, grounded in the author's deep knowledge of troubling public issues and long-time commitment to social justice.’ Professor Emeritus Tony Platt, California State University, Sacramento, USA
