Crime and Banishment

Description

In this thought-provoking and informative work Elizabeth Burney takes a critical look at the use of civil and administrative powers by social landlords as a means of preventing crime and disorder. The book ranges widely, with different chapters setting anxieties about: ‘nuisance neighbours’; and anti-social behaviour in their social, historical, economic and political context. In particular the author argues that the agenda has been set by a few large Labour-led local authorities where serious management problems stem essentially from a very weak social housing market. Elizabeth Burney warns that central and local government may be set on a path which will increase rather than reduce social exclusion – and she argues for more focus on supportive and reintegrative means of reducing bad behaviour. Crime and Banishment is a book which will be of interest to a wide range of people who are concerned about community safety, environmental pressures, the modern emphasis on ‘exclusion’ when dealing with political, economic or social issues – and some underlying causes of crime in Britain at the end of the twentieth century.

Reviews

‘Anyone with either an academic or practical interest in anti-social behaviour should buy this book as soon as possible’: Gavin Corbett,Scolag Legal Journal

‘Useful reading for thinking lawyers… Recommended as compulsory reading for Youth Offending Teams and [the Home Secretary]!’: The Justices’ Clerk Journal

Author

Elizabeth Burney is a Senior Research Associate at the Cambridge University Institute of Criminology. Her early career was as an urban affairs specialist on The Economist, when she also sat as a member of the Cullingworth Committee on council house allocation. She has researched and published extensively on race relations and on criminal justice – including books on the magistracy and on juvenile justice. She is a volunteer with Victim Support.