Panopticon

Contemporary prison practice faces many challenges, is developing rapidly and is become increasingly professionalized, influenced by the new National Offender Management Service. As well as bringing an increased emphasis on skills and qualifications it has also introduced a new set of ideas and concepts into the established prisons and penal lexicon.At the same time courses on prisons and penology remain important components of criminology and criminal justice degree courses. This will be the essential source of reference for the increasing number of people studying in, working in prisons and working with prisoners.This Dictionary is part a new series of Dictionaries covering key aspects of criminal justice and the criminal justice system and designed to meet the needs of both students and practitioners.This title includes key features such as: approximately 300 entries (of between 500 and 1500 words) on key terms and concepts arranged alphabetically; designed to meet the needs of both students and practitioners; and, entries which include summary definition, main text and key texts and sources. It takes full account of emerging occupational and Skills for Justice criteria. It is edited by a leading academic and practitioner in the prisons and penology field. It includes entries contributed by leading academic and practitioners in prisons and penology.

On treating the symptoms and not the cause: reflections on the Dangerous Dogs Act

The experience of saving a dog that later turned out to be a Pit Bull and therefore banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991, made me investigate the Act and its implications. The Act is not built on evidence and by compiling results from different studies on dog bites and breed‐specific legislation in different countries the conclusion is that there is not much empirical support for breed bans either. ‘Dangerous breeds’ do not bite more frequently than German Shepherds and directing legislation towards certain breeds deemed as ‘dangerous’ cannot therefore be seen as justified. The strength of the label ‘dangerous dog’ seems to rule out policies that follow the facts and there is more treating of symptoms than causes. [From the Author]