Reparation, or making amends, is an ancient theme in criminal justice. It was revived in both Europe and North America in the 1980s as a practical alternative both to retributivism, and to the various utilitarian projects traditionally associated with retributive justice. Making Amends examines the practice of these schemes in the UK, USA, and Germany, and shows how criminal justice institutions were unresponsive to these attempts to cast justice in a new form. Yet the experiments reflected an abiding dissatisfaction with criminal courts and with the manner in which justice is conceived and...

It is a common perception that violent crime is on the increase and social surveys record a growing fear of victimisation among the public. Yet not all violence is criminalised, and much criminal violence still goes unreported.
Punishing Violence examines the series of decisions - by victims, police officers, prosecutors and courts - which determine whether or not violent behaviour is criminalised.
Antonia Cretney and Gwynn Davis examine the relationships underpinning violence, the reasons for violent acts and the factors militating against successful court prosecutions. In...

This study of the Child Support Agency (CSA) compares the accounts of former husbands and wives with those of their respective legal advisers, and incorporates the experience and views of the CSA staff, who attempted to calculate and enforce child maintenance obligations in the same cases. The media picture of misery visited upon absent fathers is borne out in part, but the book also describes a catastrophic administrative failure which led to the abandonment of many of the basic tenets of administrative justice. The reasons for this do not lie in the perceived unfairness of the formula, but...

This study of the Child Support Agency (CSA) compares the accounts of former husbands and wives with those of their respective legal advisers, and incorporates the experience and views of the CSA staff, who attempted to calculate and enforce child maintenance obligations in the same cases. The media picture of misery visited upon absent fathers is borne out in part, but the book also describes a catastrophic administrative failure which led to the abandonment of many of the basic tenets of administrative justice. The reasons for this do not lie in the perceived unfairness of the formula, but...

Reparation, or making amends, is an ancient theme in criminal justice. It was revived in both Europe and North America in the 1980s as a practical alternative both to retributivism, and to the various utilitarian projects traditionally associated with retributive justice.Making Amends examines the practice of these schemes in the UK, USA, and Germany, and shows how criminal justice institutions were unresponsive to these attempts to cast justice in a new form. Yet the experiments reflected an abiding dissatisfaction with criminal courts and with the manner in which justice is conceived and...