This highly controversial new book considers how the dangerous offender has become such a figure of collective anxiety for the citizens of rationalised Western societies. The authors consider:
* ideas of danger and social threat in historical perspective
* legal responses to violent criminals
* attempts to predict dangerous behaviour
* why particular groups, such as women, remain at risk from violent crime.
This inspired collection invites us to rethink the received wisdom on dangerous offenders, and will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of criminology and the sociology of Risk.
List of Contributors. Introduction Mark Brown and John Pratt Part I: Dangerousness: A Social History 1. Risk societies and the government of crime Pat O'Malley 2. The birth of dangerousness John Pratt Part II: Legal Responses and Responsibilities 3. Guerillas in our midst? Judicial responses to governing the dangerous Arie Freiberg 4. Civil commitment as social control: Managing the risk of sexual violence Eric Janus Part III: Practical Risks: Danger in the Penal Context 5. Calculations of risk in contemporary penal practice Mark Brown 6. Criminal careers, sex offenders and dangerousness Rod Broadhurst 7. Danger and penal politics Richard Sparks Part IV: Violence, Danger and Modern Government: The Future 8. Naturalising danger: Women, fear and personal safety Elizabeth Stanko 9. Drugs and dangerousness: Perception and management of risk in the neo-liberal era Adam Sutton 10. Dangerous states Nils Christie
