Public protection has become an increasingly central theme in the work of the criminal justice agencies in many parts of the world in recent years. Its high public profile and consequent political sensitivity means that growing numbers of criminal justice professionals find their daily work load dominated by the assessment and management of high risk of harm offenders. Developments such as sex offender registers and (in the UK) Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (Mappa) have made this issue not only a core activity for police, probation and prison services, but to a range of other organizations as well, in particular social work and the health services. Partnership has become central to the concept of public protection. At the same time the concept of public protection has occasioned increased political debate. Protecting the public from high risk or dangerous offenders has become an international issue and has increasingly shaped criminal justice policy.
This text brings together leading authorities in the field, providing authoritative coverage of the theory and practice of public protection, both in the UK and internationally. It provides a critical review of contemporary public protection practice as well as up-to-date research and thinking in the field.
Introduction Part 1: The Context of Public Protection Introduction 1. Dangers by Being Despised Grow Great 2. Theorising Dangerousness 3. The Politics of Public Protection Part 2: Assessing and Managing Risk Introduction 4. Forensic Risk Assessment: Public Protection Versus Offender Rights 5. Discretion and Decision-making in Public Protection 6. An Epistemological Chasm? Actuarial Risk assessment through OASys 7. Public Protection: Perpetrators, Predictions, Prevention and Performance Part 3: Doing the Job Introduction 8. Public Protection and the Parole Board 9. Community Protection and Multi-agency Public Protection Arrangements 10. Public Protection Work: Achieving the Possible 11. Sex Offender Management in the Community: Who are the Victims? Part 4: A Comparative Perspective Introduction 12. Public Protection and Community Safety in the Netherlands 13. Public Protection in Scotland: A Way Forward? 14. Sex Offender Notification: Policy Imperatives, Effectiveness and Consequences in the USA 15. The Preventive State: When is Prevention of Harm Harmful? Part 5: Contemporary Issues in Public Protection 16. Electronic Monitoring, Satellite Tracking and Public Protection 17. Hate Crime Offending and Victimisation: Some Considerations for Public Protection 18. Punitive Policies on Sexual Offending: From Public Shaming to Public Protection 19. Policing, Public Protection and Minority Groups 20. Young Offenders and Public Protection 21. Public Protectionism and 'Sarah's Law': Exerting Pressure Through Single Issue Campaigns
