CREATING CRIMINALS

Sets out alternative, more effective and cheaper ways of dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour
- A global study that includes examples and evidence from all around the world
- Author is one of the world's leading authorities on criminal justice issues

Everywhere the market society is producing more crime. More acts are being defined as crimes. More people are classified as criminals, and more are being locked up in prison. With globalization, the crime and punishment problem is no longer insulated from pressures beyond national borders. The rich may retreat behind their expensive security into gated communities, but the poor are more and more at the mercy of criminals and corrupt policing. Vivien Stern argues that the trends towards more criminalization and more imprisonment are not making for more effective crime control or safer communities. She shows how the poor are criminalized and how commercial interests now shape society's response to crime. She argues that, without a new movement for reform, the prospects for the future are serious.

CONTENTS
Introduction
- Crime and justice in the 21st century - Global trends - The structure of this book
1. Behind the bars - the injustice of the prison
- A bad day in Quito prison - Prisons and the rule of law - Too many prisoners: not enough space - Waiting for trial - Prisons and violence - Corruption thrives in prisons - Living in prison - Life sentences - What happens to dangerous prisoners? - Where did the idea of prison come from? - The people in prison - who are they? - Women in prison - few and far between - Should children be in prison? - Prisons are bad for health - Working in prisons - what sort of job is it? - Life after prison - how easy is it? - What is American 'exceptionalism'? - How much imprisonment? - If imprisonment is an unjust system, does it matter?
2 Crime and its definition - how just is criminal justice?
- Do prisons make society safer? - Measuring crime - is it easy? - The creation of crimes - Who can be a criminal? - Measuring crime levels is difficult - Comparing crime rates in different countries - A biased system? - The poor and policing - How do poor people fare when the case comes to court? - The laws can be biased too - Even a good criminal justice system is a limited way to control crime
3 Crime - a good business? The impact of the free market
- Introduction - More free markets - more crime? - More free markets - more violence? - Trends in the use of prison - The market in imprisonment - Speculative commercial prison building - The argument for commercially run prisons - Private sector prisons - some experiences - Are commercially run prisons better? - The opposition to private prisons - Does privatization influence the direction of penal policy? - Cashing in on insecurity - A market in criminal justice - some implications
4 The 'war on drugs' and migration
- The drugs war - The link between illegal drugs and crime - The war on drugs fills the prisons - American 'exceptionalism' again - Drug policies make prisons worse - The role of the United Nations - The criminalization of migration
5 'In the name of justice'. Is there a better way?
- Penal reform in retreat? - Movements for change - Human rights in prisons - Reform from inside - Fighting for reform from outside - Ex-prisoners' organizations - The contribution of individuals - Using the law to protect prisoners - Reducing the use of prison - Reducing pre-trial detention - A new view of punishment - A return to social interventions - What is to be done? - Join the reform movement
6. Criminal justice and social justice
- The penal journey - Criminal justice as it should be - Why should we care about prisoners and prisons? - A regional approach - A plan of action - The future
Selected further reading
Useful websites
Index