NCJ Number
93567
Date Published
1984
Length
191 pages
Annotation
The problem of crime should be considered as two distinct problems: what to do about crime and what to do with offenders.
Abstract
In dealing with the offender, there is little research support for the policies of deterrence, rehabilitation, and incapacitation. There is justification for retribution, based in the public demand that offenders be punished for the harm they have done to their victims. This basing of criminal justice policy in dominant public attitudes and perspectives can be called 'consumerist' criminology. A criminology based on retribution and the views of the consumers of criminal justice services must use market research techniques to examine public attitudes toward aggravating and mitigating factors associated with crime. The focus for this criminal justice market is protection of society from harm and improvement in the quality of life. The public could be asked to offer its appraisal of a list of aggravating and mitigating factors related to the offender, the victim, the crime, and the environment or situation. Macro and micro models for crime control are developed, and some practical consequences of the concepts presented are discussed in the final chapter. A copy of a market research questionnaire is appended; chapter notes and a subject index are provided.