Perspectives on Punishment: The Contours of Control

The book offers an incisive collection of contemporary research into the problems of crime control and punishment. It has three inter-related aims: to take stock of current thinking on punishment, regulation, and control in the early years of a new century and in the wake of a number of critical junctures, including 9/11, which have transformed the social, political, and cultural environment; to present a selection of the diverse epistemological and methodological frameworks which inform current research; and finally to set out some fruitful directions for the future study of punishment.

Sarah Armstrong is a lecturer in criminology and a member of the Centre for Law and Society, University of Edinburgh. Her current research is in the sociology of punishment and focuses on developing a sociology of accountability, analysing privatization in justice and punishment, and contributing to social and cultural scholarship on risk. Lesley McAra is a senior lecturer in criminology and a member of the Centre for Law and Society, University of Edinburgh. She writes and teaches in the fields of the sociology of punishment, youth crime and justice, gender, and crime and criminal justice. Currently she is a co-director of a major programme of research funded by the ESCR, Scottish Executive and the Nuffield Foundation on youth transitions and crime.