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Book Review: A Short History of American Law Enforcement

Book Review: A Short History of American Law Enforcement 194 AUST. & N.Z. JO'URN.AL OF CRIMINOLOGY (September, 1973): 6, 3 leftist explanations of this. Given Mr. Supreme Court "swinging too far to the Wilcox's method the third reason for his left" and "coddling criminals" with no book not contributing substantially to our reference to the contrary indications, in­ understanding of police discretion is cluding studies done by prosecutors, which hardly surprising, for Mr. Wilcox's view show that due process has made little is that the decision to prosecute is essen­ difference to the numbers of arrests and tially one pragmatically taken in every convictions. The authors make rather case, and his book is really little more caustic reference to the youth demonstra­ than an interestingly embroidered list of tions of the "sick sixties" and then state the considerations that can enter into the that this decade was the "most fruitful decision. Sociologists have now done one in the history of American law 'enough to show that the exercise of dis­ enforcement" in upgrading the police. cretion by the police can be explained in Perhaps there were correlations between a theoretical framework; Mr. Wilcox's these events, but the authors fail to see monograph is not a conclusive demonstra­ them. GRAHAM PARKER, tion that that part of their discretion which relates to the decision to prosecute ANU, Canberra cannot, although that appears to be his view. The Defences of the Weak, by Thomas STEPHEN \VHITE, Mathiesen. Tavistock Publications Limited, ANU, Canberra. London, 1965. Paperback. 246 pp. ' THOMAS MATHIESEN, a Norwegian A Short History of American Law sociologist, spent a year studying inmates Enforcement, William J. Bopp and Donald in a medium security, treatment-oriented O. Shultz, Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, correctional institution in Norway. 1972, Pp. Xl + 174. In The Defences of the Weak, the result THIS IS an entertaining, well - illustrated of that study, he concerns himself mainly little book, which gives a remarkably with the problem of censoriousness as a comprehensive history of American police functional alternative to peer solidarity. forces. I would recommend it as a good Censoriousness he defines as "criticism of reference book in a police training college, those in power for not following, in their so long as it was' read in conjunction with behaviour, principles that are established another history written from a more objective viewpoint. This book sets out as correct within the social system in question". The inmate image which arises to show the hard tasks which have faced from an analysis of censoriousness is that law enforcers and it does this very well, of a basically "law-agreeing" person who but it tends to show the police as victims of the social system. Of course, this is stresses a code not very different from true, but they are not the only victims that of staff members or outside society. and the book would have been more satis­ Criticism of treatment and administration fying if it had shown less devotion to staff has, for the inmate, the function of the law and the status quo. That is prob­ effecting change in the distribution of ably asking too much of any police officer rewards and punishments and in the (and both the authors had been profes­ decision-making process. sional policemen before becoming. teachers In an institution such as the treatment­ of police science). oriented Institution for Preventive Deten­ The authors' description of prohibition tion, solidarity among inmates breaks is too simplistic. Their devotion to rules down for a number of reasons: feelings makes them very ambivalent about pro­ of unpredictability; of being weak in rela­ hibition; it was the law and it had to be tion to the staff; a vivid sense of lacking enforced but, they add, it set "the cause a responsible position in society; and the of, police professionalisation back lack of sub-cultural tradition. Where decades". No one doubts that prohibition solidarity is low, Mathiesen says, the was' a disastrous experiment because it various forms of individual censoriousness bred corruption and criminality among become the main defences of the weak. honest citizens and policemen. It also In categorising the concepts of justice showed unscrupulous Americans that which inmates appeal, the author says crime could be an efficient and profitable that "inmates do not want stricter rules business, but I wish the authors did not about inmate behaviour. What they want immediately jump to the conclusion that are stricter rules for staff decisions". This a peculiar entity called The Mafia imme­ is the essence of the use of censoriousness diately grew out of this social pheno­ as a defence mechanism. How effective menon. such defences are in achieving change among the various categories of institution The 'authors also offer the few predict­ able words about the United States staff is examined by Mathiesen at some http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology SAGE

Book Review: A Short History of American Law Enforcement

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Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
Copyright © by SAGE Publications
ISSN
0004-8658
eISSN
1837-9273
DOI
10.1177/000486587300600313
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

194 AUST. & N.Z. JO'URN.AL OF CRIMINOLOGY (September, 1973): 6, 3 leftist explanations of this. Given Mr. Supreme Court "swinging too far to the Wilcox's method the third reason for his left" and "coddling criminals" with no book not contributing substantially to our reference to the contrary indications, in­ understanding of police discretion is cluding studies done by prosecutors, which hardly surprising, for Mr. Wilcox's view show that due process has made little is that the decision to prosecute is essen­ difference to the numbers of arrests and tially one pragmatically taken in every convictions. The authors make rather case, and his book is really little more caustic reference to the youth demonstra­ than an interestingly embroidered list of tions of the "sick sixties" and then state the considerations that can enter into the that this decade was the "most fruitful decision. Sociologists have now done one in the history of American law 'enough to show that the exercise of dis­ enforcement" in upgrading the police. cretion by the police can be explained in Perhaps there were correlations between a theoretical framework; Mr. Wilcox's these events, but the authors fail to see monograph is not a conclusive demonstra­ them. GRAHAM PARKER, tion that that part of their discretion which relates to the decision to prosecute ANU, Canberra cannot, although that appears to be his view. The Defences of the Weak, by Thomas STEPHEN \VHITE, Mathiesen. Tavistock Publications Limited, ANU, Canberra. London, 1965. Paperback. 246 pp. ' THOMAS MATHIESEN, a Norwegian A Short History of American Law sociologist, spent a year studying inmates Enforcement, William J. Bopp and Donald in a medium security, treatment-oriented O. Shultz, Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, correctional institution in Norway. 1972, Pp. Xl + 174. In The Defences of the Weak, the result THIS IS an entertaining, well - illustrated of that study, he concerns himself mainly little book, which gives a remarkably with the problem of censoriousness as a comprehensive history of American police functional alternative to peer solidarity. forces. I would recommend it as a good Censoriousness he defines as "criticism of reference book in a police training college, those in power for not following, in their so long as it was' read in conjunction with behaviour, principles that are established another history written from a more objective viewpoint. This book sets out as correct within the social system in question". The inmate image which arises to show the hard tasks which have faced from an analysis of censoriousness is that law enforcers and it does this very well, of a basically "law-agreeing" person who but it tends to show the police as victims of the social system. Of course, this is stresses a code not very different from true, but they are not the only victims that of staff members or outside society. and the book would have been more satis­ Criticism of treatment and administration fying if it had shown less devotion to staff has, for the inmate, the function of the law and the status quo. That is prob­ effecting change in the distribution of ably asking too much of any police officer rewards and punishments and in the (and both the authors had been profes­ decision-making process. sional policemen before becoming. teachers In an institution such as the treatment­ of police science). oriented Institution for Preventive Deten­ The authors' description of prohibition tion, solidarity among inmates breaks is too simplistic. Their devotion to rules down for a number of reasons: feelings makes them very ambivalent about pro­ of unpredictability; of being weak in rela­ hibition; it was the law and it had to be tion to the staff; a vivid sense of lacking enforced but, they add, it set "the cause a responsible position in society; and the of, police professionalisation back lack of sub-cultural tradition. Where decades". No one doubts that prohibition solidarity is low, Mathiesen says, the was' a disastrous experiment because it various forms of individual censoriousness bred corruption and criminality among become the main defences of the weak. honest citizens and policemen. It also In categorising the concepts of justice showed unscrupulous Americans that which inmates appeal, the author says crime could be an efficient and profitable that "inmates do not want stricter rules business, but I wish the authors did not about inmate behaviour. What they want immediately jump to the conclusion that are stricter rules for staff decisions". This a peculiar entity called The Mafia imme­ is the essence of the use of censoriousness diately grew out of this social pheno­ as a defence mechanism. How effective menon. such defences are in achieving change among the various categories of institution The 'authors also offer the few predict­ able words about the United States staff is examined by Mathiesen at some

Journal

Australian & New Zealand Journal of CriminologySAGE

Published: Sep 1, 1973

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