The Anatomy of Serious Further Offending

Further serious offences committed by those released early from custody are the subject of intense media scrutiny. This accessible text examines the subject of further serious offending through the medium of major inquiries, inspections and reports. Inquiries discussed include the Clunis Inquiry, the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry, the Marchioness Inquiry and the Anthony Rice Inquiry. This book explores the extent to which recommendations are implemented and their impact on the development of public protection policy. Reviewing all the major inquiries relating to further serious offending, the authors highlight commonalities that emerge from these reports, such as the nature of the offence and the type of response, as well as organizational and individual failures. By identifying similarities and themes across a range of agencies, the authors explore the nature of organizational and personal failure and blame. While most responses to further serious offending are organizationally based, they rarely refer to personal failings on the part of agency workers. This title does both, while providing an outline of the constitution and culture of inquiries and the development of the multi-agency approach. This book also argues that the public protection edifice is built upon perceptions of danger which rarely reflect the true nature of dangerous behavior. The authors propose that many inquiries refer to incidents that do not meet the stereotypical profile of a dangerous predator; subsequently the construction of dangerousness is re-examined in the light of Inquiry findings and recommendations. This title is a thought-provoking and topical book of great interest to probation practitioners and students alike.

Dr Mike Nash is the Head of the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies at the University of Portsmouth and has worked as a Senior Probation Officer at Hampshire Probation Service. His main research interests are concerned with the response of the criminal justice system to the concept of 'dangerousness' in relation to the police and probation services. He is the author of the 2006 OUP title 'Public Protection and the Criminal Justice Process'. Dr Andrew Williams is Course Leader in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Portsmouth.