Blamestorming, Blamemongers and Scapegoats: Allocating Blame in the Criminal Justice Process

by Gavin Dingwall, Tim Hillier

Overview

Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence We live in a society that is increasingly preoccupied with allocating blame: when something goes wrong someone must be to blame. Bringing together philosophical, psychological, and sociological accounts of blame, this is the first detailed criminological account of the role of blame in which the authors present a novel study of the legal process of blame attribution, set in the context of criminalisation as a social and political process. This timely and topical book will be essential reading for anyone working or researching in the criminal justice field. It will also be of wider interest to anyone wishing to discover the role of blame in modern society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781447321163
Publisher:	Policy Press
Publication date:	07/20/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	216
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Gavin Dingwall is Professor of Criminal Justice Policy at De Montfort University. He has written on various aspects of criminal justice, including books on diversion in the criminal process and alcohol and crime. Tim Hillier is Associate Head of De Montfort Law School. For many years he has taught and researched in the areas of international law and criminology.

Table of Contents

Introduction and the centrality of blame; Blame in the criminal justice process; Blame and the blameless; Blameless crime; Blame amplification; Putting oneself in harm’s way; Blame, punitiveness and criminalisation; Blamestorming and blamemongers.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Blame, and its relation to criminalisation, have been neglected in criminal justice studies. Drawing on legal philosophy, this book puts them firmly under the spotlight of a thorough multi-disciplinary interrogation." Professor Colin Sumner, UniversityCollege Cork

“A much-needed critical review of the role and parameters of 'blame' within criminal regulation. Accessibly written and insightful in its analyses throughout, this book compels a re-evaluation of our attributions and tactics of blaming in 21st century criminal justice policy.” Professor Vanessa Munro, University of Nottingham

"This thought provoking book....is a very welcome addition to reading lists in criminology and criminal justice." Criminology & Criminal Justice

Editorial Reviews

A much-needed critical review of the role and parameters of ‘blame’ within criminal regulation. Accessibly written and insightful in its analyses throughout, this book compels a reevaluation of our attributions and tactics of blaming in twenty-first-century criminal justice policy.

Vanessa Munro

Raises more questions than it answers . . . in scoping a relatively new area of inquiry. It is a very welcome addition.

Criminology & Criminal Justice

Blame, and its relation to criminalization, have been neglected in criminal justice studies. Drawing on legal philosophy, this book puts them firmly under the spotlight of a thorough multidisciplinary interrogation.

Colin Sumner