Hard Lessons: Reflections on Governance and Crime Control in Late Modernity.

Vol. 14 No.10 (October 2004), pp.772-775

HARD LESSONS: REFLECTIONS ON GOVERNANCE AND CRIME CONTROL IN LATE MODERNITY, by Richard Hil and Gordon Tait (eds). Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2004. 214pp. Cloth ₤50.00 / $89.95 ISBN: 0-75462216-9.

Reviewed by Priscilla H.M. Zotti, Department of Political Science, United States Naval Academy. Email: zotti@usna.edu .

HARD LESSONS is a collection of essays about crime control written by Australian and New Zealand scholars. The underlying thesis of all the writers is the disharmony between policy intent and policy outcome. Each writer illustrates the unintended and unanticipated consequences of policies instituted to curb crime. Not all of these unanticipated outcomes are negative, however, in general it seems that policy makers do not foresee or anticipate the negative side effects of their initiated policies. The result is “the policy loop, of hope, good intentions, despair, disillusionment and then hope and good intentions again” (p.3). Why do western countries continually and cyclically tinker with controlling crime, only to fail and try again? The authors argue quite simply that being tough on crime is a sure vote getter for politicians. For example, three strikes statutes, whether effective or not, resonate with a fearful electorate who are reassured by such policy actions. Alas, results do not seem to follow intent. In the United States, for example, those states with the toughest penal systems, including three strikes provisions, do not appear to have more effective crime control systems than states choosing not to adopt harsher get-tough policies. The more important consideration, as the authors point out, is why? Why do most crime control initiatives fail to control crime?

The book is divided into case studies which illustrate the failure of modern western governments to devise policies that are effective in controlling crime. Each author illuminates the unintended, unforeseen, and unanticipated consequences of policies which initially were met with great hope. The writers do not offer reform or alternative strategies in policy formulation. Rather, the reader, and more importantly, the progressive policy maker, is provided a context in which to understand the modest gains that are likely to occur from these transformation attempts. While the lessons here most directly apply to New Zealand, Australia, and the UK since it is their criminal justice reforms most often discussed, reformers in western democracies can learn from this cycle of policy dysfunction.

Chapter One, written by editor Gordon Tait, establishes the theoretical foundation of the book. In “Modernity and the ‘Failure’ of Crime Control” Tait argues that crime control policy is part of the management of government. Rather than adopting a logical progression of criminal justice policy, governments regulate each previous failure as a form of policy initiative. Since the side-effects of reform are not always considered and anticipated, the result is continual reform that is less logical, less effective, and short-sighted. [*773] Tait uses the modern prison as an example. The essays that follow detail similar policies in the drug laws in New Zealand, boot camps in the UK, and prostitution laws in Australia (to name a few). “All tell a familiar tale of good intentions turning sour, of policies going wrong, of unexpected, unanticipated, negative costs, results, outcomes, and research findings” (p.2). Contextually the formulation of crime control policy is couched in terms of societal institutionalism and social governance. Rather than a logical progression of reform and change, criminal justice policy “hurtles from crisis to crisis, from failure to failure, and it is the regulation of that failure which produces new initiatives and new forms of governance” (p.9).

In the next essay, entitled Governing ‘Fear of Crime,’ the author, Murray Lee, asks how much does the fear of crime “cause” policy? Murray argues that the governmental interest in the fear level makes the actual process of governing more difficult and increases the risk of failure. One byproduct of governing the fear of crime is the use of this by officials to strategize societal control. Ironically, these controls often increase the fear of crime rather than provide a mechanism to ease societal anxiety.

Next, Greg Newbold and John Pitts trace the history of drug control in New Zealand and youth justice programs in Great Britain. Both authors conclude that simplistic, but politically pleasing, solutions do little to solve these sophisticated problems. Both controlling illegal drugs, a recent problem for New Zealand, and devising a systemic solution to the problem of juvenile crime require an appreciation of the complexities that contribute to the problem in the first place.

“Expect the Unexpected: DNA, Guilt and Innocence” provides a lively discussion of the ramifications of DNA in the criminal justice process. Although the consequences of its use have not fully played out, the persuasive technological advancement in DNA research and use will most certainly generate some consequences of measure. The authors, Barbara Ann Hocking and Hamish McCallum, richly inform the reader of the potential concerns that stem from DNA use. DNA is a powerful tool to exclude as well as include suspects in a criminal investigation. Furthermore, DNA can be used to solve the unsolved crimes of the past. An unanticipated use of DNA is extensive investigatory and search powers given to police in the forms of compulsory testing and mass testing of potential suspects. Such use has already generated liberty concerns. In addition, DNA technology has implications for victim’s rights, and it has become a potential tool to combat wrongful convictions. Many of these unintended consequences have yet to be fully realized.

Anthony McMahon writes an interesting piece on the unintended consequences of holding parents accountable for the criminal behavior of their children. While such a policy appeals to law and order supporters, the effect is to further alienate and strain families facing an already difficult situation. In “Parental Restitution: Soft Target for Rough Justice,” McMahon reports that there is little correlation between poor parenting and juvenile crime, a finding that undermines the rationale of parental accountability. Punishing parents may [*774] do more to exacerbate an already bad situation into an even poorer one. As illustrated throughout the book, McMahon outlines a policy which on its face seems to address a problem of criminality, only to contribute further to the problem.

Richard Hil’s piece about the shock incarceration technique of boot camps is in harmony with the large volumes of research indicating that the policy fails to achieve the goals for which it was intended. Given the political popularity of being tough on criminals, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and the United States all adopted get-tough polices creating military style boot camps for prisoners. Research comparing boot camp prisoners to regular inmates yields no distinct difference between the populations. Hil concludes, “The evidence on boot camps appears to be quite conclusive: they do not serve to prevent further offending among former inmates” (p.142). The unforeseen consequences of such measures are more personal; the brutalization and desensitization of prisoners.

Chris Cunneen’s piece, “The Political Resonance of Crime Control Strategies: Zero Tolerance Policing,” traces the history of zero tolerance policing in New York City and New South Wales (Australia). The findings here follow a familiar pattern; zero tolerance policing has done little to reduce crime in the long run, has contributed to social conflict and excited concerns of racism, and it is heavy handed and confrontational by definition.

Policies regulating prostitution in western democracies create a two-tiered system of good and bad prostitutes (those who operate on the street are bad, those in private settings are good), punish client and seller differently, and make gender distinctions in the law. Belinda Carpenter writes, in “Good Prostitutes and Bad Prostitutes: Some Unintended Consequences of Governmental Regulation,” that the popular policy of criminalizing prostitution generates volumes of unforeseen consequences—e.g., police corruption, health problems such as HIV/AIDS, welfare, organized crime, and gender equity issues. While offering little in the way of reform, Carpenter aptly makes the case that policies regulating prostitution have failed. The cyclical corrective policy measures create a tragic patchwork of reform after reform, with little improvement.

The most thought provoking title of all the essays is “Unintended Consequences or Deliberate Racial Hygiene Strategies: The Question of Child Removal Policies,” written by Judith Bessant. The substance of her chapter is thought provoking as well. Here she discusses policies of removing neglected children, or at-risk children, from dysfunctional families. The child welfare system, with the goal of protecting and promoting the welfare of children, often places them in institutions where they are abused and neglected. Bessant goes further, arguing that the policy intent is not to protect children per se, but often represents a strategy to, in her words, “achieve cultural genocide” (p.196). Citing the case of aboriginal children in Australia and post-1945 British child migration policies, she argues that the policy goals were at the root of the consequences. As the title of her work suggests, the policy [*775] was deliberate. The consequences are equally tragic.

Documenting such futile efforts by the state, HARD LESSONS leaves the reader wondering whether any reform measure can make a difference. The book is truly a study of failure. Thus, is there any hope? Can criminal justice reform ever be effective in achieving positive societal change? Although the concluding chapter advises that reformers should heed this study of failed policy as a reform measure in and of itself, not much is left to suggest that true reform is possible. A hefty chapter on reform, and/or serious consideration of the changes that each author thinks might truly work would be beneficial to criminal justice policymakers. HARD LESSONS provokes thought about the bleak status of reform but stops short of giving the reader a sense of hope. Many reform measures do not work. The case for that is made clear. However, the book falls short in that it ponders no solution for the problem that it so clearly illustrates.

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