Terence Morris – författare

This is Volume IV of fifteen in the Sociology of Law and Criminology Series. Originally published in 1957 this study looks at social ecology and offer a clear exposition of the merits as well as the limitations of the ecological interpretation of crime and juvenile delinquency and, more specifically, of the work of the so-called Chicago School.

This is Volume XIII of fifteen in a series on the Sociology of Law and Criminology. Originally published in 1963, this is a sociological Study of an English Prison.

This is Volume IV of fifteen in the Sociology of Law and Criminology Series. Originally published in 1957 this study looks at social ecology and offer a clear exposition of the merits as well as the limitations of the ecological interpretation of crime and juvenile delinquency and, more specifically, of the work of the so-called Chicago School.

This is Volume XIII of fifteen in a series on the Sociology of Law and Criminology. Originally published in 1963, this is a sociological Study of an English Prison.

In the early 1970s many sociologists, particularly radical theorists of crime and deviance, had rejected the belief that sociological knowledge was objective or value-free. Their work, often with good reason, had come to dominate much of the literature of criminology, deviance and social work. In this book, originally published in 1976, Professor Morris provided an immensely readable and controversial reply. At the time it was felt it was likely to please neither the materialist nor the positivist, and that those whose master was not Marx but Freud would find little comfort in it. Though he writes as a social scientist, the book is not weighed down by statistics, nor an endless, jargon-laden exegesis of criminological and deviance theory. What it does do is to set the question of deviance and its control in a wider perspective by examining our beliefs about social order at the time and the manner in which such order was imposed. In doing so, the author draws widely upon history, sociology and philosophy, providing essential reading for students of sociology, crime and deviance, social work and the law.

In the early 1970s many sociologists, particularly radical theorists of crime and deviance, had rejected the belief that sociological knowledge was objective or value-free. Their work, often with good reason, had come to dominate much of the literature of criminology, deviance and social work. In this book, originally published in 1976, Professor Morris provided an immensely readable and controversial reply. At the time it was felt it was likely to please neither the materialist nor the positivist, and that those whose master was not Marx but Freud would find little comfort in it. Though he writes as a social scientist, the book is not weighed down by statistics, nor an endless, jargon-laden exegesis of criminological and deviance theory. What it does do is to set the question of deviance and its control in a wider perspective by examining our beliefs about social order at the time and the manner in which such order was imposed. In doing so, the author draws widely upon history, sociology and philosophy, providing essential reading for students of sociology, crime and deviance, social work and the law.

For more than three centuries the criminal law has given rise to a divergent set of approaches to the crime of homicide. Whereas the law of murder has not conceptually changed,the crime of manslaughter has resulted in some forms of homicide being visited with relatively minor penalties. These various categories of unlawful killing present considerable problems relating to intention, or lack of it, and the culpability of those whose behaviour, while lacking in evident malice, is characterised by the grossest recklessness. The reaction of the relatives of victims is generally simpler. They frequently find it impossible to understand how those who kill by dangerous or drunken driving may receive comparatively lenient sentences, while those convicted of manslaughter following a drunken brawl may be dealt with more severely, and yet others, convicted of so-called 'mercy killings', are subject to the mandatory penalty of life imprisonment. This book addresses the powerful and controversial arguments for the current distinctions between murder, manslaughter and other specific categories of crime to be abolished and subsumed within a single crime of culpable homicide.In the course of this analysis the authors consider a number of issues of great contemporary importance, including the presentation of expert evidence in cases involving unexplained infant death, corporate killing, and the question of the defences available to the accused, including self-defence and provocation, where popular notions of what is reasonable or justifiable may be at variance with legal precedent. While this book aims to consider criminal homicide in its social, historical and legal setting, it also goes far beyond in setting out the case for radical reform.

In this powerful account, the authors show that - from Sir Edward Coke's classic common law definition of murder, through political fixes, poorly thought-out compromises and misguided legislative or Executive tinkering - the English law of homicide is in 'a mess'. Even the most adept legal minds are faced with what has been described in Parliament as 'fine lines and distinctions'. What must juries make of messy laws and how can anyone have confidence in criminal justice if laws affecting some of the most serious offences in the criminal calendar are deeply flawed? To make matters worse, the entire subject of homicide in England and Wales is further distorted by the existence of the mandatory life sentence for murder. Building on unrivalled knowledge, extensive research, close practical observation and incisive analysis, Professor Terence Morris and Sir Louis Blom-Cooper QC trace the development of the law of homicide from early times to the present day.They counter and dismantle specious arguments for preserving the status quo and point out that only root and branch reform of the basis of liability for homicide and its sentencing regime will serve to restore justice, fairness and political probity. Professor Terence Morris and Sir Louis Blom-Cooper QC are two of the UK's leading experts on the law of homicide, having studied developments together for over 50 years. This has led them to recognise the extent of disquiet, especially following 'particularly troubling cases' and to conclude that the law of homicide in England and Wales is 'an unsatisfactory law enveloped in a political fix'. Their suggestion of a replacement single offence of criminal homicide coupled with abolition of the mandatory life sentence for murder in favour of discretion at the sentencing stage demands close study by judges, lawyers, legislators, academics, penal reformers and anyone who senses that something is seriously amiss.