Sociology of Law and Crime – serie

In this now established text the author presents her analysis of the power of law and argues for a feminist post-structuralist approach. She comments on pornography, as well as discussing recent research on rape trials and abortion legislation.

Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Political economies of punishment 2. 'New histories of punishment regimes 3. The Foucault Effect: from penology to penality 4. Feminist analytical approaches to women's imprisonment 5. Postmodern feminism and the question of penalty 6. Towards a postmodern penal politic? Bibliography

Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Political economies of punishment 2. 'New histories of punishment regimes 3. The Foucault Effect: from penology to penality 4. Feminist analytical approaches to women's imprisonment 5. Postmodern feminism and the question of penalty 6. Towards a postmodern penal politic? Bibliography

Winner of British Sociological Association Philip Abrams Memorial Prize 1993 Within feminism incest has often been subsumed under a discussion of sexual violence and abuse. Yet, important as this is, there has been little account of how feminist work itself relates to other ways of talking about and understanding incest.In Interrogating Incest Vikki Bell focuses on the issue of incest and its place in sociological theory, feminist theory and criminal law. By examining incest from a critical Foucauldian framework she considers how feminist discourse on incest itself fits into existing ways of talking about sex. Closely surveying the historical background to incest legislation and the theoretical issues involve, Vikki Bell delineates their practical implications and shows what uncomfortable questions and important dilemmas are raised by the criminalisation of incest.

The Mythology of Modern Law is a radical reappraisal of the role of myth in modern society. Peter Fitzpatrick uses the example of law, as an integral category of modern social thought, to challenge the claims of modernity which deny the relevance of myth to modern society.

Limited Responsibilities explores the interaction between the criminal justice system and the wider concerns of political and social institutions, including the welfare state, social work and forensic psychiatry. Using the key concept of `responsibility', Tamar Pitch critiques the classical theories of Anglo-American and Italian criminologies, examining the allocation of responsibilities to individuals and society. Looking at the shifting political relationship between criminal justice and the welfare system, Pitch considers the problems which arise in our understandings of responsibility, particularly in relation to the young and the mentally disabled. She also documents the centrality of responsiblity as an issue in women's struggles for legislation on sexual violence, as a paradigm of the politicisation of notions of crime, victimization and criminal responsibility.Limited Responsiblities will be of interest to lecturers, students and professionals in criminology, social policy and women's studies.

Limited Responsibilities explores the interaction between the criminal justice system and the wider concerns of political and social institutions, including the welfare state, social work and forensic psychiatry. Using the key concept of `responsibility', Tamar Pitch critiques the classical theories of Anglo-American and Italian criminologies, examining the allocation of responsibilities to individuals and society. Looking at the shifting political relationship between criminal justice and the welfare system, Pitch considers the problems which arise in our understandings of responsibility, particularly in relation to the young and the mentally disabled. She also documents the centrality of responsiblity as an issue in women's struggles for legislation on sexual violence, as a paradigm of the politicisation of notions of crime, victimization and criminal responsibility.Limited Responsiblities will be of interest to lecturers, students and professionals in criminology, social policy and women's studies.

In Jurisprudence as Ideology, Valerie Kerruish asks how it is that people who are put down, let down and kept down by law can be thought to have a general political obligation to obey it. She engages with contemporary issues in socialist, feminist and critical legal theory, and links these issues to debates in jurisprudence and the philosophy and sociology of law.

Winner of British Sociological Association Philip Abrams Memorial Prize 1993 Within feminism incest has often been subsumed under a discussion of sexual violence and abuse. Yet, important as this is, there has been little account of how feminist work itself relates to other ways of talking about and understanding incest.In Interrogating Incest Vikki Bell focuses on the issue of incest and its place in sociological theory, feminist theory and criminal law. By examining incest from a critical Foucauldian framework she considers how feminist discourse on incest itself fits into existing ways of talking about sex. Closely surveying the historical background to incest legislation and the theoretical issues involve, Vikki Bell delineates their practical implications and shows what uncomfortable questions and important dilemmas are raised by the criminalisation of incest.

The Mythology of Modern Law is a radical reappraisal of the role of myth in modern society. Peter Fitzpatrick uses the example of law, as an integral category of modern social thought, to challenge the claims of modernity which deny the relevance of myth to modern society.