Criminal Justice Since 1945: A Brief History

As students of criminal justice, we quickly get used to the way things are. Institutions like the police and the prison are now ubiquitous in everyday life and can often feel concrete, monolithic and enduring. It is easy to assume that current ways of working are the result of conscious choice, or that the aims and techniques of criminal justice are settled and stable. Historical study allows us to push back against these commonplace assumptions. It connects us to the past and helps us to explain how these complex legacies continue to shape the world around us. It reveals the contingency of current criminal justice arrangements and draws attention to the paths not travelled when promising alternatives were dismissed, abandoned or left unfulfilled. Perhaps, of greater importance, historical study challenges the widespread assumption that ‘we live in “new times” that demand new concepts, ideas and understandings’ (Crawford, as quoted in Rock, 2005: 473) and, in so doing, presents us with opportunities to learn from past mistakes so that we might plot a more profitable course in the future.