Making Crime Pay

This work seeks to show how politicians constructed crime-related problems in ways which imply the need to enhance punishment and control and, simultaneously, to "end welfare as we know it". By analysing the process by which these "solutions" to the crime problem were legitimated and popularized, Beckett reveals the political nature of the campaign to "get tough" and highlights the need for a more inclusive debate on crime and its solutions. This book is intended for academics and policymakers interested in the politics of crime control, and general readers interested in society, culture, and politics.