Punitivity International Developments.

During the past two decades criminological discussion in Western industrial societies has been increasingly focused on the concept of punitiveness, a concept that is frequently linked to the staggering rise in inmate numbers in the United States from the first half of the 1970 onward, making it the country with the highest prison rate per 100,000 inhabitants in the Western world. Lee sees the development in the United States in connexion with the growing discussion of "fear of crime" during the late 1960s. "Since the late 1960s the fear of crime has progressively become a profoundly engaging field of study for criminologists and other social researchers" (2001, p. 467; see also Hale 1996). The findings of inquiries and opinion polls, which confirmed the presence of such fears among the population, moved the topic to the forefront and it did not take long until it was "discovered" by politicians. This development went hand in hand with increased media reporting on crime related matters, usually concerning spectacular cases, and thus creating in the population a distorted image of the actual extent and nature of crime (see Beckett and Sasson 2004). Some politicians were quick to use this erroneous perception for their own purposes by creating so-called "politics of fear" (see, for instance, for Japan Miyazawa 2008).

Contents: Kury, Helmut & Shea, Evelyn: Punitivity and Insecurity – An Introduction; II.1. Insecurity, Politics and the Media: Larrauri, Elena & Varona, Daniel: Democracy at Work? Public Opinion and Penal Reforms in Spain Fortete, César & Cesano, José Daniel: The Role of Victimization, Punitive Attitudes and the Mass Media in Criminal Reforms in Latin America Mucchielli, Laurent: The Rise and Domination of the Law-and-Order Ideology in France (1990 – 2010): Some of its Consequences on the Criminal Justice System and on Social Control; Mosconi, Giuseppe: The Spectre of Insecurity and the “Prospering” of Prisons; Recasens, Amadeu: The Development of Punitiveness: The Case of the Police. II.2. Measuring Feelings of Insecurity and Punitive Attitudes: Kury, Helmut & Obergfell-Fuchs, Joachim: Punitiveness – How to measure it – The Effect of Punishment; Klaus, Witold, Rzepli?ska, Irena & Wo?niakowska-Fajst, Dagmara: Punitivity in Polish Law, Public Opinion, and Penal Policy; Zarafonitou, Christina: Punitiveness, Fear of Crime and Social Views; Varona Gómez, Daniel: Citizens and Punitive Attitudes: A pilot study of Spanish university students; Llobet Rodríguez, Javier: Punitiveness in Costa Rica; Saar, Jüri: 20 Years After: Crime, Crime Control and Fear of Crime of the Population in Estonia 1991 – 2010; Bacanovi?, Oliver & Jovanova, Natasha: Punitiveness in the Republic of Macedonia; Nikoli?-Ristanovi?, Vesna, Dimitrijevi?, Jelena & Stevkovi?, Ljiljana: Feelings of Insecurity, Victimization Experience, and Student’s Attitudes toward Punishment; Rozum, J., Kotulan, Petr & Tomasek, Jan: The Effectiveness of Parole in the Czeck Republic; Kov?o Vukadin, Irma & Vukosav, Joško: Students’ Attitudes towards Risk, Victimization and Punishment in Croatia. II.3. Has Criminal Legislation become more punitive? Yenisey, Feridun: Revised Punishments and Security Measures in Turkey; Yoshida, Toshio: Punitivity Today in Japan; Shestakov, Dmitrij A. & A. P. Danilov: Criminal Law and Punitivity in Modern Russia; Tournier, Pierre V:. Godot has arrived. French Parliament has finally voted on its Prison Law; Prinsloo, Johan: Punishment in South and Southern Africa.