Criminal Law Reform and Two Realities of the Criminal Process (From Perspectives in Criminal Law, P 255-276, 1984, Anthony N Doob and Edward L Greenspan, eds. - See NCJ-99791)

• NCJ Number: 99799
• Author(s): R V Ericson; P M Baranek
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 22 pages
• Sale Source: Canada Law Book
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: Canada

Annotation

This essay examines the process of criminal law reform in Canada in two contexts: the control culture, in which behavior is designated and reacted to as criminal, and the public culture, in which issues of criminal law designations and reactions are debated.

Abstract

A detailed exploration of criminal law and penal reform in Canada over the past decade clarifies the interaction of the control culture and public culture. This includes an analysis of reforms pertaining to decriminalization, diversion, criminal procedure, and inmate rights. An explanation of the reform process focuses on gaps between the ideals espoused by reformers and the inevitable failures in implementing those reforms through criminal justice agencies. This explanation posits the idealization of reform in the public culture and the organizational implementation of reform in the control culture. Suggestions are offered for researching the public culture of reform, including (1) a study of the media operating in conjunction with the political and moral imperatives of reformers and (2) an examination of the nature of the conceptualization and the discourse used for advocating reform. 66 references.