Reconceptualising the Moral Economy of Criminal Justice

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xii

   PDF

2. Theorising Morality: Assembling the Intellectual Resources

   • Philip Whitehead

   Pages 1-27

3. Moral Economy: Exploring a Contested Concept

   • Philip Whitehead

   Pages 28-42

4. Moral Economy, Criminal Justice and Probation: From 1979 to 2010

   • Philip Whitehead

   Pages 43-60

5. Moral Economy, Markets and Privatisation: From 2010 to 2015

   • Philip Whitehead

   Pages 61-82

6. Morality and Justice: Challenging the Established Order

   • Philip Whitehead

   Pages 83-95

7. Back Matter

   Pages 96-111

   PDF

This book reconceptualises the concept of moral economy in its relevance for, and application to, the criminal justice system in England and Wales. It advances the argument that criminal justice cannot be reduced to an instrumentally driven operation to achieve fiscal efficiencies or provide investment opportunities to the commercial sector.

• moral economy
• probation
• criminal justice
• punishment
• neoliberalism
• capitalism
• criminology
• philosophy
• morality
• Moral

“Whitehead is exceptionally well-read and has drawn on a wide range of philosophical, theological, psychological and sociological texts to elaborate his argument and to apply his ideas to criminal justice and probation. … a book that might be of interest to practitioners and to scholars from different academic disciplines. It could be read with profit by theologians and philosophers as a valuable example of the way in which philosophy and theology can (and should) inspire contemporary debate in public policy.” (Rob Canton, Probation Journals, Vol. 63 (1), 2016)

• University of Teesside, UK

  Philip Whitehead

Philip Whitehead is Reader in Criminal and Social Justice at Teesside University, UK. Previously he worked for the Probation Service for 27 years and held numerous positions including Research and Information Officer. He has researched various aspects of probation and criminal justice since the 1980s and is the author of numerous books and articles.

Policies and ethics