Crisis and penal policymaking in England and Wales

Harry Annison and Thomas Guiney

Chapter 14 in Research Handbook on Penal Policy, 2026, pp 273-291 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The language of crisis and scandal has permeated the public consciousness and now appears as a defining feature of our national conversation. There remains, however, a lack of definitional clarity about what is meant by this value-laden terminology, how crises shape the penal system and what they reveal about penal policymaking in the early decades of the 21st century. In Chapter 14, we examine how crises are (re)constructed and mediated through the political system in England and Wales. We offer some definitional ground clearing intended to bring greater conceptual clarity to the field, and we review the extant criminological literature relating to crisis and scandal. We present a case study of recent parole controversies between 2018 and 2024, and we reflect upon an emerging populist disposition towards crisis that has the potential to undermine established liberal democratic norms and increase the potential for democratic backsliding.

Keywords: Crisis; Justice; Parole; Penal policy; Politics; Populism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035308521
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