Crime to Control: Crime and Punishment Post 20th Century

Crime and Punishment Post 20th Century

Themes

Language of class to 'psy' sciences. 

Intervening early. 

Child saving. 

Context of turning point - 1960/70s.

Child Saving to Child Guidance

Growing influence of psychology, psychiatry and psychoanalysis on ideas of child development.

Childhood as a vulnerable period - nurturing emotionally balanced children (psychoanalysis).

Child guidance clinics and the diagnosis of children 'at risk' of crime and 'problem families' (1930s-40s). 

Burt, 1928: 'if the young delinquent is detected at an early age, before his undesirable tendancies have set in and hardened into fixed habits, then provided his intelligence and health are normal there is every hope of reforming him.' 

John Bowlby: 1944, 1953

Strong separation from mothers found in young offenders compared to non-offenders (1944). 

Disruptive attachments associated with maladjustment in youth and adulthood. 

Maternal deprivation theory (1953): continuous relationships with mother is the key to healthy child development. Otherwise, the adolescent can have: 

- Difficulty forming adult attachments; 

- Delinquency 

- Lack of remorse and affection for others; 

- Psychological problems and cognitive disorders. 

Examples in Practice 

Children and Young Persons Act…