cjm 75: Perspectives from North America

This twentieth anniversary issue includes a themed section, guest edited by Stephanie Hayman, that provides a uniquely accessible overview of criminal justice developments in North America.

All too often politicians and their advisers have flown across the Atlantic in search of solutions to the most pressing crime problems of the day.

So it is not too difficult to come up with a list of initiatives that began in different parts of the continent; offender behaviour programmes for prisoners; zero tolerance policing and the broken windows theory of maintaining social order; drug courts; community justice centres; gang disruption programmes - these are just some examples.

The contributors attempt to consider critically some of the policies and practices that have emerged from that continent and the merits of policy transfer to the UK and Europe. Following the historic election of Barack Obama and recent political change in Canada the themed section also seeks to explore the changing criminal justice landscape in those countries with contributions from some of their most well known criminologists.