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The aims of this study are to examine the influence of offender age, offender abuse history, crime outcome and attributions for crime on judgments about young offenders.

A sample of 240 British undergraduates was asked to respond to a scenario about a young person who committed a crime, recommend a sentence, and rate the young offender's criminal accountability and legal understandings. Their attributions for crime were measured using the CDS‐II, adapted for observer attributions. The age of the young offender (ten years, 14 years, or 17 years), abuse history (abused or not abused) and crime outcome (victim death or injury) were varied systematically.

Internal attributions predicted participants' beliefs about punishment and sentencing recommendations. Although participants considered the youngest offenders to be less criminally accountable and unlikely to understand the legal process, this did not affect recommended punishment. Attributions of personal control were influenced by abuse history; the behavior of offenders with a history of abuse was considered less within the offender's personal control.

The results demonstrate the types of attributions and information that influence the opinions of jury‐eligible British adults when asked to make decisions about serious offences committed by young offenders.

This book brings together an international group of scholars whose chapters, analytically and/or empirically, engage with, challenge, and further advance our understanding of ‘mass supervision’ across jurisdictions. In this introductory chapter, we describe the impetus for and purpose of this book and briefly outline each chapter’s contribution. Together, contributors to this book provide contextualised insight into what ‘mass supervision’ is, how it works, and what effects it has on individuals and communities. The chapters span macro-examinations of the socio-political origins and developments of probation and community-based supervision across jurisdictions and micro-examinations of how people perceive and experience punishment in the community both as its practitioners and as its subjects.

The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of some of the deficiencies in the criminal justice system in Jamaica, particularly relating to financial crime. The author also examines possible alternatives in the approach that may be taken in tackling financial crime.

The methodology used was a review of data on financial crime in Jamaica as well as recent significant cases. An analysis of key pieces of legislation was also undertaken. In some instances, a comparative approach was invoked, with special reference to the UK and US laws.

Some essential findings include the positive impact that may be gained from restorative justice principles, the effective enforcement of asset recovery provisions and stricter regulation of the financial services industry.

There is no similar comprehensive examination of these issues concerning Jamaica.

The purpose of this paper is to question and challenge the current punishment‐focused approach to sentencing of offenders and introduce a behavioural framework that focuses on the positive reinforcement of “good” behaviours, motivators, habits and consequences that would engage, inspire and compel change in individuals, equipping individuals with real behavioural skills through sustainable personal development

Both offenders/inmates at all levels of the probation and the criminal justice system were spoken to and a range of recently published (1997‐2007) papers that explore the causes of offending behaviour, in the UK, Europe and the USA were considered.

When researching why individuals offend/re‐offend it became apparent that there was a gap between what society saw as acceptable and the current behaviour of offenders. What was interesting was the approach in the criminal justice system is very different to that of the business world when it attempts to close the gap between actual and desired behaviours/results. In the Criminal Justice system the reason for intervention in a sentencing situation is primarily to administer punishment, whereas in the business world where there is a gap we would aim to close that gap through the provision of knowledge, skills, practice, behaviours/values that moves the individual to our desired state ‐ a more competent and capable position.

This paper challenges the current approach of continuing doing the same things that we always have done with offender management and expect different results, rehabilitated offenders with reducing levels of crime and offending.