Analysing criminal justice policy : the anti-social behaviour order and the pervasive effect of Packer's two models of the criminal justice process

Abstract

Herbert Packer claimed that his due process and crime control models of the criminal justice process provide a framework which may be used to analyse criminal justice policy. Although Packer’s models have been subjected to widespread academic criticism, the basic approach at the heart of his analytical framework – to view criminal justice policy as a clash between two polarized value systems – is still influential today. An outstanding example of this is provided by the debates which preceded the coming into force of the Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO). This dissertation argues that there are three fundamental lessons which any analysis of criminal justice policy must heed, and shows that the polarized approach which underlies Packer’s framework fails to heed these lessons. This meant that during the debates surrounding the ASBO key issues of concern were reduced to unnecessarily restrictive choices between two courses of action. This dissertation offers a more thorough analysis of these issues, which enables proposals for the reform of ASBO to be advanced.

Chapter one explains the thinking that lay behind the creation of the ASBO. It outlines the reasons why New Labour regarded existing arrangements as unable to tackle anti-social behaviour effectively, and describes how the ASBO was designed to overcome the problems New Labour perceived in tackling anti-social behaviour through either the civil or criminal law. Chapter two details the concerns held by critics of the ASBO, and New Labour’s response to these. Chapter three critically discuses Packer’s two models of the criminal justice process. In the course of this discussion the chapter draws out three lessons which any analysis of criminal justice policy must heed. Packer’s failure to heed these lessons is detailed. Chapter four shows that, notwithstanding its deficiencies, the basic approach at the heart of Packer’s analytical framework pervaded the debates surrounding the ASBO. This resulted in an impoverished analysis of key issues of concern.

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