1. Stephen Farrall (CCR, Sheffield Univ) 12th September 2017; UCL.
Was Thatcherism Just About Neo-Liberalism? Exploring the Criminal Justice System since the 1980s
Stephen Farrall (CCR, Sheffield Univ)
12th September 2017; UCL.

2. References to ‘Thatcherism’ (in title or topic, WoK)
19/11/2018
© The University of Sheffield

3. References to ‘Neo-liberalism’ (in title or topic, WoK)
19/11/2018
© The University of Sheffield

4. Figure 1: Property Crime Per Capita (Home Office Recorded Statistics and BCS)

5. What Drove up Crime Rates?
Increases in unemployment (driven by changes in economic policies).
Increases in economic inequality (driven by changes in taxation policies).
Reductions in social security payments (driven by desire to cut state expenditure).

6. Figure 2: Percentage worried about crime (BCS 1982-2005)

7. Fig 3: Punitive opinion* (excluding the death penalty) and recorded crime in England and Wales,
*Based on eight CSE&W and BSAS items relating to sentencing, CJS doing a good job, obeying the law (but excluding those relating to the death penalty).

8. Thatcher’s CJS Legacy

9. More ways of being punitive
Thatcher’s CJS Legacy
Empty!
More ways of being punitive

10. Towards a Conclusion
Thatcherism was a mix of both neo-liberal and neo-conservative instincts.
Changes which were driven by neo-liberal instincts (esp. employment and social security) associated with rises in crime.
Rises in crime increased punitiveness amongst public, politicians and the CJS.
So neo-liberal innovations led to neo-conservative CJS policies.

11. Keeping in Touch Email newsletter (s.farrall@sheffield.ac.uk)
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