Example crime and the justice system dissertation topic 3:

Evidence of mercy in justice in British prisons.

Justice is meted out in prison for offences committed within its walls, not only by representatives of the law but by the prisoners themselves. This dissertation examines the application of mercy by prisoners for transgressions committed against them by other prisoners. It considers the degree to which prisoners may demonstrate mercy to each other, for example in the case of minor theft, or assault, and the degree to which prisoners will undertake their own measures of justice against those whom they deem insufficiently punished, such as the rapists of children. It evaluates whether the justice that is exercised by prisoners is a ‘truer’ form of justice than that within courts, and whether the law can learn from what some may claim is little more than favouritism and savagery.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Bottoms, A E, ‘Interpersonal Violence and Social Order in Prisons’ [1999]. 26 Crime & Just, 205
• Cooke, D J, ‘Violence in Prisons: The Influence of Regime Factors’ [1991]. 30(2) Howard J Crim J 95
• Liebling, A and Arnold, H, ‘Social Relationships between Prisoners in a Maximum Security Prison: Violence, Faith, and the Declining Nature of Trust’ [2012] 40(5) J Crim J 413