Criminal Justice Policy: Social Order, Risk And The ‘Governmental Project’

Chapter Summary

This chapter ?makes sense? of the inter-relationships between socio-political context, criminological theory, criminal justice policy, specific institutional practices and wider strategies of social control in Singapore. The experience of political and social upheavals in the immediate pre-independence and post-independence years effected major changes on the Singapore State, particularly on its social control apparatus. The Singapore State?s credence in prioritising order over justice is best exemplified in the crime control model of justice (Packer, 1968), which drives the operation of the criminal justice process, as opposed to the ideals of due process. The logic of the criminal justice system is thought to exemplify the ability of the State to ensure preventive deterrence, preserve social order and provide the opportunity for its citizens to take pleasure in the perceived safety and security, which has come to characterise much of modern Singapore.

Keywords: crime control model; criminal justice system; criminological theory; Singapore; social control; social order