This book explores the origins of the so-called 'punitive turn' in penal policy across Western nations over the past two decades. It demonstrates how the context of neoliberalism has informed penal policy-making and argues that it is ultimately neoliberalism which has led to the recent intensification of punishment.

'Criminal Justice and Neoliberalism is a very readable, well written and useful starting point and summary of various aspects of the debate around the links between neoliberalism and punitiveness. It makes an original contribution to the development of a more specific, detailed, locally based account of the ways in which neoliberal governance and managerialism have played out in party political programmes and policies to construct new realms, discourses and technologies of risk, promote individualistic conceptions of and responses to crime and, in criminogenic fashion, break down older social solidarities.' - David Brown, Criminology and Criminal Justice

"What makes Bell's study so valuable [ ] is its willingness to delve deeper into her topic than others have previously done. She questions the status quo of criminal justice thought in order to render our current conditions more precisely. Her analyses are elaborate, insightful, and carefully considered within the context of the United Kingdom, first, and the Western world, second. This is an indispensable book for all interested in neoliberalism and criminal justice in our contemporary context." - Contemporary Sociology 41(3)