First published in 1978, Crime and Penal Policy is primarily addressed to non-professional people interested in criminal law and the penal system, such as magistrates, prison visitors, and anyone accused or convicted of criminal offences. At the same time, many of the topics discussed will be of central interest to practising professionals and academic specialists in law, criminology and penal policy. Barbara Wootton was appointed to the Bench before she was old enough to vote, and served for forty-four years as a Justice of the Peace in London, including many years as a chairman in the Metropolitan Juvenile Courts and Deputy-Chairman of the South Westminster Bench. In this book she has brought together personal reflections on her exceptionally wide experience, and on her contacts with the development of penal policy as a member of the House of Lords, the Government Advisory Council on the Penal System and many other official Committees.