Crime and Punishment in Canada: A History

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

Crime and Punishment in Canada is a superbly organized book in which
Carrigan breaks his topic down into two parts. In the first, he looks at
crime in Canadian history, from pioneer days to the present, then
examines white-collar crime, organized crime, juvenile delinquency, and
the female offender in more detail. In the second part, he examines the
treatment of criminals in this country, from pioneer days to the
present, then details the treatment of juvenile delinquents and of
female offenders. Each chapter concludes with a summary of its contents.

Obviously, this is not a complete history of Canadian criminology; as
Carrigan points out, it omits “law, policing, penal institutions, and
the evolution of the courts.” That said, the book is still seminal in
that it is the first to cover this field in its entirety.

Though researched and written by a university professor, as reflected
in the lengthy list of sources he consulted, this is not a book that is
difficult to read. Carrigan’s sprightly style and eye for anecdote
make the more theoretical parts of his study very palatable. He is
particularly strong when relating changes in the patterns of crime and
punishment to overall societal trends. He is not uncritical of the
system he analyzes, offering, for example, a dismal assessment of the
efficacy of the modern corrections system. He also observes that
“prevention programs have been largely neglected through our
history.”

This is an important book and also an enjoyable one.