Race and Crime: A Critical Engagement. By Michael Rowe (Sage, 2012, 216pp. £23.99 pb)

Without careful reading, the contribution to knowledge made by Race and Crime is not easily grasped. Initial reading of the book might leave one wondering what new insights practitioner as an agent of change. For the purposes of future developments in practice and policy, this starts to build a compelling body of evidence. Further evidence is presented in the fourth and final section in relation to specific offender groups. Again, young offenders feature in Tim Bateman’s analysis of enforce-ment within the youth justice system in England and Wales throughout its ‘punitive turn ’ and the links between enforcement and custody rates. As in the adult proba-tion world, rule-based enforcement has relaxed under the Coalition administration, but still the overall climate is disciplinarian and the rhetoric one of firm enforce-ment. He advocates using the present loosening of the reins consciously to promote engagement and a more child-friendly approach to enforcement to counterbalance this. Engagement and responsivity are also key messages from the two discussions of women and drug-using offenders, given that they present particular challenges to rigid and overly structured enforcement regimes. Expanding this section would have mad