In the 1950s and 1960s intellectual discussions of crime were dominated by the opinion that criminal behavior was caused by mental illness and social oppression, and that criminals were helpless “victims.” A book by a well- known psychiatrist was entitled The Crime of Punishment (see Menninger [1966]). Such attitudes began to exert a major influence on social policy, as laws changed to expand criminals’ rights. These changes reduced the appre- hension and conviction of criminals, and provided less protection to the law-abiding population
