Social order: Crime and justice in Scotland

This chapter explores the changing nature of social order in Scotland, both in terms of its trends and patterns of crime and the wider context of its policies on crime control and institutional structures of governance. It takes a historical perspective, although arguably the events since devolution mark this as one of the most active periods of both social and political change. As Keating observes, 'Crime is one of the most complex of public policy issues to define, to measure and to control' (2010: 249). Little surprise then that it has proven to be so controversial in the settlement of the post-devolution landscape.