Sarah Armstrong is a lecturer in criminology and a member of the Centre for Law and Society, University of Edinburgh. Her current research is in the sociology of punishment and focuses on developing a sociology of accountability, analysing privatization in justice and punishment, and contributing to social and cultural scholarship on risk. Lesley McAra is a senior lecturer in criminology and a member of the Centre for Law and Society, University of Edinburgh. She writes and teaches in the fields of the sociology of punishment, youth crime and justice, gender, and crime and criminal justice. Currently she is a co-director of a major programme of research funded by the ESCR, Scottish Executive and the Nuffield Foundation on youth transitions and crime.