We tend to see negative emotions and ‘punitiveness’ as understandable and appropriate responses to criminality. People who have transgressed the criminal law and caused harm to others are believed to be deserving of punishment for their offending regardless of whether this punishment makes any difference to their likelihood of reoffending in the future. Punishment conveys society’s disapproval and condemnation of such behaviour. Both media and political discourse about criminal behaviour use punitive rhetoric and arguments for increasing levels of external control on offenders. However, the task of criminal justice practitioners is to manage, control and help offenders with fairness and decency; a challenging expectation in this culture of punitiveness. This book outlines the case for developing the skills of emotional literacy and the use of positive emotions in the criminal justice workforce. In interventions with offenders, such a skill can help offenders begin to take responsibility for their behaviour, to develop internal controls and seek to change those aspects of their behaviour that are the most damaging to society and to themselves. In all situations it can enable criminal justice practitioners to understand and regulate their own emotions and to make better informed judgements and decisions about their practice.