Showing papers in "Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology in 2000"
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TL;DR: A study of repeat burglary in an area of Brisbane using police calls for service data is presented in this paper, where the authors demonstrate that the prevalence of residential repeat victim addresses (hot dots) is of a similar magnitude to that found in studies in the United Kingdom and that the time distributions of revictimisation are identical with those found in the UK and elsewhere.
Abstract: To date there has been little Australian research on repeat victimisation This is a study of repeat burglary in an area of Brisbane using police calls for service data We demonstrate: (a) the prevalence of residential repeat victim addresses (‘hot dots’) is of a similar magnitude to that found in studies in the United Kingdom; (b) the time distributions of revictimisation are identical with those found in studies in the UK and elsewhere; (c) ‘hot spots’ (small areas with high crime density) can be identified by statistical analyses of spatial concentrations of incidents; (d) unstable hot spots tend to be temporary aggregations of hot dots, whereas stable hot spots seem to reflect more the social and physical characteristics of certain localities; and (e) the overall incidence of burglary could be reduced by at least 25 per cent if all repeat victimisation could be eliminated There are a number of areas where concepts and techniques for repeat victim research could potentially be strengthened: (a) clarifying the connections between hot dots and hot spots, particularly through exploration of the concept of a ‘near repeat address’; (b) applying survival analysis to the data on the time periods between victimisations; and (c) using moving average techniques to examine changes in the spatial distributions of burglary over time
129 citations
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TL;DR: The authors argue that sexual violence is not amenable to quick fix strategies that place responsibility for prevention entirely on individual men or women, and suggest ways to resist this which place greater emphasis on the promotion of sexual ethics; the eroticisation of consent; the reinvention of the norms of romance to include both these, and the complete separation of the psycho-social-symbolic connections between sex and violence.
Abstract: This article critically assesses the main social policy responses to preventing rape following much feminist struggle to make sexual violence a public matter of legitimate concern. It considers the preventative potential of legal measures, anti-violence campaigns waged by feminist and men's groups in the US and Australia, public education campaigns in Schools and Universities, and public awareness campaigns sponsored by the state.We argue that sexual violence is not amenable to quick fix strategies that place responsibility for prevention entirely on individual men or women. While we recognise that responsibilising victims and individualising offenders is consistent with wider global shifts in social policy calling upon individuals to manage their own risk, we argue that the increasing reliance on such neo-liberal social policy is especially problematic in preventing rape. The paper suggests ways to resist this which place greater emphasis on the promotion of sexual ethics; the eroticisation of consent; the reinvention of the norms of romance to include both these, and the complete separation of the psycho-social-symbolic connections between sex and violence, and ultimately the re-evaluation of the cultural expectations of masculinity and femininity.
119 citations
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TL;DR: The closing years of the 20th century saw the circulation of many theories proposing that criminal justice and penality are undergoing radical transformation as mentioned in this paper, and the current status of these theories can be traced back to this period.
Abstract: The closing years of the 20th century saw the circulation of many theories proposing that criminal justice and penality are undergoing radical transformation. The paper reviews the current status o...
75 citations
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34 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the implications for the future development of criminology in Australia of changing patterns of Commonwealth, State and non-government organisation funding and explore what might happen to criminologists if the entrepreneurial periphery gains a tighter purchase on the academic core.
Abstract: As part of the Australian university sector, criminologists have been encouraged to find commercial clients for their skills and products. This paper examines the implications for the future development of criminology in Australia of changing patterns of Commonwealth, State and non-government organisation funding. It explores what might happen to criminology if the entrepreneurial periphery gains a tighter purchase on the academic core.
22 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine recent theorising of broader social and political trends in modern societies and discuss their implications for the practice of criminology, and discuss the implications of these trends on the field of criminal justice.
Abstract: This paper examines recent theorising of broader social and political trends in modern societies and discusses their implications for the practice of criminology. Globalisation has facilitated the ...
21 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, a sophisticated analysis of data on prisoners released in England and Wales, to determine whether there is any reduction in recidivism which can be ascribed to the process of release on parole is presented.
Abstract: The question "Does parole work?" remains unanswered, as evidenced by moves to abolish or limit it in various jurisdictions. For example, England and Wales has legislation on its statute books which to all intents and purposes abolishes parole. Antipodean jurisdictions have also considered this. Although to date none has yet abolished it, discretionary early release regularly comes under critical scrutiny. This paper attempts to add to the relatively limited literature addressing the question. It reports on a sophisticated analysis of data on prisoners released in England and Wales, to determine whether there is any reduction in recidivism which can be ascribed to the process of release on parole. It finds a small, but consistent, effect in favour of parole, on a number of outcome measures.
21 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined a sample of both male and female respondents of applications for domestic violence protection orders in Queensland, Australia and found that respondents who were respondents on multiple DVPO applications were more likely to have nonspousal violent criminal histories than men involved in only one protection order application.
Abstract: This study examined a sample of both male and female respondents of applications for domestic violence protection orders in Queensland, Australia. The socio-demographic characteristics and criminal histories of respondents of only one domestic violence protection order (DVPO) application were compared with respondents of multiple DVPO applications. No differences were found between the groups in socio-economic background or ethnicity. The respondent's gender, marital status, and criminal history discriminated among respondents. Females were respondents on only one DVPO application. Respondents on cross applications were more likely to be married. Men who were respondents on multiple DVPO applications were more likely to have non-spousal violent criminal histories than men involved in only one protection order application. However, Indigenous people and people from disadvantaged areas were over-represented in the sample. These results of this study provide support for Johnson's (1995) concept of two distinct forms of couple violence. The implications of these findings for understanding the nature of domestic violence and managing violent offenders are discussed.
21 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship between assessments of personal risk of being a victim of six different types of crime, including domestic violence, stalking, stalking and sexual exploitation.
Abstract: This article reports on some of the findings of a study into fear of crime among a group of Australians, examining the relationship between assessments of personal risk of being a victim of six spe...
20 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors trace the development of the community policing approach to crime prevention in Singapore, examines the perspectives which inform the approach, and briefly describes the various crime pr...
Abstract: The paper traces the development of the community policing approach to crime prevention in Singapore, examines the perspectives which inform the approach, and briefly describes the various crime pr...
20 citations
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TL;DR: For more than a decade Australian jurisdictions have enthusiastically embraced wide-reaching laws for the forfeiture and confiscation of the proceeds of crime, and despite the lack of evidence regarding its effectiveness, this type of legislation has become progressively more severe as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: For more than a decade Australian jurisdictions have enthusiastically embraced wide-reaching laws for the forfeiture and confiscation of the proceeds of crime. These were offered as new and potent weapons against organised crime. Despite the lack of evidence regarding its effectiveness, this type of legislation has become progressively more severe. This paper enquires how such legislation has been applied in practice over the past ten years, whether it has been properly targeted, whether it has achieved its intended deterrent effect, and whether the enactment of ever more draconian measures is the appropriate policy response.
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TL;DR: Finnane, Chan, and Dixon as discussed by the authors provide a critical and comprehensive contribution to understand systematic corruption and the reform process with implications that can be drawn well beyond NSW and Australia, focusing on history regulation and culture as key aspects of policing through the case study of New South Wales.
Abstract: A little over one year ago the Lawrence Report found that the London Metropolitan Police were institutionally racist; and the Patton Report into policing in Northern Ireland found what many had known for some time: the Royal Ulster Constabulary were a militarised, sectarian force with a history of repression and subversion to the rule of law. Currently, the implementation of both inquiries'recommendations is the object of considerable political and social debate in Britain. The debates can be characterised by an urgency to \"see\" recommendations implemented, even if the assumptions upon which the recommendations were made are continually diminished or downplayed. The Minister for the Home Office, Jack Straw, struggles over the words\"institutionally racist\" amidst a police backlash to the Lawrence findings, and the Secretary for Northern Ireland, Peter Mandelsen, is yet to utter the words \"sectarian\" and \"RUC\" in the same sentence as July looms large. In light of such developments in the international arena the timing of Dixon's latest book on the difficultyof reforming the police is exceptional. In focusing on history regulation and culture as key aspects of policing through the case study of New South Wales, Dixon offers a critical and comprehensive contribution to understanding systematic corruption and the reform process with implications that can be drawn well beyond NSW and Australia. This book provides multiple avenues to explore the dysfunctional nature of policing in both the historical and contemporary context. Basedon research papers presented to the Woods Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service, the chapter authors, Mark Finnane, Janet Chan, and David Dixon, offer contributions on the history of policing; police culture; and the regulation and normative structure of policing as well as an evaluation of the Royal Commission respectively. In focusing on the ways in which policing has changed, Finnane paysparticular attention to the history of corruption, popular knowledge of corruption, and the tenacity of the NSW police service in, individually and collectively, resisting reform. Despite a high rate of organisational change, the implementation of reform has failed to guarantee long.term remedies to the multiple problems identified by various inquiries and commissions. Finnane highlights the shifting domain of policing, the changing tensions between government and the police, and inadequate conceptualisations of the primary function of the police as contributing to policing'sdysfunctional state. Dixon first turns his attention to the legal regulation of policing and argues that a fundamental problem in NSW policing has been its failure to clearly demarcate expectations of good and bad policing. Thus, Dixon problematises notions of \"good\" policing by examining specific areas of procedural and substantive law that
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TL;DR: Accessible justice (tribunals), integrated justice (drug courts), community justice (sentencing circles or conferencing), group justice (ulysses agreements), and contractual justice (private “set...
Abstract: Accessible justice (tribunals), integrated justice (drug courts), community justice (sentencing circles or “conferencing”), group justice (ulysses agreements), and contractual justice (private “set...
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TL;DR: The authors considers the plight of criminology under post-disciplinary conditions and suggests how a critical and deconstructive approach (a logos) to crimen as accusation (judgement, verdict) could be used to develop a postdisciplinary criminological approach.
Abstract: This paper considers the plight of criminology under post-disciplinary conditions. By returning to the etymology of the term “criminology”, it suggests how a critical and deconstructive approach (a logos) to crimen as accusation (judgement, verdict) could be used to develop a post-disciplinary criminology. The latter aims to challenge the technocratic priorities of governance that appear to have colonised many discourses framed around images of “crime”.
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TL;DR: The authors provide an overview of a program of research on the history of modern punishment that uses the work of Norbert Elias as its theoretical frame of reference. But they do not provide a critical point of departure from both Foucauldian and postmodernist scholarship in this area.
Abstract: This paper provides an overview of a programme of research on the history of modern punishment that uses the work of Norbert Elias as its theoretical frame of reference. It sketches in the contours of this programme while at the same time showing how this work can provide a critical point of departure from both Foucauldian and postmodernist scholarship in this area.
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TL;DR: The authors examined the use of the pre-sentence report in the sentencing process in the Wellington District Court to establish if gender and race biases were evident and found that few differences were found between the way in which Maori (New Zealand's indigenous people) and Pakeha (European New Zealanders) were dealt with in this case.
Abstract: Research in England, USA and Australia has found that pre-sentence reports may produce gender and race biases which can have a direct effect on sentencing, thus contributing to the over-representation of black and indigenous offenders and the under-representation of women in the criminal justice system. Since 1985 in New Zealand, pre-sentence reports have become an increasingly important feature of the criminal justice system because of expanded community-based penalties which are administered by the Probation Service and for which a fuller report is required. This paper examined the use of the pre-sentence report in the sentencing process in the Wellington District Court to establish if gender and race biases were evident. A sample of 152 pre-sentence reports were examined and the major findings did not agree with previous research. In terms of race, few differences were found between the way in which Maori (New Zealand's indigenous people) and Pakeha (European New Zealanders) were dealt with in this cou...
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the evidence regarding the nature of violent crime in Australia and suggest that violence is not increasing and the risks of violence are not equally spread, and the effects of these misperceptions on public opinion, political strategy and crime policy.
Abstract: This paper examines the evidence regarding the nature of violent crime in Australia. Although it is often assumed that violence is increasing and that violence represents an equal risk to all citizens, the evidence does not support these assumptions. A closer look at the data that is available suggests that violence is not increasing and the risks of violence are not equally spread. The effects of these misperceptions on public opinion, political strategy and crime policy is discussed. It is argued that the interplay between information and policy is complex. For example, the interests and proclivities of the public in seeing crime in a sensationalised way can not be dismissed. Further, the usefulness of crime and punishment to politicians looking for grand symbols is central to the politics of violence. It is argued that those responsible for crime policy can be encouraged to pursue more effective directions if policies are subjected to robust evaluations which are designed to test for outcomes in terms ...
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TL;DR: The authors examines the work of self-defined exponents of a post-modern criminology, which takes Jack Katz's Seductions of Crime: Moral and Sensual Attractions in D...
Abstract: This article examines the work of self-defined exponents of a “postmodern” criminology. This school of critical criminology takes Jack Katz's Seductions of Crime: Moral and Sensual Attractions in D...
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TL;DR: Milovanovic as mentioned in this paper summarizes the emerging threads and their application to critical criminology, and then argues for contingent, integrative perspectives rooted more in a holographic conception of social reality.
Abstract: Modernist thought in criminology and law is being eclipsed by the postmodern perspective for the new millennium. Although some of modernist's contributions are surely useful in understanding crime and social justice, it's exclusive use has become a stagnant force. Postmodern thought, of the affirmative form, has offered a new beginning. It is marked by transgressions, border crossings, edgework and reconstruction. We can identify several emerging threads (psychoanalytic semiotics, chaos theory, catastrophe theory, edgework, and topology theory) as well as attempts of integration (e.g., constitutive criminology, integrative-constitutive criminology). This article first summarizes the emerging threads and their application to critical criminology, and then argues for contingent, integrative perspectives rooted more in a holographic conception of social reality.1 This article is more suggestive and offers lines of inquiry for critical research in the new millennium. Elsewhere (Milovanovic, 1997c, pp. 3–28), ...
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TL;DR: Turvey summarises criminal profiling as "the process of inferring distinctive characteristics of the individual offender responsible for a particular crime" (p. 1). In contrast, movies and television series readily suggest that criminal profiling is the work of chain smoking alcoholics, tormented psychics or rookie cops plucked from the academy to solve serial murders for the FBI as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Turvey summarises criminal profiling as 'the process of inferring distinctive characteristics of the individual offender responsible for a particular crime' (p. 1). In contrast, movies and television series readily suggest that criminal profiling is the work of chain-smoking alcoholics, tormented psychics or rookie cops plucked from the academy to solve serial murders for the FBI. Most paradigms of criminal profiling, however, require rather more logic, skills and expertise than that attributed to the fictional realm. It may,nevertheless, come as a surprise to learn that there is no governing body that regulates criminal profiling. As Turvey recognises, 'The plain truth is that many of those who refer to themselves as criminal profilers have no or little case experience, inadequate levels of training, and exist almost parasitically on the ignorance of the professional communities that profilers are intended to serve (p, xxviii). Thus, the aim of this book is twofold. Although primarily an academic text aimed at students, forensic clinicians, lawyers and detectives, underlining this work is the author's desire for criminal profiling to be regulated and afforded expert recognition. Turvey, himself a criminal profller and forensic scientist, states, 'The criminal profiting community cannot continue to play to the images portrayed in the popular media and expect to achieve professional credibility, or maintain professional integrity (p, xxx). Although the majority of the chapters in this book are by Turvey, individuals from the fields of law enforcement, information technology, along with a psychiatrist and criminalist, have each contributed to the text. The first of the 25 chapters in this book offers. 'An Overview of Criminal Profiling.' The chapter summarises aspects of serious crime investigation in the US and UK and how such cases have influenced the evolution of criminal profiling as it is today. In chapter 2 Turvey takes a brief look at media portrayals of criminal profiling, in an effort to dispel the myths that psychic abilities are utilised in such practice. Indeed, it is no coincidence that Turvey refers to the supernatural under this chapter heading, Inductive Criminal Profiling. Turvey openly acknowledges that such methods, based on subjectively formed experience, are too often based on intuition, premise and statistical argument. Chapters 3 and 4, The Deductive Method of Criminal Profiling, and Goals of the Deductive Method of Criminal Profiling, respectively, introduce the model of criminal profiling utilised by Turvey. The book subsequently progresses using a deductive perspective, where one is encouraged to approach criminal profiling through 'a process of logic, reasoning, critical thinking and argumentation' (p. 15). The process referred to by the author as behavioural evidence analysis (BEA) is the thorough examination of forensic evidence, victimology and crime scene characteristics (p, 31). Turvey views these three components as a language for crime-scene reconstruction and an expression of what occurred and how. The final step is the convergence of all the available physical and behavioural evidence and comprises the final, fully rendered criminal profile. In tum, chapters 5 to 11 lead
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors pointed out that "difference is the central focus of criminology, and also a key motif in "affirmative post-modern" work aimed at reconstruction of theories of justice".
Abstract: The principal task of criminology is to produce the criminal as object-of-knowledge. Whether the sources of criminality are located in biology, psychology or culture — as in the various right realisms — or in the class, racist and sexist structures and values of societies — as in left realisms and the new criminologies of masculinities — the offender as object-of-knowledge generally emerges as young, impoverished, often black, usually male, and marginalised. The offender is portrayed as different, as Other. The article points out that “difference” is the central focus of criminology, and also a key motif in “affirmative postmodern” work aimed at reconstruction of theories of justice. Some emergent theories and practices of justice are mentioned, and it is argued that theories and institutions of justice need to bring together acknowledgement of difference, and elaboration and defence of rights.
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TL;DR: The fifth edition of the Crime and Criminal Justice Textbook as mentioned in this paper was published in Australia and New Zealand in the early 1970s, with 46 contributors in that 854 page tome, a collection that was principally focused on policing, the courts, victims and corrections.
Abstract: Duncan Chappell and Paul Wilson's names are synonymous in Australia and New Zealand with the production of quality criminological texts that provide up to date and broadly based summaries of key areas of criminal justice and contemporary criminology for students, academics and policy-makers alike. My first exposure to their collaborative efforts was reading the watershed 1972 edition which was prescribed as the text for my initial criminological studies. There were 46 contributors in that 854 page tome, a collection that was principally focused on aspects of policing, the courts, victims and corrections. The number of contributors to this fifth edition, almost 30 years later, has fallen to 22, yet the range of topics has broadened considerably. This current volume deals with a variety of themes that are often overlooked by justice text writers, including restorative justice, feminist perspectives, the impact of globalisation on crime and justice policy and the challenges for crime prevention practitioners tossed up by the high-tech, digital age. The \"standard\" topics are still there, of course. These include crime trends and statistics, criminal law reform, policing, drugs, prosecution policy, juvenile justice, corporate crime, corrections, and the processing of cases through the criminal courts. The book's themes run clearly and logically throughout the volume, although there appears to have been some latitude granted to a few contributors with regard to word length and footnoting, leading to some unevenness in the treatment of certain topics. The editors have selected an impressive array of academics and practitioners as their conmbutors, although there are none from Tasmania, Western Australia or the Northern Territory, and only one from South Australia. This is an unfortunate oversight, given especially that the researchers at the impressive Crime Research Centre at the University of Western Australia appear to have been overlooked altogether, despite the editors referring to their authors as having been invited from \"far and wide across our country\" (p. vii). Duncan Chappell's introduction comprises a clever comparison of old and new debates, finding much common ground. His words invite the reader to consider where the debates have come from and where they are headed. His concluding remarks (p. xxii) make special mention of at least four important issues that face contemporary Australian policy-makers: the control of drugs, issues affecting Indigenous Australians, gun control and the ability of Australians to handle the divisive potential of ethnic and religious rivalries. However, only two of these topics (the first two) rate any discussion in the chapters that follow. A chapter each on the other two topics would have enhanced the text admirably. A few contributors deserve especial mention. Kerry Wimshurst and Arch Harrison provide a strong conceptual foundation for the book in their analysis of the often contradictory \"systems\" of justice in Australia. Heather Strang's discussion of the future of restorative justice is well crafted, and is given appropriate
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide an analysis of serious firearm offending in New Zealand and discuss the implications of these findings for gun controls policy, based on a population of 709 offences for the 12 months ending 30 June 1996.
Abstract: Reducing or preventing the misuse of firearms (whether criminal, suicidal or accidental) is central to gun controls policy. In June 1997 the New Zealand Government received the recommendations of the Review of Firearms Control, an independent inquiry commissioned by the Minister of Police and chaired by Sir Thomas Thorp.The Review comprehensively examined several firearm-related issues, including the nature and extent of serious firearm offending in New Zealand. The research presented in this article was commissioned by the Review. Based on a population of 709 offences for the 12 months ending 30 June 1996, this study provides an analysis of serious firearm offending in New Zealand and discusses the implications of these findings for gun controls policy.