Showing papers in "Criminology & Criminal Justice in 2020"
TL;DR: The perception of an institutional failure to take responsibility for rehabilitation is found, as well as the characteristics of interventions implemented to support rehabilitation; and the complexion of the prison climate are considered.
Abstract: The position of rehabilitation in prisons in England and Wales has long been debated. Yet studies which consider how prisoners experience rehabilitative practices and processes are rare. Drawing on prisoners’ accounts, this article considers their perceptions and lived experiences of the ways in which rehabilitation is influenced by the nature of organisational support for rehabilitation; the characteristics of interventions implemented to support rehabilitation; and the complexion of the prison climate. We find the perception of an institutional failure to take responsibility for rehabilitation. Rehabilitative interventions – notably Offender Management Programmes (OMPS) and work placements – are perceived to be self-serving in rationale. They are experienced as ill-resourced, superficial in approach and unlikely to engender change. The prison climate, characterised by a lack of interest amongst correctional staff, lack of empathy and concern, and mixed - but often impersonal and sometimes antagonistic - relationships between prison staff and prisoners, further disrupts any ethos of rehabilitation. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed
26 citations
TL;DR: Although police culture is a widely researched topic, not much is known about the nature of the relationships among the various components and the degree to which they are critical in the make-up of police culture as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Although police culture is a widely researched topic, not much is known about the nature of the relationships among the various components and the degree to which they are critical in the make-up o...
24 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that communication is universal to human beings, regardless of gender, ethnicity, class, sexuality, disability and so forth. But though communication is a shared capacity, individuals and groups communi...
Abstract: Communication is universal to human beings, regardless of gender, ethnicity, class, sexuality, disability and so forth. But though communication is a shared capacity, individuals and groups communi...
21 citations
TL;DR: The authors made the case for greater use of systematic archival research as a methodological tool of criminology, drawing upon insights from the author's 2018 historical study of "early release".
Abstract: This article makes the case for greater use of systematic archival research as a methodological tool of criminology. Drawing upon insights from the author’s 2018 historical study of ‘early release’...
20 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine online fraud victim reporting to police and argue that the jurisdictional challenges experienced by police are not understood by victims, and improvement is needed regarding awareness of victims and police alike, to reduce unnecessary, additional trauma to victims.
Abstract: One of the most pressing challenges with policing online fraud relates to jurisdiction. Policing is traditionally based on territoriality, but the internet has changed this. Offenders in one country can target a victim in a second country, who is requested to send money to a third or fourth country. This article examines online fraud victim’s reporting to police. Specifically, it demonstrates the misconceptions that exist regarding jurisdiction, namely the relationship between the Australian Federal Police and state/territory police. A clear disconnect emerges between understandings and expectations of who can investigate what relating to online fraud. The Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network’s establishment in 2014 is a positive step but this has not fixed the issue entirely. Overall, the article argues that the jurisdictional challenges experienced by police are not understood by victims, and improvement is needed regarding awareness of victims and police alike, to reduce unnecessary, additional trauma to victims.
20 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the effect of switching off street lighting on the offending rate of street lighting and found that it led to a decrease in offending, but little is known about the effects of switch-off street lighting.
Abstract: Prior reviews suggest that improving street lighting leads to a decrease in offending, but little is known about the effects of switching off street lighting. The present research investigates the ...
18 citations
TL;DR: Drawing on data gathered from a UK prison located on a seashore, the aim is to explore prisoners’ rational and visceral responses to water in a setting where the very nature of enforced residence can have negative effects on mental health.
Abstract: ‘Healthy prisons’ is a well-established concept in criminology and prison studies. As a guiding principle to prisoners’ quality of life, it goes back to the 18th century when prison reformer John H...
18 citations
TL;DR: The United States relies on carceralism, mass incarceration and institutionalization, surveillance and control for its continued operation as mentioned in this paper, and the criminalization of difference, particularly in relatio...
Abstract: The United States relies on carceralism—mass incarceration and institutionalization, surveillance and control—for its continued operation. The criminalization of difference, particularly in relatio...
17 citations
TL;DR: This article used a latent variable approach to look for distinct patterns in attitudes to parole and re-entry in Australia and found that appealing to a public belief in offenders' ability to change may be the most effective way to increase public confidence in parole systems.
Abstract: Recent Australian reforms to parole following high-profile violations are premised on a purported public desire for greater restrictions on the use of parole. These changes reflect the tendency of legislatures to presume that the public is largely punitive and invoke a ‘forfeiture’ of rights rationale that weakens support for offender rehabilitation. We consider whether restricting parole is based on a sound reading of public views. Drawing on a national study of public opinion on parole in Australia, we use a latent variable approach to look for distinct patterns in attitudes to parole and re-entry. We also examine what factors explain these patterns. The results support the conclusion that appealing to a public belief in offenders’ ability to change may be the most effective way to increase public confidence in parole systems.
17 citations
TL;DR: As different social groups are directly and indirectly confronted with diverse forms of police practices, different sectors of the population accumulate different experiences and respond different l... as mentioned in this paper, the authors of this paper
Abstract: As different social groups are directly and indirectly confronted with diverse forms of police practices, different sectors of the population accumulate different experiences and respond differentl...
17 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored the challenges that (cr)immigration practices pose to draw the boundaries of punishment by examining foreign national prisoners' penal subjectivities and found that they are exclusionary and exclusionary.
Abstract: This article explores the challenges that (cr)immigration practices pose to draw the boundaries of punishment by examining foreign national prisoners’ penal subjectivities. More exclusionary and dr...
TL;DR: The authors examines the convergence of identity politics and punitivism, two tendencies that profoundly affect current LGBT activism and state criminal policies, and considers the case of Argentina in terms of gender identity.
Abstract: The article examines the convergence of identity politics and punitivism, two tendencies that profoundly affect current LGBT activism and state criminal policies. It considers the case of Argentina...
TL;DR: It is argued that sentencing guidelines likely affect the role played by heuristics in shaping sentencing decisions and, consequently, that their design should be informed by research evidence from the decision sciences.
Abstract: Although it has long been acknowledged that heuristics influence judicial decision making, researchers have yet to explore how sentencing guidelines might interact with heuristics to shape sentenci...
TL;DR: The authors examined the most extreme and inaccessible corners of life imprisonment without parole (LWOP) in California and found that life imprisonment is more difficult than life without parole in many other states.
Abstract: This article examines how we might best examine the most extreme and inaccessible corners of imprisonment. Drawing on a study of life imprisonment without parole (LWOP) in California, this article ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the question of how to expand restorative justice as a national policy in a country underrepresented by the literature and maintain that considering legal culture is essential.
Abstract: This article explores the question of how to expand restorative justice as a national policy in a country underrepresented by the literature. We maintain that considering legal culture is essential...
TL;DR: Despite a growing body of international work describing the negative consequences of imprisonment for children and families, few studies have explored the accessibility and functionality of prison as mentioned in this paper, despite the fact that many studies have focused on the accessibility of prisons.
Abstract: Despite a growing body of international work describing the negative consequences of imprisonment for children and families, few studies have explored the accessibility and functionality of prison ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present findings from an online survey gathering quantitative and qualitative data from men and women students at a university in the north of England in 2016 and explore the effects of gender stereotypes on women's mental health.
Abstract: This article presents findings from an online survey gathering quantitative and qualitative data from men and women students at a university in the north of England in 2016. The survey explored the...
TL;DR: This paper explored incidents of hate crime targeted at transgender people and argued that current conceptualisations of "visibility" do not appreciate the complex, intersectional nature of visibility, which is key in understanding how people navigate their identities in different spaces and contexts.
Abstract: This paper explores incidents of hate crime targeted at transgender people. Drawing on in-depth interview data, it challenges and extends established theorisations of the significance of ‘difference’ and ‘vulnerability’ in relation to victimisation. It introduces and emphasises the idea of ‘visibility’ as a more useful lens through which to understand the systematic harm experienced by hate crime victimisation. Through an analysis of complex identities, the paper argues that current conceptualisations of ‘visibility’ do not appreciate the complex, intersectional nature of visibility, which is key in understanding how people navigate their identities in different spaces and contexts.
TL;DR: The risk of romanticizing imprisonment is inherent in any discussion of p... as discussed by the authors, and it is a risk that should be avoided in any explorations of pleasure-in-punishment.
Abstract: Historically, prison researchers have remained disengaged with explorations of pleasure in punishment because of the risk of romanticizing imprisonment. This risk is inherent in any discussion of p...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors focus on the experiences of men who have sex with illicit drugs, and the most part of the research in this area is public health orientated and focuses on women.
Abstract: Sex involving illicit drugs is currently receiving close academic attention. For the most part, research in this area is public health orientated and focuses on the experiences of men who have sex ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use multivariate multilevel models to offer new insights into the decisions made throughout the sentencing process, focusing on cases of assault sentenced at the Crown Court and finding that the level of compliance with the guidelines is high.
Abstract: The ‘England and Wales Sentencing Guidelines’ aim to promote consistency by organising the sentencing process as a sequence of steps, with initial judicial assessments subsequently adjusted to reflect relevant case characteristics. Yet, existing evaluations of the guidelines have failed to incorporate this structure adequately, instead concentrating solely on sentence outcomes. We use multivariate multilevel models to offer new insights into the decisions made throughout the sentencing process. Focusing on cases of assault sentenced at the Crown Court we show that the level of compliance with the guidelines is high. However, we also show that some case characteristics are being unduly considered at more than one stage of the sentencing process, meaning existing studies may be underestimating their true influence.
TL;DR: Community Justice Authorities (CJAs) were heralded on their inception as modernizing Scotland's community justice system and resolving longstanding tensions between central and local government over community justice as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Community Justice Authorities (CJAs) were heralded on their inception as modernizing Scotland’s community justice system and resolving longstanding tensions between central and local government ove...
TL;DR: This article conceptualises the sharing/withholding of information between agencies as dependent on rules as a system of trust, and demonstrates how law, culture and technology are intertwined in constraining or enabling access to information.
Abstract: Information sharing has become a central concern for security agencies since 9/11. Previous research has identified a number of barriers to information sharing among agencies: a combination of lega...
TL;DR: The use of stop and search powers by the police in the UK has been subject to voluminous debate for over 40 years in the United Kingdom as discussed by the authors, and critical debate related to the use of ‘everyday’ stop-and-search powers has been ongoing for decades.
Abstract: Police stop and search practices have been subject to voluminous debate for over 40 years in the United Kingdom. Yet critical debate related to the use of ‘everyday’ stop and search powers by the P...
TL;DR: In this article, the concept of utopia is used to reflect upon the emerging field of queer criminology and Jose Esteban Munoz's account of queer theory as essentially utopian.
Abstract: Drawing on the concept of utopia to reflect upon the emerging field of queer criminology and Jose Esteban Munoz’s account of queer theory as essentially utopian, we draw two conclusions. First, we ...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine problems of governance and accountability arising arising from the use of police foundations to raise corporate monies in North America, and present solutions to the problems of accountability and governance.
Abstract: Police foundations are new private organizations used by public police services to raise corporate monies in North America. This article examines problems of governance and accountability arising i...
TL;DR: As policing and threats become increasingly transnational and plural, practices of managing risk increasingly use technologies that promise certainty as mentioned in this paper, drawing on a study of the creation of a new bo...
Abstract: As policing and threats become increasingly transnational and plural, practices of managing risk increasingly use technologies that promise certainty. Drawing on a study of the creation of a new bo...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that understanding current approaches to sex offender risk management and its operationalization must account for front line situational decision-making practices and the cult of personality.
Abstract: This article argues that understanding current approaches to sex offender risk management and its operationalization must account for front line situational decision-making practices and the cultur...
TL;DR: The literature on the English model of community safety describes it as being centrally directed, situational in nature, focused on ASB and incivilities and not concerned with measures of social crime prevention as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The literature on the English model of community safety describes it as being centrally directed, situational in nature, focused on ASB and incivilities and not concerned with measures of social crime prevention. Based on an analysis of the community safety plans issued by English and Welsh local authorities between 2010 and 2014, this paper argues that such a characterisation is no longer accurate. Partnerships in England and Wales are now free from central oversight, and increasingly focused on safeguarding. In light of the work they do in support of vulnerable populations, and their role within the changing governance of England, more attention should be paid to them.
TL;DR: In this article, a socio-material perspective for taking crime guns seriously as objects used in and for crime is proposed, arguing that they have received insufficient criminological attention. But they do not consider the socio-economic aspects of crime.
Abstract: This article argues that guns, as objects used in and for crime, have received insufficient criminological attention. It proposes a socio-material perspective for taking crime guns seriously as mat...