Showing papers in "Howard Journal of Criminal Justice in 2007"
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined recidivism rates associated with the pilot project of Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) in South-Central Ontario, Canada and found that the offenders who participated in the COSA pilot project had significantly lower rates of any type of reoffending.
Abstract: This study represents an examination of recidivism rates associated with the pilot project of Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) in South-Central Ontario, Canada. A group of 60 high-risk sexual offenders involved in COSA after having been released at the end of their sentence were matched to a group of 60 high-risk sexual offenders who had been released at the end of their sentence, but who did not become involved in COSA. Results show that the offenders who participated in the COSA pilot project had significantly lower rates of any type of reoffending than did the offenders who did not participate in COSA. Specifically, offenders who participated in COSA had a 70% reduction in sexual recidivism in contrast to the matched comparison group (5% vs. 16.7%), a 57% reduction in all types of violent recidivism (including sexual 15% vs. 35%), and an overall reduction of 35% in all types of recidivism (including violent and sexual - 28.3% vs. 43.4%). Further, a considerable harm reduction function was noted in the COSA sample, in that sexual reoffences in this group were categorically less severe than prior offences by the same individual. This function was not observed in the matched comparison group.
104 citations
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TL;DR: Circles of Support and Accountability (CSA) as discussed by the authors is a restorative approach to the risk management of high-risk sexual offenders in Canada using professionally-facilitated volunteerism.
Abstract: The release to the community of a sexual offender is frequently accompanied by intense coverage in the news media. Too often, the type of coverage these releases receive serves only to force many offenders into hiding or out of one community and into another. Forced to move to another community, the scapegoating process starts all over again. It is well known that secrecy and isolation are critical elements in sexual offending behaviour. Thus, forcing offenders into hiding does nothing to increase community safety or offender accountability and, arguably, increases the risk that new victims will be created. The most problematic releases are those in which sexual offenders arrive in a community with few or no links, and with little access to appropriate treatment and supervisory services. This article outlines a restorative approach to the risk management of high-risk sexual offenders in Canada using professionally-facilitated volunteerism. The Circles of Support and Accountability model grew out of an ad hoc, faith-based response to a situation much like that described above in South-Central Ontario, Canada. The resultant pilot project has since reached its twelfth anniversary and the model has proliferated both nationally and internationally.
95 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, a number of recent research publications have reiterated the important role played by supportive family ties in facilitating the successful community re-entry of ex-prisoners and in preventing reoffending.
Abstract: A number of recent research publications have reiterated the important role played by supportive family ties in facilitating the successful community re-entry of ex-prisoners and in preventing reoffending. This, in turn, has led to increased official recognition of the value of supporting the family ties of prisoners. However, although providing assistance to prisoners' families with reference to their role in preventing reoffending may be of value in pragmatically improving their often profoundly negative experiences, such an approach is problematic on a number of grounds. This article critically analyses the issues.
77 citations
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TL;DR: In 2003, Green met a 13-year-old girl, Georgie, in a chat room and after several months of contact via the Internet and telephone, they arranged to meet up as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: This article aims to outline current responses to sexual grooming; specific attention will be given to new legislation introduced in England and Wales under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Following an outline of this new legislation, consideration will be given to its effectiveness, including practical difficulties that are likely to restrict its scope. Issues to be discussed include: poor definition and understanding of sexual grooming, scope of legislation in relation to non-Internet grooming, difficulties in identifying sexual grooming, and a failure of the new legislation to be truly preventative. The article concludes by supporting Richard Laws's suggestion that the most effective prevention of child sexual abuse would result from adopting a public health approach. Following the case of Patrick Green (BBC News Online, 15 March 2001), there was a general increase in concern about child sex offenders using the Internet to access victims for child sexual abuse. Green met a 13-year-old girl, Georgie, in a chat room and after several months of contact via the Internet and telephone, they arranged to meet up. Georgie thought that she was going to meet a 15-year-old boy. As Georgie's mum felt uneasy about the meeting, she gave Georgie a lift to the meeting and then watched from a distance. This was fortuitous as she was able to intervene when she realised that the expected 15-year-old was in fact a middle-aged man (Patrick Green). At that time, it was not possible to convict Patrick Green, as his communication with, and arrangement to meet Georgie, did not break any laws. This and other similar cases, which received a great deal of media coverage, led to an increased awareness and concern regarding the sexual grooming of children via the Internet. This concern eventually led to the inclusion of 'sexual grooming' legislation in the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Home Office 2003), which was implemented, in England and Wales, in May 2004. Under this new Act it would be possible to convict Patrick Green or others who engage in the behaviours described above.
76 citations
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TL;DR: Silverman et al. as discussed by the authors presented evaluation data from the Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) pilot project in South-Central Ontario, Canada, specifically regarding the effect that COSA has had on the community and those personally involved in the project.
Abstract: This study presents evaluation data from the Circles of Support and Accountability (COSA) pilot project in South-Central Ontario, Canada - specifically regarding the effect that COSA has had on the community and those personally involved in the project. Results suggest that the COSA initiative has had a profound effect on all stakeholders: offenders, community volunteers, affiliated professionals, and the community-at-large. Being involved in a COSA appears to have greatly assisted many high-risk sexual offenders released to the community in remaining crime-free, with many reporting that they likely would have returned to offending without help from COSA. Community volunteers involved in the project reported a perceived increase in community safety as a result of COSA, as well as a belief that Core Members were motivated to succeed in the community. Professionals and agencies (for example, police officers, social services professionals, administrators, and other similar professionals) identified increased offender responsibility and accountability, as well as enhanced community safety. Survey results obtained from members of the community-at-large showed substantial increases in perceived community safety in knowing that high-risk sexual offenders in the community were involved in the project. The results of this study are discussed within a framework of empowering communities to participate in the effective risk management of released sexual offenders. Risk management of sexual offenders in community settings is perhaps the most controversial of all contemporary correctional issues. Silverman and
75 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the barriers that are faced by sex offenders and the anxieties that employers experience when employing sex offenders, and conclude that the approach taken by the State is less than reintegrative and serves to increase the barriers and reduce the opportunities for employment for sex offenders.
Abstract: The process of reintegration of offenders after release from prison, or during a community sentence, is a key aim of criminal justice policy. This article provides details from recent research that investigated the barriers and opportunities to employment for sex offenders. The authors describe the barriers that are faced by sex offenders and the anxieties that employers experience when employing sex offenders. The authors conclude that the approach taken by the State is less than reintegrative and serves to increase the barriers and reduce the opportunities for employment for sex offenders.
64 citations
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TL;DR: The main findings suggest that for those individuals who convert to Islam in English prisons Islam provides them with a moral framework from which to rebuild their lives, and the positive work carried out by prison Imams needs to be supported more fully.
Abstract: There has been something of a moral panic about individuals converting to Islam whilst incarcerated. A number of newspaper articles have suggested that within prisons there is a potentially toxic mix of extremist ideology and a criminal past. This article presents the results of a study exploring conversion to Islam within two prisons in England. The main findings suggest that for those individuals who convert to Islam in English prisons Islam provides them with a moral framework from which to rebuild their lives. As such, the positive work carried out by prison Imams needs to be supported more fully, particularly when resettling individuals who are newly released from jail. At the same time, Islam seems to help prisoners to cope more positively with the prison environment, reducing their propensity to aggression and violence.
49 citations
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TL;DR: It is argued that there needs to be a recognition of the nuances of meaning when the authors use the word respect and that ‘respect-as-consideration’ may be the form of respect most consistently achievable within interpersonal relationships in English and Welsh prisons.
Abstract: This article examines the meaning of respect in the interpersonal relationships within Her Majesty’s Prison Service It is argued that respect-as-esteem and respect-asconsideration are often confused and unequally emphasised in modern society This confusion is especially evident within the prison context where, due to the prison service’s ‘decency agenda’, the respectful treatment of inmates has become a topical issue What does respect mean in prison? Why is it important? How can respectful relationships be established between staff and inmates? This article discusses these questions and proposes
that there are different forms of respect possible between people It is argued that there needs to be a recognition of the nuances of meaning when we use the word respect and that ‘respect-as-consideration’ may be the form of respect most consistently achievable, at the present time, within interpersonal relationships in English and Welsh prisons
39 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, a framework for the analysis of discrimination can be usefully constructed in terms of the relationship between the processes of pre-emptive criminalisation, institutional racism and risk analysis.
Abstract: In the context of ongoing debate about negative stereotyping and poor risk assessment practices with minority ethnic groups in British society, this article attempts to develop an account of the dynamics of discrimination against black people in the area of mental health policy and practice. It is argued that a framework for the analysis of discrimination can be usefully constructed in terms of the relationship between the processes of pre-emptive criminalisation, institutional racism and risk analysis.
38 citations
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TL;DR: The authors argued that reintegration as the personal moral responsibility of young offenders, with scant regard to structural barriers and broader social justice ideals, may lie in the propagation of a "transformative" rights-based agenda.
Abstract: A key theme underlying recent changes to youth justice in England and Wales has been responsibilising young offenders by holding them accountable for their offending. While this has led to a focus on offending behaviour and restorative justice programmes to address perceived deficits in young offenders' cognitive skills, it has also been recognised that their ability to desist from crime is frequently constrained by acute levels of socio-economic disadvantage. With this concern in mind, policy makers have introduced several initiatives to combat the risks associated with social exclusion, and facilitate reintegration. Yet research suggests that these initiatives have failed to alleviate the problem. It will be argued that this is because New Labour has constituted reintegration as the personal moral responsibility of young offenders, with scant regard to structural barriers and broader social justice ideals. The article concludes by suggesting that a solution may lie in the propagation of a ‘transformative’ rights-based agenda.
37 citations
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TL;DR: A recent survey among employers in the north-west of England found that personal support is the most favoured type of support both for employers and for ex-offenders when considering employing (or employing more) exoffenders as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Findings from a recent survey among employers in the north-west of England suggest that personal support is the most favoured type of support both for employers and for ex-offenders when considering employing (or employing more) ex-offenders. The findings also reveal that employers need more information on the relevance and the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, as well as guidance on risk assessment and management procedures, in order to enable them to make informed decisions about, and increase their confidence in, employing ex-offenders.
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TL;DR: The most appropriate researcher strategy for not compromising the standpoint of the study and yet sustaining a project in prison may be for the researcher to ‘play it cool’ (Goffman 1970, p.64).
Abstract: This article addresses epistemological and practical issues in conducting research in male prisons from a profeminist standpoint. It considers the role of the male researcher in engaging with prison masculinities and a sexist prison culture. It gives examples of difficulties in managing the profeminist research role in the wider prison and it highlights difficulties that may occur within in interviews. Adapting Goffman’s (1970) strategies for inmate survival it concludes that the most appropriate researcher strategy for not compromising the standpoint of the study and yet sustaining a project in prison may be for the researcher to (reflectively) ‘play it cool’ (Goffman 1970, p.64).
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TL;DR: The probation service has undergone a period of upheaval over the recent past and there has been considerable coverage in the literature about the structural reorganisation of the service and the implementation of policy and practice changes, particularly in relation to the What Works' initiative.
Abstract: The probation service has undergone a period of upheaval over the recent past. There has been considerable coverage in the literature about the structural reorganisation of the service and the implementation of policy and practice changes, particularly in relation to the ‘What Works’ initiative. However, there has been little discussion about the changing gender composition of the service and, in particular, the rise in the proportion of female staff. This article provides a descriptive overview and applies a gendered analysis, in order to gain a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of these organisational changes.
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TL;DR: There is an urgent need for research so that sexual health information and HIV/STI prevention initiatives can be successfully targeted.
Abstract: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a major public health problem in the United Kingdom (UK) and the limited data available may suggest high prevalence rates (especially of HIV, hepatitis B and C) in the escalating male prison population. Sex, rape and injecting drug use are a part of prison life, yet screening for STIs does not routinely take place and there are inconsistencies in the availability of condoms and other harm- reduction devices. Numerous characteristics of male prisoners (for example, social disadvantage, drug dependency, younger age, black ethnic origin, on remand), their offences (drug, sex, violent) and overcrowded prisons (for example, sharing cells, staff shortages, enforced idleness, transfers) are also considered 'high risk' from a sexual health perspective, especially the spread of STIs between prisoners and into the wider population when they are released. There is, therefore, an urgent need for research so that sexual health information and HIV/STI prevention initiatives can be successfully targeted. Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a major public health problem in the United Kingdom (UK), and their escalating prevalence rates are largely the result of unprotected sex and, to some extent, sharing contaminated needles. It is acknowledged that consensual and non- consensual sex and drug abuse are part of prison life, and the limited data available show that prisoners have high prevalence rates of STIs, especially human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B and C, which can be brought into prison, acquired there and, if undetected and untreated, spread into the wider population when prisoners are released (HM Prison Service 1999, 2001; Yirrell et al. 1997; Chalmers 2002). STIs, however, are not the only sexual health-related problems experienced by prisoners. It is estimated that approximately 10,000 of the 200,000 prisoners who pass through the prison system annually may have been coerced sexually (Banbury 2004). Symptoms of the psychological problems resulting from sexual assault are similar to those of post-traumatic stress disorder, for example, intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, anxiety, avoidance behaviour, depression (Matthews et al. 2000), and these may be particularly difficult to deal with in the prison environment, continue when prisoners are released, and may play a part in reoffending.
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TL;DR: The authors found that judges, juries, and defense lawyers are influenced more by prime-time American drama forensic accounts than by the substantial documented evidence of a case, and that regardless of the dangerous apprehension of violent criminals by the police, some suspects are never charged because of faulty prosecutor behaviour.
Abstract: A hot controversy exists about the reliability of forensic science as reported by prime-time drama television series in bringing violent criminals to justice. This exploratory research will show that neither forensics or its fictionalised (CSI Effect) accounts, nor substantial evidence secured by police investigators, shape prosecutor decisions to charge a suspect with a crime, which can often result in freeing guilty suspects and convicting innocent individuals. In the summer of 2006, 444 American prosecutors responded to a survey. The findings reveal that judges, juries, and defence lawyers are influenced more by prime-time American drama forensic accounts than by the substantial documented evidence of a case. It was also discovered that regardless of the dangerous apprehension of violent criminals by the police, some suspects are never charged because of faulty prosecutor behaviour. One implication of these findings is that police officer alienation from the legal system is at an all-time high, and that prosecutors lack professional supervision and personal motivation to represent the ‘people’, giving rise to vast human and legal rights violations of suspects and defendants.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider the sufficiency of current sentencing options for high-risk, highly deviant sexual predators in England and Wales and question whether chemical castration should be an option and evaluate what we know about the effectiveness of such treatment.
Abstract: This article considers the sufficiency of current sentencing options for high-risk, highly deviant sexual predators in England and Wales. In terms of public protection considerations it questions whether chemical castration should be an option and evaluates what we know about the effectiveness of such treatment. Over the past few years much media attention has been focused on sex offenders and in particular paedophiles. Most often newspapers con- centrate on the wide range of people who have downloaded child pornography or who have a collection of illegal photographs in their possession. This article, however, does not consider this lower risk, yet still criminal, paedophile. Rather it looks at high-risk, highly deviant sexual predators and questions, in terms of public protection, whether current sentencing and/or treatment options are sufficient in England and Wales. It also considers whether the use of chemical castration should be introduced into our high-risk sex offender strategy. The Current Sex Offender Strategy in England and Wales 1 From a public protection perspective, the high-risk sex offender strategy in England and Wales works by managing and reducing the risk posed by such sex offenders. Management of risk is achieved through containment, supervision sessions, monitoring and possibly restriction of movement, association and activities; restrictions on residence, surveillance and control of movement through curfews and electronic monitoring. Other piloted interventions include the use of polygraphs and internet monitor- ing programmes (National Probation Service 2004). Most of these methods of risk management are carried out using a multi-agency approach, involving the police and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), commonly known as MAPPA (multi-agency public protection arrangement). Other agencies involved can include social services, health, housing, forensic psychiatrists and psychologists. The main aim of MAPPA is to work together by sharing information so that risk
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TL;DR: This paper found graffiti found in Australian prison museums, in particular racist and extreme nationalist texts and images, and concluded that the radically enclosed and violent nature of the prison exacerbates these issues, effectively promoting far-Right tendencies among prisoners and staff.
Abstract: The article discusses graffiti found in Australian prison museums, in particular racist and extreme nationalist texts and images. The rise of prisoners' rights movements brought a concurrent reactive move to the political Right among prison officers. This enabled far-Right and racist elements among staff to become influential in a number of prisons. Similarities are noted between Australian prison graffiti and graffiti found in British prisons in the 1990s, as reported by the British Commission for Racial Equality (CRE). The CRE found that prisons in Britain fostered a culture of racism. Apparent motivations of Australian and British graffitists show much common ground including a sense of national dispossession, far-Right sentiment and social disaffection. It is concluded that the radically enclosed and violent nature of the prison exacerbates these issues, effectively promoting far-Right tendencies among prisoners and staff.
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TL;DR: The authors presented findings from an evaluation of an ASB Taskforce, which increasingly focused on using anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) and concluded that a broader approach to the problem would be more promising.
Abstract: Anti-social behaviour (ASB) has received increasing political and media attention. It is of great concern to the public. The police are under pressure to tackle it, in particular using anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs). There is currently little hard data on what is effective. This article presents findings from an evaluation of an ASB Taskforce, which increasingly focused on using ASBOs. Whilst there is evidence of a city- wide reduction in perceived ASB, there is none that reported levels have fallen. The difficulties facing the police are discussed. It is concluded that a broader approach to the problem would be more promising.
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TL;DR: The authors examined the UK national press coverage of criminology and criminologists for the twelve months up to April 2005 and found that both serious and by the bye contributions by sociologists and mentions of crime were analysed.
Abstract: This article examines UK national press coverage of criminology and criminologists for the twelve months up to April 2005. In part it replicates work done on sociology and sociologists in the previous year by Gaber (2005). Both serious and by the bye contributions by criminologists and mentions of criminology – favourable and unfavourable – are analysed, to provoke discussion within criminology and criminal justice studies about how the discipline is viewed by the print media. The discussion draws on developments in sociology around ‘public sociology’ and suggests the necessity of, and ways forward for, ‘public criminology’.
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TL;DR: In this paper, a public opinion survey of youth crime and justice was conducted with a sample of 496 people in Swansea and found that the public overestimates the extent of youth offending and remains ambivalent about appropriate sentencing responses, favouring both punitive and preventative measures.
Abstract: A public opinion survey of youth crime and justice was conducted with a sample of 496 people in Swansea. Gender and age differences in estimations of youth crime were compared to official and self-reported youth offending statistics nationally and locally. Attitudes to sentencing and preventative measures were evaluated with reference to Swansea's positive, inclusionary approach to young people. Findings indicate that the Swansea public overestimates the extent of youth crime locally, yet it remains ambivalent about appropriate sentencing responses, favouring both punitive and preventative measures. This suggests that local public opinion is shaped by national media and political rhetoric, rather than the local realities of youth offending.
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Abstract: This analytical paper investigates the significance and meaning of ‘probation values’ and challenges the enterprise of generating ‘lists’ of values without sufficient regard to the practices they enjoin or rule out. The conceptual link between values and action is thus reaffirmed. The paper also argues that since punishment tries to give effect to so many different objectives and to express many incompatible attitudes, punishment is always likely to occasion frustration and disappointment.
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TL;DR: The authors explored the experiences and aspirations of offenders with histories of substance misuse in job searching and concluded that with adequate support, greater tolerance and flexibility by employers and job searchers could contribute to reducing the vicious cycle of suspicion and dishonesty.
Abstract: This article explores the experiences and aspirations of offenders with histories of substance misuse in job searching. The analysis is based upon qualitative data from a localised study of 27 men and two women who were undertaking community-based court orders in Scotland. Their perspectives on job searching, job-readiness and aspirations for sustained employment including the role of self-employment are presented. The article concludes that with adequate support, greater tolerance and flexibility by employers and job searchers could contribute to reducing the vicious cycle of suspicion and dishonesty. Policy action needs to be sustained and possibly augmented to include enterprise training. International definitions of rehabilitation include the therapeutic potential of employment as an asset in the process of restoring function and reintegration into society (International Labour Office 1981; United Nations Division of Narcotic Drugs 1982; Shahandeh 1985). Work has been argued to offer drug users a sense of responsibility, personal value, independence, security, dignity, and a stake in society (Phillips and South 1992). The refocusing of welfare around paid work, known as the New Deal, by the New Labour governments has contributed to the creation of employability initiatives, aimed at drug users, to transform the 'passive' welfare of being a social security benefit recipient into the 'active' welfare of being a wage earner and taxpayer. Since 1997, there has been a steady move to considering education, training and employment as being part of treatment programmes for recovering drug users in the United Kingdom. Enterprising treatment services can play an important role in the raft of drug-related criminal justice initiatives in the United Kingdom (South et al. 2001). In Scotland, there are three broad categories of support: treatment and rehabilitation services, specialist employability programmes and mainstream education and training and employment services. General treatment and rehabilitation services largely focus on what are called 'soft' skills such as CV writing, letters of application and preparing for interviews. Specialist employability programmes are frequently based on an individual's strengths, skills and interests. They aim to help the client pursue more concrete 'hard' skills for the labour market, such as learning towards a recognised qualification in landscape gardening, plumbing, catering. Training and employment services that work with clients to find
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TL;DR: The failure of scandal-generation in contemporary British youth justice, despite the ample raw material, and the conspicuous efforts of authoritative figures to do so, is investigated.
Abstract: Scandals do not simply take place, they have to be created. This article investigates the failure of scandal-generation in contemporary British youth justice, despite the ample raw material, and the conspicuous efforts of authoritative figures to do so. It suggests a series of reasons why scandal has not taken place. The article also argues that such an outcome is not inevitable. It cites a recent example in the field of child care as a deliberate, and successful attempt to draw public attention to policy failure and to bring about improvement. It argues that such techniques are applicable and necessary in the field of youth justice.
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TL;DR: The authors examines how far a rights culture has developed in prisons since Woolf and concludes that while some progress has been made through the courts and through pressure from monitoring bodies, government policy and practice has frequently resisted rather than promoted the development of a rights-based culture.
Abstract: The recommendations of the Woolf Report (Woolf and Tumin 1991) promoted the principles of justice and fairness in the running of prisons in England and Wales. This article examines how far a rights culture has developed in prisons since Woolf. This is done with reference to human rights legislation, the role of monitoring bodies and government policy and practice in relation to prisoners' rights and conditions. The article concludes that while some progress has been made through the courts and through pressure from monitoring bodies, government policy and practice has frequently resisted rather than promoted the development of a rights-based culture.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors made more general observations concerning the state of New Labour's probation training programme and about the current crises in which the service and its training arrangements have become embroiled.
Abstract: This article is a response to a ‘Counterblast’ concerning the delivery of probation training (Stout and Dominey 2006). The authors mounted a ‘defence of distance learning’, as a method for training probation officers, and took issue with assertions earlier made by us on the subject of distance learning. Our article is intended to clarify our position on distance learning (which previously amounted to no more than a few words) and to clarify the basis of some of our reservations. In doing this, we make more general, critical observations concerning the state of New Labour's probation training programme and about the current crises in which the service, and its training arrangements have become embroiled.
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TL;DR: In this paper, an exploratory study investigated the interface between the civil and criminal courts in Cardiff using information from victims of domestic violence, advocates, and solicitors, and concluded that the co-ordination of civil with criminal justice represents the best hope of keeping victims and their children safe.
Abstract: This exploratory study investigated the ‘interface’ between the civil and criminal courts in Cardiff using information from victims of domestic violence, advocates, and solicitors. The ‘interface’ between civil and criminal courts is completely dependent upon the advocates that support victims through the legal process, rather than any formal policy or procedure. Whilst in Cardiff these arrangements appear to be effective, developing the interface between civil and criminal courts needs to be a national endeavour to provide a consistent and streamlined response to victims of domestic violence. The co-ordination of civil with criminal justice represents the best hope of keeping victims and their children safe.
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TL;DR: The Questioning Crime and Criminology (QC&C) series as mentioned in this paper is a set of books designed for students with the intention of explaining not just crime, but the study of criminology in accessible and questioning ways.
Abstract: How has knowledge been constructed in British criminology since the 1960s? While histories of theory are plentiful and, due to such activities as the Research Assessment Exercise, awareness of citation counts has grown, we have become interested in a less formal - harder to assess - area of knowledge construction. Our questions have formed around the ways in which current, practising criminologists perceive the development of their discipline (if it is sufficiently unitary to be called such), and what has influenced them more directly. In so doing, we are attempting to tap into the creative impact on criminology and criminologists of the range of studies that do not necessarily figure as largely in international citation studies. In collecting from fellow-criminologists a sense of which studies and writers have both shaped criminology and influenced their own thinking, we have arrived at a paradoxical picture of British criminology: one in which there is tension between how current practitioners present a highly-fragmented, wide-ranging set of influences, yet do so within a discipline in which there appears to be constant repetition of similar questions over time. We have been involved in the past few years in the development of a set of books designed for students, with the intention of explaining not just crime, but the study of criminology in accessible and questioning ways. So, when we first started trying to make some sense of the discipline of criminology, an introductory text - Making Sense of Criminology (Polity Press, 2002, with Claire Taylor as co-author) - was the outcome. After making some sense of the discipline for new criminologists, we wished to encourage students to question criminology and, with colleagues' contributions, we edited a collection entitled Questioning Crime and Criminology (Willan, 2005). Following the publication of this book, our publisher asked whether we had any ideas for a future book, encouraging us perhaps to think about research issues. We had, already, decided it was about time to set aside clarifying and questioning criminology in favour of asking questions about how we have developed and constructed knowl- edge in the discipline. We were keen not to write the standard 'cookbook' text on how to do research, but wanted to do something a bit different. We thought of focusing on, say, six major studies in British criminology, and using each of them as a pivot for a chapter that would introduce a wider