Showing papers in "Howard Journal of Criminal Justice in 2013"
TL;DR: The role played by inmates in managing the day-to-day running of Brazilian prisons has been largely subsumed by prison gangs as mentioned in this paper, but staff-inmate relations remain characterised less by conflict and power as by accommodation and reciprocity.
Abstract: Prisons in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are run not so much by prison guards as by inmates. In circumstances of severe overcrowding and acute staff shortage, prisoners are recruited or organise themselves, not only to perform clerical and janitorial work, but also to provide for welfare, discipline and security. Such inmate governance is as much a defining feature of Brazilian prison life as are inhumane living conditions. In recent years the roles played by inmates in managing the day-to-day running of Brazilian prisons have been largely subsumed by prison gangs. However, staff-inmate relations remain characterised less by conflict and power as by accommodation and reciprocity.
71 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an analysis of survey data from a private correctional facility in the US Midwest examined the effects of the relationship between the job stressors of role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, and perceived dangerous of the job with job involvement.
Abstract: Much of the research on correctional staff over the past two decades has focused on how the job environment and demographic variables influence job stress and job satisfaction. The issue of job involvement has largely been ignored. As correctional employees are such an important part of corrections, understanding how job stressors affect job involvement is essential. An analysis of survey data from a private correctional facility in the US Midwest examined the effects of the relationship between the job stressors of role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, and perceived dangerous of the job with job involvement. Multivariate analysis with ordinary least squares (OLS) regression indicated that role conflict and dangerousness of the job had significant effects on job involvement, but role ambiguity and role overload did not. It is hoped that this study will spark further research in the area.
47 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors use elements of routine activity and rational choice theories to explain how online child sex offenders use the Internet and what can be done to counter the challenge they pose.
Abstract: The aim of this article is straightforward and practical: by utilising elements of routine activity and rational choice theories, it explains how online child sex offenders use the Internet and what can be done to counter the challenge they pose. The discussion opens with definitions of child pornography, child erotica, child exploitation material and paedophilia. Its main objective is to promote online protection of children. It is explained that online child sex offenders and paedophiles use the Internet to create virtual commu- nities; collect, share and trade images; tempt, seduce and groom children. Then the article explores what has been done in the Western world to combat those criminal activities. Successful campaigns against child pornography require shared responsibility and effort by parents, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), legal enforcement and the international community at large.
43 citations
TL;DR: The proportion of those in the criminal justice system who are veterans was estimated to be 3.4% for men aged 18-54 years, while the proportion of the general population in prison was 43% (95% CI: 37%-49%) higher than the proportions of veterans in prison as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The aim of this article is to estimate the proportion of Regular veterans in England and Wales who are in prison or supervised by a Probation Trust. A cross-sectional data linkage approach was taken, matching a database of Service leavers with prison and probation data. The proportion of those in the criminal justice system who are veterans was estimated to be 3.4%. For men aged 18-54 years, the proportion of the general population in prison was 43% (95% CI: 37%-49%) higher than the proportion of veterans in prison. There is no evidence that veterans are over-represented in the criminal justice system. © 2013 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
37 citations
TL;DR: This paper conducted interviews with 22 prisoners to gather information about the characteristic features of short prison sentences, including frequency and quality of sentences, addiction, family, and penal legitimacy, and found that most participants saw their sentence as unjust, and mainly a reaction to offending history.
Abstract: Semi-structured interviews were conducted of 22 prisoners to gather information about the characteristic features of short prison sentences. Themes raised in comments included: the frequency and quality of sentences, addiction, family, and penal legitimacy. Most of the participants had extensive experience of prison, and the effects of this played out across sentences and years, accumulating and amplifying impacts. And, despite expressions of guilt and remorse, most participants saw their sentence as unjust, and mainly a reaction to offending history. We conclude by suggesting the need for research to shift focus from evaluating individual penal interventions towards more holistic and narrative accounts that cut across sentences.
32 citations
TL;DR: The authors suggests that the unquestioned ethnocentric profile of the serial killer as a white male in the US was created by the FBI, and subsequent media portrayals have reinforced this myth.
Abstract: ‘Can you name an African American (black) serial killer?’ In the US, the answer is often silence. For those who can remember, it might be Wayne Williams, the so-called ‘Atlanta child murderer’. More astute individuals could mention the more recent D.C. Snipers who, while not comparable to the traditional media portrayals of serial killers, do qualify as such, based on the FBI's assessment. The existence of African American serial killers is a fact that appears to have escaped the attention of the American public. Previous research has identified 90 black serial killers beginning in 1945, yet their notoriety and celebrity are absent from America's popular cultural landscape. Despite the fact that numerous television shows, news reports and films address serial murder in fictional and non-fictional portrayals, there remains a dearth of information and portrayals regarding black serial killers. This is an interesting conundrum. The media show little reticence in portraying black males as low-level criminals, but rarely portray them as serial killers. This article suggests that the unquestioned ethnocentric profile of the serial killer as a white male in the US was created by the FBI, and subsequent media portrayals have reinforced this myth. Consequently, the predominant media portrayals of serial murderers are white male perpetrators. The impact of race-based assumptions among law enforcement agencies and the public regarding the criminality of any group poses a danger to that whole society.
25 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that domestic violence perpetrator programmes in the UK have paid insufficient attention to how perpetrators actually desist from abusive behaviour in the long term, and they draw on evidence from a 2010 study which investigated how a sample of men accomplished desistance from abusive behavior.
Abstract: This article argues that domestic violence perpetrator programmes in the UK have paid insufficient attention to how perpetrators actually desist from abusive behaviour in the long term. It draws on evidence from a 2010 study which investigated how a sample of men accomplished desistance from abusive behaviour. It reveals that even men committed to desistance may require programmes to support them over a period of several years, and confirms that desistance is best understood as a process and not an outcome. The article concludes that these men's experiences underline the need for interventions to be substantially more desistance‐focused than they are at present.
25 citations
TL;DR: The probation service currently faces an unprecedented attack on its future existence as a public sector agency, publicly funded and accountable to local communities as discussed by the authors, which can only be fully understood within the context of neoliberal approaches to defining social problems and the role of the State.
Abstract: The probation service currently faces an unprecedented attack on its future existence as a public sector agency, publicly funded and accountable to local communities. This attack is partly a reflection of the ideological drive, begun under New Labour and accelerated under the current coalition arrangements to segment and privatise correctional services, and partly a result of a renewed criticism on the effectiveness of the rehabilitative endeavour of the probation service. The author argues that this attack can only be fully understood within the context of neoliberal approaches to defining social problems and the role of the State.
19 citations
TL;DR: The development of a masculine criminology is something that has been missing from much of the criminological literature as discussed by the authors and until recently, there was little consideration given to the concept of masculinity as a tool for understanding men and criminal behaviour.
Abstract: The development of a masculine criminology is something that has been missing from much of the criminological literature. Until recently, there was little consideration given to the concept of masculinity as a tool for understanding men and criminal behaviour. Therefore, this article discusses the relevance of masculinity as a tool for developing our understanding of male criminality with reference to the case of Raoul Moat. The discussion focuses upon the social construction of masculine identity and the relationship that exists between masculinity and criminality as both theoretical and analytical concepts in the study of men and crime.
17 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an ethnographic study of a Probation Approved Premises was conducted to explore the informal social structures which shape life for sex offenders in hostels, and the significance of these in terms of social exclusion, support and the work of the institution.
Abstract: Through reporting on an ethnographic study of a Probation Approved Premises, this article explores the informal social structures which shape life for sex offenders in hostels, and the significance of these in terms of social exclusion, support and the work of the institution. The findings illustrate how the practice of the hostel both demonises and reinforces the personal and social identity constructs of residents convicted of sexual offences to accord with the dominant discourse of ‘sex offender’. Of note, the article identifies how informal structural and cultural processes define sex offender residents as essentially different from other people.
15 citations
TL;DR: The authors examine the increasing power of the British press in relation to (in)forming political responses to crime and argue that criminologists should be more forceful in their response to misrepresentative press reporting about crime.
Abstract: This paper looks at the increasing power of the British press in relation to (in)forming political responses to crime. Drawing on the example of the Sun Justice campaign, we examine the trend of the celebrification of news and the use of emotional language in relation to sexual offending. We argue that criminologists should be more forceful in their response to misrepresentative press reporting about crime, and unashamedly promote empirical findings in mass-media circles to redress the balance between ideology and evidence.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the difficulty that criminal justice social work might have in implementing a desistance approach to work with offenders and make suggestions regarding the place of desistance work within a positive human rights framework, which might provide a force against the corrosive progression of popular punitivism.
Abstract: This article explores the difficulty that criminal justice social work (CJSW) might have in implementing a desistance approach to work with offenders. Supporting desistance requires responsive, autonomous social workers and this article questions whether criminal justice agencies, characterised by risk aversion and managerialism, would be able to tolerate the anxiety this would inevitably, and properly, generate. Suggestions are made regarding the place of desistance work within a positive human rights framework, which might provide a force against the corrosive progression of popular punitivism – a major factor in the persistence of risk averse, managerial practice.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the views of young people in care and contrast their evidence with that from Rational Choice Theory, elements of which are increasingly influencing youth justice policy in Scotland.
Abstract: Rational choice and responsibilisation of young offenders are concepts increasingly informing youth justice policy in Scotland, yet there is evidence from both academics and young offenders that such approaches are ineffective. This article explores the views of young people in care and contrasts their evidence with that from Rational Choice Theory, elements of which are increasingly influencing youth justice policy. Government policy now focuses not on desistance but on the containment and behaviour modification of young offenders, strategies which no longer deliver justice but anticipate and modify so-called ‘rational’ thinking amongst young people.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the implications of the restricted interpretation of legal rights for penal reform and propose an alternative radical rearticulation of the politics of prisoner human rights.
Abstract: The article begins by locating human rights law within the current political context before moving on to critically review judicial reasoning on prisoner legal rights since the introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998. The limited influence of proportionality on legal discourses in England and Wales is then explored by contrasting a number of judgments since October 2000 in the domestic courts and European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the restricted interpretation of legal rights for penal reform and proposes an alternative radical rearticulation of the politics of prisoner human rights.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the nature and development of doorstep crime, and critiques the efficacy of prevention strategies that may, it is argued, risk damaging the older person's quality of life.
Abstract: Research literature into doorstep crime is limited. This article draws on a focused literature review, to explore existing evidence about the efficacy of crime‐prevention strategies targeting doorstep crime. The findings of the review suggest that doorstep crime strategies to protect older people frequently present offenders as a ‘monstrous figure’; promote home security aids and adaptations; increase vigilance and suspicion; and encourage new doorstep habits. This article examines the nature and development of doorstep crime, and critiques the efficacy of prevention strategies that may, it is argued, risk damaging the older person's quality of life.
TL;DR: The authors examined characteristics of socially-disorganised neighbourhoods alongside the density of registered sex offenders (RSOs) using data from the public registry and 2000 and 2010 US census data and found that RSOs are more often found in areas with higher than average poverty rates and housing vacancies and lower than average owner-occupied housing units and median incomes, potentially causing further stress on already disorganised areas.
Abstract: This study examines characteristics of socially-disorganised neighbourhoods alongside the density of registered sex offenders (RSOs) using data from the public registry and 2000 and 2010 US census data. While RSOs are found in all types of neighbourhoods, this research suggests that RSOs are more often found in areas with higher than average poverty rates and housing vacancies and lower-than-average owner-occupied housing units and median incomes, potentially causing further stress on already disorganised areas. It is argued that RSO density and average percentages of RSOs within neighbourhoods should be taken into consideration as markers of neighbourhood social disorganisation.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report some final results of recent research on the possible application of electronic monitoring as an alternative to remand custody in Belgium, more particularly with regard to some important legal, practical and organisational questions.
Abstract: Prison overcrowding is a major problem in the Belgian criminal justice system, with 40% of the current population consisting of prisoners remanded in custody. Driven by a goal of prison overcrowding prevention, electronic monitoring has been implemented nationally since 2000, but only as an alternative to the execution of the entire, or a part of the prison sentence imposed. This article aims to report some final results of recent research on the possible application of electronic monitoring as an alternative to remand custody in Belgium, more particularly with regard to some important legal, practical and organisational questions.
TL;DR: In terms of rehabilitation, the experiences gained over those short periods of time appear to have little effect as discussed by the authors and over half of those on short sentences are reconvicted within one year and reconviction rates have been steadily rising over the last ten years.
Abstract: In the last three or four years there has been increasing attention on the use of short prison sentences and their effectiveness in the UK. This attention has focused on the continued evidence of high rates of recidivism for those who have served short prison sentences and the inability of these sentences to reform or rehabilitate offenders. Current evidence suggests that over half of all custodial sentences are for up to six months, with the majority of prisoners serving only a few weeks or months inside prison walls (Ministry of Justice 2012a). In terms of rehabilitation, the experiences gained over those short periods of time appear to have little effect. Over half of those on short sentences are reconvicted within one year and reconviction rates have been steadily rising over the last ten years (Ministry of Justice 2012b). This can hardly be taken as evidence of an effective policy, nor of any sign of improvement. It seems particularly perverse to continue with this ineffective policy in a time of austerity because the cost of imprisoning people for short periods is a significant drain on national resources (over £286 million in 2010 according to the National Audit Office (2010)). We have, however, been struggling to make short sentences ‘work’ for a considerable time now, with a significant stream of criticism stretching back for over 100 years
TL;DR: This paper conducted a critical analysis of three prisoner handbooks: HM Prison Service: A Survival Guide (Cattermole 2011); The Little Book of Prison (Owens 2012); and Prisoners Information Book for Male Prisoners and Young Offenders (Prison Reform Trust and HM Prison service 2008).
Abstract: Within this article we conduct a critical analysis of three prisoner handbooks: HM Prison Service: A Survival Guide (Cattermole 2011); The Little Book of Prison (Owens 2012); and Prisoners Information Book for Male Prisoners and Young Offenders (Prison Reform Trust and HM Prison Service 2008). We conclude that whilst currently falling short of meeting the needs of a diverse prison population, with further development, prisoner handbooks constitute a valuable potential tool in adaptation to prison life which can benefit not only prisoners but all those with a stake in the criminal justice system.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors outline the important distinctions between these three disciplines and seek to demonstrate how they might work together to yield more effective crime prevention than any one of them accomplishes alone.
Abstract: Durkheim outlines how workforces become increasingly specialised as society expands, resulting not only in mutual dependence but also in strong social and cultural distinctions between different professional specialisations. Modern studies of crime prevention exemplify this phenomenon. Crime scientists, criminologists and criminal justice practitioners frequently disagree over the differences and utility of their respective disciplines, almost to the point of neglecting their common goal of crime prevention. This article outlines the important distinctions between these three disciplines and seeks to demonstrate how they might work together to yield more effective crime prevention than any one of them accomplishes alone. Language: en
TL;DR: The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) (as amended) as mentioned in this paper is an example of a growing trend towards the use of hybrid civil-criminal legislation, which is referred to as the new penology of risk, or "actuarial justice" (Feeley and Simon 1992, p.449).
Abstract: Recent shifts in modes of criminal justice have precipitated a startling expansion of police powers in England and Wales (Brownlee 1998; Reiner 2007). The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) (as amended) is an example of a growing trend towards the use of hybrid civil-criminal legislation. The Act can be situated within a criminal justice paradigm, often referred to as the ‘new penology’ of risk, or ‘actuarial justice’ (Feeley and Simon 1992, p.449). Part 8 provides frontline police officers with additional, extensive and far-reaching cash seizure powers for the disruption and frustration of serious, often organised, acquisitive crime. Though laudable in its aims, the legislation is susceptible to manipulation by officers wanting to secure broader social and disciplinary objectives, often pertaining to the organisational subcultural norms of rank-and-file police officers. Its provisions have become part of mainstream policing powers. An exploration of the broader implications of mainstreaming the cash seizure powers into frontline policing has, therefore, become timely. In this article, I conduct such an examination, concluding by setting out an agenda for more critical research than has been undertaken to date.
TL;DR: The authors investigate the current response to the riots in the UK in August 2011 by comparing and contrasting the political and institutional factors with the reaction to riots that occurred in Brixton and Toxteth 1981 and those in Bradford, Burnley and Oldham in 2001.
Abstract: This article aims to investigate the current response to the riots in the UK in August 2011 by comparing and contrasting the political and institutional factors with the reaction to the riots that occurred in Brixton and Toxteth 1981 and those in Bradford, Burnley and Oldham in 2001. The article focuses on the changes which have occurred within the probation service over that period and by interviewing twelve frontline practitioners, seeks to gain an insight into the ways these transformations reflect wider differences within the role of probation, the community, political and government attitudes and the ways this is communicated within the media.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a critical analysis of the Risk Management Model (RMM) and conclude that the model does not focus on rehabilitating offenders, but rather on ensuring their social compliance.
Abstract: Since 1992, interventions within the Canadian correctional system have been guided by the Risk Management Model (RMM). This article presents a critical analysis of that model. In the view of the authors, the RMM does not focus on rehabilitating offenders, but rather on ensuring their social compliance. Moreover, the Model is not clinical or professional in nature; it is essentially a techno-bureaucratic model. From an empirical perspective, the authors bring into question several aspects implied by the Model, specifically those having to do with human qualities, rationality, relevance, effectiveness and efficiency. In conclusion, they wonder what could explain that such a model continues to prevail.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors give a critical assessment of the introduction of drug testing arrestees at police stations as part of the move to force drug users into treatment, and identify how the rush for evidence with emphasis on quantitative methods conspired to leave the most marginalised problematic drug users hidden from the evaluation.
Abstract: The 1997 Labour Government's commitment to research-based criminal justice policy held the promise of greater clarity in the drugs/crime link and evaluation of measures to tackle drug use. This article gives a critical assessment of the introduction of drug testing arrestees at police stations as part of the move to force drug users into treatment. The account supports the equivocal findings on the effectiveness of drug testing. It identifies how the rush for evidence with emphasis on quantitative methods conspired to leave the most marginalised problematic drug users hidden from the evaluation.
TL;DR: The authors explored how first-language Welsh-speaking criminal justice service users account for their choice, and usage, of language, and what purposes these accounts may serve for narrators, and found that despite their commitment to the Welsh language, respondents used Welsh in their most recent episodes in the police station or at court.
Abstract: European language activists have successfully campaigned for the right to use regional or minority languages in judicial contexts. Despite this, such rights are rarely exercised. This is commonly understood as a function of the unavailability and/or inaccessibility of appropriate language services, so judicial authorities in a range of countries are urged to do more to meet their obligations to meet the needs of minority language speakers. The article draws on a study of language use in one criminal justice system where the right to use a minority language exists. It uses a discourse analytic approach to explore how first-language Welsh-speaking criminal justice service users account for their choice, and usage, of language, and what purposes these accounts may serve for narrators. Despite their commitment to the Welsh language, none of the study respondents used Welsh in their most recent episodes in the police station or at court. Two competing discursive constructions were evident in respondent accounts which served specific objectives for narrators. A ‘down to them’ discursive construction, which drew on wider imperialist discourses, positioned narrators as powerless victims of a system in which they had no choice over language. This construction legitimised narrators’ claim to Welshness and castigated agencies of the criminal justice system. Simultaneously, however, narrators deployed ‘up to me’ discursive constructions to demonstrate resistance to the role of victim. This construction positioned narrators as more powerful and as exercising agency and choice in the criminal justice system. The article thus challenges oversimplified understandings of minority language use and non-use in the criminal justice system.
TL;DR: In this article, interviews with probation staff who were appointed to rural mid-Wales between the 1950s and 1980s were conducted to investigate the autonomy and responsibility that rural work offered.
Abstract: Rural probation work has been largely ignored by academic researchers. This article is based on interviews with probation staff who were appointed to rural mid‐Wales between the 1950s and 1980s. It shows that, contrary to the assumption that isolation is problematic, they enjoyed the autonomy and responsibility that rural work offered. They were proud to have contributed to a service which, in their view, held to traditional values and had lessons to offer to probation work as a whole. The article concludes that practice in small communities and non‐urban locations can be demonstrably effective and even sometimes advanced.
TL;DR: Deception is often associated with economic gain and white-collar crime as mentioned in this paper. But studying deception highlights the need for criminologists and practitioners to move beyond legal definitions and conviction rates when attempting to achieve depth in understanding criminality, its motivations and possible specialisms.
Abstract: Deception is often associated with economic gain and white-collar crime. But studying deception highlights the need for criminologists and practitioners to move beyond legal definitions and conviction rates when attempting to achieve depth in understanding criminality, its motivations and possible specialisms. Further, to explore the complexity of deception requires recognition of the range of skills inherent in this modus operandi, which is better recognised as a potentially-criminal tool found in much criminal behaviour. Theories that attempt to explain specialisation need to move on from a focus on crimes committed and give appropriate attention to skills employed
TL;DR: In this paper, women working in democratic therapeutic communities (TCs) are credited by prisoners with two "meanings": as symbolic representatives of familial and intimate nurturers and as gender specialists.
Abstract: Informed by observations of, and interviews with, male prisoners and female staff, this article proposes that women working in democratic therapeutic communities (TCs) are credited by prisoners with two ‘meanings’: as symbolic representatives of familial and intimate nurturers and as gender specialists. The former allows for the emergence of transference relationships, which invites analysis of prior, present, and prospective attachments. The latter enables the communication and translation of ‘the woman's perspective’, which encourages the development of empathy. Both increase appreciation, and advance reduction, of male offenders' risk factors. Accordingly, the gender of female staff represents a significant rehabilitative resource.