Using the state to change society: The example of ‘domestic violence’

North American research on the policing of ‘domestic violence’ has been very influential among policy makers in Great Britain. In particular, research which purports to verify the deterrence value of arrest has prompted the establishment of over thirty domestic violence units in London and similar initiatives elsewhere in Britain. The paper will outline the nature of the traditional police response to ‘family violence’ in London and the nature of the experimental innovations. Changes in police practice with regard to this type of violence will be put in the context of the organizational constraints and possibilities of policing. Finally, changing police responses to domestic violence will be evaluated in terms of the debate over the possibility of using the state or its organs to achieve social change.     

Transnationalisation, Orientalism and Crime

The paper begins with the question: how applicable are European and North American criminological theories to the situation in Asia? It takes a transnational and comparative perspective in relating contemporary and historical trends in crime, crime definition and crime control in a variety of Asian countries that comprise the so-called Confucian sphere. It provides a criminological critique of the ‘Asian values debate’ and, through an analysis of trends in crime, crime definition and crime control in China and Japan, of organised crime across the region, as well as selected examples of state-organised crime, seeks to provide a perspective on the developing criminological discourses of ‘the Orient’. The paper argues that, although cultural aspects are important and interesting in understanding the crime situation in the region, ultimately it is changes in politics and governance, economy and society that are most efficacious in explaining current criminological trends and developments.     

Criminology and the Transnational Condition: A Contribution to International Political Sociology

This article contributes to international political sociology and the further enhancement of the interdisciplinary study of the global system by introducing some of the lexicon of critical criminology into the discourse. It suggests that the contemporary global system is ripe with existential anxieties that are symptoms of momentous historical change and it argues that, for good or for ill, issues of crime definition and control have become central to the transnational condition. As a consequence, criminological theories should be introduced into theoretical discussions about the nature of the contemporary global scene. Such interdisciplinary cross-fertilization is vital, given the centrality of the language of criminal threats in the language of global governance and the language of governance globally.     

Globalization of gun culture transnational reflections on pistolization and masculinity,flows and resistance

Pistolization indicates the taken-for-granted cultural practice of carrying a handgun as an accoutrement of everyday life (Edwards and Sheptycki, 2009a). It is a socially constructed cultural practice that has links to conceptions of masculine power and, in some instances, has been constructed as a symbol of manly prosperity. Drawing inspiration from the cultural criminology approach, the paper explores pistolization in several differing regional contexts looking for general indications about the place of ‘the gun’ in global cultural ordering. Guns are strongly connected to the construction of masculinity, but gun possession and gun carrying varies dramatically across nations. The logic of pistolization is particularly well-entrenched in the USA. This paper explores the ways in which “gun culture” has been conceptualized and the ways in which it is reproduced. Finally the paper discusses “resistance” to the cultural encroachment of US-style gun culture as a dominant theme in international efforts to regulate firearms.