Institutional anomie and cross-national differences in incarceration†

Messner and Rosenfeld's (2007) institutional anomie theory (IAT) has mainly been applied by criminologists to explain crime rates at various aggregate levels. However, Messner and Rosenfeld also suggest that the same social and cultural forces that lead to high crime may explain differences in punishment, although this latter proposition has yet to be subject to empirical testing. Using a variety of data sources for 41 countries measuring various structural and cultural configurations, in this study we assess the extent to which IAT can explain cross-national differences in incarceration. Our results indicate that the strength of the economic institution and the extent of institutional imbalance reflecting a dominant economic institution are positively associated with incarceration rates when the national culture is characterized by individualism, a competitive achievement orientation, or both. A national culture characterized by both collectivism and a cooperative achievement orientation, however, serves as a buffer against the punitive effects of an institutional imbalance that favors the economy. Our results are discussed in the context of the extant IAT literature and future research on cross-national incarceration.     

Feminist criminology in an era of misogyny†

In this address I make the case for continuing to focus criminological research on gender, sexism, and racism within our lives and within our profession. I also provide a brief case study of a topic many would feel falls well outside our field: reproductive rights. Data are reviewed to reveal the impact of gender on the lives of women—notably the devaluation of work done by women, particularly if the work is deemed feminist. Afterward, recent data on the persistence of both sexism and racism in our field are reviewed. Despite gains made by women (notably in the membership of the field), the highest positions in our professional association are held by men, particularly by White men. Data on the importance of reproductive rights to women are then considered, notably the fact that nearly one third of women will need abortion services by the time they reach middle age. Finally, I review recent efforts by conservatives to recriminalize abortion, specifically through the passage of laws making abortion difficult to arrange, or even outlawing the provision of abortion services. These efforts directly involve the criminal justice system in the criminalization of women's bodies.     

Carceral feminisms: the abolitionist project and undoing dominant feminisms

In this article we explore the intersections between white liberal feminisms and the carceral state, particularly within nonprofit agencies. We find a strong collusion between ‘dominating feminisms’ and the carceral state, through funding structures and the belief that the legal system can provide protection to victimized women. We use evidence from our own research on rape crisis centers and gender-responsive programming for criminalized women, respectively, to investigate how some nonprofit agencies further threaten the safety, stability, and self-determination of women of color, queer women, transgendered clients, economically disadvantaged women, and disabled women. As a result, when white liberal feminists seek to intervene in the criminal legal system, we often see reform efforts that directly strengthen institutions that perpetuate economic exploitation, colonialist notions of progress, and white supremacy. We conclude our article with an exploration of some guiding principles within noncarceral antiviolence organizations that espouse a liberatory feminist framework.     

Policies and Imprisonment: The Impact of Structured Sentencing and Determinate Sentencing on State Incarceration Rates, 1978–2004

Research has begun to systematically assess the relationship between sentencing policies and state incarceration rates. Prior studies, however, have examined policy‐based relationships in isolation, failing to consider the impact of combinations of policies. Using a pooled time series design, this article examines interactions between structured sentencing, determinate sentencing, and state incarceration rates between 1978 and 2004. Results show that constraining release discretion through determinate sentencing matters more than constraining sentencing discretion through structured sentencing. Consistent with prior research, determinate sentencing was associated with lower incarceration rates independent of other policies. Contrary to prior research, however, the presence of presumptive sentencing guidelines was associated with lower incarceration rates only when combined with determinate sentencing. These findings suggest that while a state may effectively insulate sentencing decisions from outside social forces, if it fails to insulate release decisions from those same forces, they will continue to affect imprisonment levels.     

认真对待近代犯罪学

中国近代犯罪学是在学习和译介西方犯罪学经典著作的基础之上起步的。可贵的是,近代犯罪学先驱们对于西方犯罪学的译介保持了一种理性的态度,并没有忽视对中国本土犯罪问题的关注。相对而言,近代中国的犯罪学研究可谓"相当兴旺发达",近代学者的不懈努力为中国犯罪学的发展奠定了良好基础。但是,当代中国犯罪学的起步基本上抛弃了近代犯罪学所创造的学术基础,对近代犯罪学的了解和评价充满了误解,这种状况亟需改变。     

再论犯罪学研究的路径选择——以中国犯罪学研究为视角

中国犯罪学的危机在于研究路径的局限性,理论犯罪学没有形成理论体系,移植的学说难以落脚生根,对策研究少有建树.中国犯罪学突围路径在于:加强本体犯罪学和实证犯罪学的研究.实现根本突破必须解决犯罪学的批判理性、问题意识、多学科知识的整合等问题.     

Colorblind ideology,mass incarceration,and controlling racial images: An intersectional analysis of presidential rhetoric from 1969–1996

Ample research exists on the relationship between mainstream constructions of racialized images and perceptions of criminals. Fewer studies, however, have assessed the influence of political rhetoric in the construction and the mobilization of images of criminals as the “racial other.” This study employs a qualitative content analysis guided by an intersectionality framework to answer the questions: to what extent Presidential rhetoric influenced images of criminals; and how was colorblind language used to facilitate this process? The examination of Presidential speeches related to crime policies, given from 1969 to 1996, revealed that criminal activity was primarily articulated as being committed by “young Black impoverished males.” Through the use of colorblind strategies, race, while not explicitly referenced, was the most salient dimension of the imagery of criminals depicted in Presidential rhetoric.     

《唐律疏议》与犯罪学

《唐律疏议》是唐朝的一部主要法典,也是我国现存第一部内容完整的法典。它与犯罪学关系密切,含有关于犯罪行为、犯罪原因、犯罪类型、犯罪对策等理论。与现代犯罪学理论相比,《唐律疏议》又有明显的差异,突出表现在它具有一些现代犯罪学中所没有的特权、等级关系、相隐、刑讯等内容。     

Teaching to shift people’s thinking toward peace: the relevance of Colman McCarthy’s work for peacemaking criminology

Peacemaking criminology is often conceived as a theoretical perspective built upon linkages between religious, feminist, and critical traditions. Equally important in peacemaking criminology is its teaching tradition, which promotes educating people about the values of peace, integration, cooperation, and caring over the values of control, repression, power, and domination. Teaching from a peacemaking perspective has generally involved efforts to design crime‐related courses that feature core concepts, readings, and policies within peacemaking criminology writings. However, such peacemaking teaching and writings have not commonly provided a central focus upon what needs to be taught to shift people’s thinking. This article thereby illustrates the work of peace educator Colman McCarthy, whose teaching experiences in high schools and universities are predicated upon influencing teenagers and young adults to embrace the idea that nothing can matter more than the struggle for and embracing of peace. This article also explores the ways in which Colman McCarthy’s books, I’d Rather Teach Peace and All of One Peace: Essays on Nonviolence, offer a foundation to help people shift their thinking toward a culture of nonviolence and peace.     

CRIMINOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE: PERIOD AND COHORT EFFECTS IN SCHOLARSHIP

Period and cohort effects are explored in regard to criminological knowledge. Hypotheses are inspired by biographies and by research in the sociology of knowledge, based on Karl Mannheim's essay on generations, Maurice Halbwachs' partly conflicting arguments about the presentist orientation of collective memory and newer ideas about the institutional context of knowledge production. The data set results from content analysis of 1, 390 articles in leading American sociology, criminology, and law and society journals from 1951 to 1993, supplemented by information on the authors' "academic age." Results show that cohort membership has some effect and periods have considerable impact on topic, type of theory examined and data used by criminologists. These effects are interpreted against the background of post-World War II history: dominant ideological currents of different eras, historic events, changing academic institutions, and the ebb and flow of influential schools. Multivariate analyses indicate that period effects are largely but not fully explained by shifts in research funding and by the emergence of specialized fields with their own institutions.     

Reckless’ passage to India: assessing the cross-national influence of American criminology

The contributions of American criminologist, Walter C. Reckless, to the development of the field of criminology and criminal justice in India are described. These are assessed in the light of recent debates about criminological knowledge transfer from developed to developing countries and regarding the influence of American criminology on its Asian counterparts.     

Asian Criminology – Challenges, Opportunities, and Directions

Despite considerable advances in the field of criminology in Asia over the past few decades, the pace of growth has been quite slow compared with the rapid development of the field in North America and Europe. This paper discusses key features of the Asian context as they are related to the development of criminology in Asia. The paper examines the major challenges that Asia’s diverse culture, legal traditions, crimes, and crime control pose for development of criminology in Asia. It also discusses the opportunities afforded by the Asian context. The paper proposes general strategies in response to the challenges. The author suggests the importance of moving towards a unified paradigm of Asian Criminology. The Asian Journal of Criminology aims to play an instrumental role in this process of advancing Asian criminology.