Criminalising Anti-Social Behaviour

This paper considers the justifiability of criminalising anti-social behaviour through two-step prohibitions such as the Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO). The UK government has recently proposed to abolish and replace the ASBO; however, the proposed new orders would retain many of its most controversial features. The paper begins by criticising the definition of anti-social behaviour employed in both the current legislation and the new proposals. This definition is objectionable because it makes criminalisation contingent upon the irrational judgements of (putative) victims, and its often modest preventive benefits come at a high cost to citizens’ liberty and autonomy. The paper then goes on to propose a new definition of anti-social behaviour that would meet these objections: that is, as a course of conduct that causes others to experience serious and justifiable anxiety about the safety of their local community. Whilst this definition identifies a serious form of wrongdoing, its precise scope is inevitably uncertain. The paper thus concludes that we have good reason to use two-step prohibitions such as the ASBO to regulate such conduct, so as to enable the use of the criminal law against it whilst minimising possible concerns of legality arising from the proposed definition’s uncertain scope.     

Policing Public Drugs Nuisance Through The Anti-Social Behaviour Legislation: Questions and Contradictions

This paper reports findings from a London-based study and provides evidence of rigorous law enforcement activity being enacted in drives to alleviate local areas of public drugs nuisance, namely the use of anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) and dispersal and banning orders, as well as the closure of 'crack houses'. The paper acknowledges these legislative tools were necessary to deal with the real life problems of visible drugs nuisance that had grown up in some communities, but it draws attention to the way these policing responses put already vulnerable, ill and highly disadvantaged drugs users at greater risk of marginalisation than they already experienced. Plus, the punitive reach of banning orders in the form of ASBOs and street-level policing which centres on minor drugs crimes enhances the criminalisation of low-level drugs offenders and heightened the likelihood of imprisonment. The author suggests a tension exists between community policing and the removal of visible public drug nuisance through pro-arrest strategies, and the wider government drugs policy which encourages multi-agency working to channel problem drugs users into appropriate treatment settings to assist in tackling drugs crime lifestyles.     

Enhancing judicial skills in domestic violence cases: the development,implementation, and preliminary evaluation of a model US programme

ABSTRACT

The overwhelming number and complexity of domestic violence cases in criminal and family courts has resulted in the development of education programmes to assist judges. There is limited research on judicial education in this area. This paper reviews one such initiative entitled ‘Enhancing Judicial Skills in Domestic Violence Cases’ (EJS) that has been developed and implemented over the last 20 years by the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence, a partnership of the US Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women, National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges and Futures Without Violence. We present findings of a preliminary evaluation of the programme based on the self-reports of 480 judges who had taken the four-day workshop between 2006 and 2010. Overall, judges reported the programme to be engaging and effective. At a six-month follow‐up, most of the judges identified specific benefits and behavior changes in the areas of access to justice, judicial leadership, victim safety, and abuser accountability as a result of participating in the programme. Critical issues in judicial education are highlighted based on the authors’ experiences in the development and implementation of this programme.     

Fractured Lives,Splintered Knowledge: Making Criminological Sense of the January, 2015 Terrorist Attacks in Paris

Cottee (Br J Criminol 54(6):981–1001, 2014) makes the case that criminology has much to contribute to an understanding of theistic violence. However the ‘hubris of positivism’ (Young in The criminological imagination, Polity, Cambridge, 2011) curtails the criminological imagination and this is particularly evident in the debates that permeate contemporary understandings of religious extremism and radicalisation. Using the terrorist attacks in France 2015 as a touchstone, this paper explores the current state of criminological engagement with these issues. First a synopsis of orthodox current criminological talk about religious extremism and violent crime is considered. Next a critical analysis of the events in Paris based around what is ‘known’ about them is offered in the light of this knowledge. Finally, drawing on the work of Young (2011) the implications of this analysis for criminology are considered resulting in a refinement of the biases identified by Cottee (2014).     

The war on street ‘terror’. Why tackle anti-social behaviour?

This article examines the rationales of Dutch politicians for tackling the perceived pressing problem of ‘anti-social behaviour’ (ASB) and the question did they copy the British approach? The first part will describe in short the concept of policy transfer and the recent British fight against ASB. The focus will be on the introduction of the Anti-social Behaviour Order. The second part is an empirical study into the Dutch retreat from ‘condoning’ ASB, consisting of interviews with Dutch politicians focusing on their ideas for tackling ASB. Those are compared with the British’s rationales. This kind of comparative elite ethnography is not common in criminology, but this article aims at providing evidence of its benefits. By answering the research question an insight into the origins of policy in the sphere of criminal justice can be obtained.     

Making Genocide Unthinkable: Three Guidelines for a Critical Criminology of Genocide

Through a critical examination of some of the prevailing arguments for establishing a criminology of genocide, this paper seeks to demonstrate the limitations of mainstream criminological frameworks for understanding genocide. Moreover, it argues that, if we are to move beyond a mechanical application of the criminological canon to this thus far understudied area of criminal behaviour, we must develop a critical and reflexive criminological approach to the topic of genocide. In this manner, the analysis presented here follows in the footsteps of Bauman [Bauman (1989). Modernity and the Holocaust. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press] by asking: what can genocide teach us about criminology? In addressing this question, three guidelines for a future criminology of genocide are proposed. Briefly put, a criminology of genocide should be: (1) reflexive and non-redemptive; (2) ‘undisciplined’ and critical; and, (3) responsible.     

Shadow values,shadow figures: real violence

How can violence be both a public anathema and a private common place? In order to explore this question, data from the North London Domestic Violence Survey are revisited and the reasons why men justify violence against women investigated. This is related to Sykes and Matza’s dual notions of the techniques of neutralization and subterranean values indicating the potential of this work in understanding domestic violence. Further, this paper confronts recent arguments that estimates relating to the extent and distribution of domestic violence are either too unreliable due to problems of response and differences in defining ‘violence’ or that those figures produced by feminist research arise from a massaging of the data and, as such, exaggerate the risk.     

Introduction: contact and domestic abuse

ABSTRACT

This article introduces the special issue of the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law on contact disputes and allegations of domestic abuse. It first describes the aims and findings of the International Symposium on Contact Disputes and Allegations of Domestic Violence – Identifying Best Practices at which the papers in the special issue were originally presented. It then outlines the position in England and Wales regarding allegations of domestic abuse in child arrangements cases, highlighting the difference between the ‘law in the books’ and the ‘law in action’. Thirdly, it discusses the research evidence on another prominent international approach to domestic abuse allegations – legislative presumptions against custody or unsupervised visitation/contact for abusive parents. The experience of presumptions in the USA and New Zealand suggests that a similar gap between ‘law in the books’ and ‘law in action’ exists, together with potential problems of legislative drafting. Finally, the article outlines the contributions of the other papers in the special issue to our understanding of international approaches to ensuring safety for children and resident parents in family proceedings where allegations of domestic abuse are raised.     

Green Criminology Before ‘Green Criminology’: Amnesia and Absences

Although the first published use of the term ‘green criminology’ seems to have been made by Lynch (Green criminology. Aldershot, Hampshire, 1990/2006), elements of the analysis and critique represented by the term were established well before this date. There is much criminological engagement with, and analysis of, environmental crime and harm that occurred prior to 1990 that deserves acknowledgement. In this article, we try to illuminate some of the antecedents of green criminology. Proceeding in this way allows us to learn from ‘absences’, i.e. knowledge that existed but has been forgotten. We conclude by referring to green criminology not as an exclusionary label or barrier but as a symbol that guides and inspires the direction of research.     

The Sociospatial Mechanics of Domination: Transcending the ‘Exclusion/Inclusion’ Dualism

This article takes issue with Zygmunt Bauman’s thesis that physical exclusion depends on the hindrance of cognitive associations, emotional quandaries, and moral inhibitions, hence victims and their lot remain out of sight. It is counterargued that conscious engagement in directly physical forms of exclusionary behaviour is possible insofar as victims are known in ways that provoke emotional disdain and moralise violence. Such knowledge consists in the relegation of others to the status of morally lesser human beings, and is produced via prior symbolic mediations. To the extent that mediations operate according to the power differentials they both reflect and help to sustain, there is a need to shift analytical attention from exclusion to the ‘meta-category’ of domination.     

Dispersal Powers and the Symbolic Role of Anti-Social Behaviour Legislation

This article considers the development and use of dispersal powers, introduced by the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, and situates these within the context of wider legislation and policy initiatives. It explores the ways in which the powers have been interpreted by the courts and implemented by police and local authorities. The article critically analyses the manner in which the powers: introduce 'public perceptions' as a justification for police encroachments on civil liberties; conform to a hybrid-type prohibition; constitute a form of preventive exclusion that seeks to govern future behaviour; are part of a wider trend towards discretionary and summary justice; and potentially criminalise young people on the basis of the anxieties that groups congregating in public places may generate amongst others. It is argued that the significance of dispersal orders derives as much from the symbolic messages and communicative properties they express, as from their instrumental capacity to regulate behaviour.     

Dilemmas and consequences of prior criminal record: a criminological perspective from England and Wales

This article considers the contemporary architecture of criminal record usage in England and Wales. We focus upon impact on ‘employment status’, partly because work is often now seen as key to good health and other self-esteem indicators in the modern world. First, we examine in the context of England and Wales, (a) the development of the contemporary criminal record system and extent of availability of prior record information in terms of employment (and other licensing purposes) and (b) the factors that helped shape the current architecture. Second, this article outlines what is known from the British criminological literature on employment and conviction records and what more is needed in terms of criminological research. Finally, we consider how convictions become ‘spent’ – in particular the English approach to ‘expungement’/sealing of the criminal record according to the 1974 Rehabilitation of Offenders legislation.     

Constitutive Criminology and the ‘War on Terror’

This article presents a constitutive criminological perspective of the ‘war on terror’. The article will first deconstruct the ‘war on terror’; showing how constitutive criminology provides a framework in which foreign policy, the UK state; the police, and society can be systematically analyzed in relation to one another. Second, the article explores how constitutive criminology enables a critical analysis of the dominant state-centric ‘war on terror’ discourse. The article through discussing the multifaceted ‘war on terror’ demonstrates the relevance of constitutive criminology, as a non state centric approach to critical perspectives in criminology.     

Prison sentences: last resort or the default sanction?

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the sentencing purposes for penal penalties, judges’ perceptions of sentencing purposes and prison sentences, and the effects of penal sanctions. We examine judges’ positions towards different penalties, with a focus on imprisonment, since their views on the different penalties are related to their sentencing decision-making. Understanding these views is then critical for several practical and political purposes, including bridging the gap between academic discourse and legal practice. We accessed judges’ views on penal sanctions through a questionnaire and an interview. Our sample is compounded by the judges of the criminal courts from the three major cities in Portugal. Despite the most recent criminological empirical knowledge, judges valued imprisonment as the most adequate sentence, both for different crimes and for different judicial purposes. This result is not consistent with viewing imprisonment as a ‘last resort’ solution. Indeed, we did not find this ‘last resort’ position in our data, and it is not apparent in the judicial statistics on imprisonment rates. Our data highlight the importance of increasing judges’ training on criminological and sociological issues as well as the importance of changing the influence of their personal beliefs regarding penal sanctions into research-based positions.     

Dealing with mentally ill domestic violence perpetrators: A therapeutic jurisprudence judicial model

People suffering from mental illness are increasingly referred to the domestic violence court. Yet the typical diversion programs available, including batterer's intervention programs, are inappropriate for those with serious mental illness. As a result, the Miami-Dade Domestic Violence Court has developed a new approach for dealing with this population that applies mental health court techniques in domestic violence court. This article will describe and discuss this pioneering model. It also will situate this model within the context of other problem-solving courts and discuss how the court uses principles and approaches of therapeutic jurisprudence. The paper presents some preliminary data that describe the social and legal characteristics of 20 defendants in the Domestic Violence Mental Health Court followed over a two year period between 2005 and 2007.     

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.     

Development and Initial Evaluation of a Suicide Prevention Curriculum for Domestic Violence Hotline Workers

Despite evidence of an intersection between suicide risk and intimate partner violence (IPV), crisis hotlines tend to focus on callers at-risk for suicide or callers involved in IPV, but not both. In an effort to begin to address this gap, we developed and conducted an initial pilot test of a suicide prevention curriculum for hotline workers at the National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH), highlighting the intersection of these two public health issues. A mixed methods approach was used as a first step to assess the impact of the 3-h suicide prevention training for 42 domestic violence hotline workers. Results showed significant increase in knowledge regarding suicide risk from pre to post-training and a high degree of satisfaction among attendees. Focus groups conducted with hotline workers 3 months after training indicated a greater willingness to engage callers in suicide screening and prevention efforts. A 6-month follow-up focus group with NDVH managers revealed that suicide prevention had become more integrated in the agency culture, a finding that was consistent with an environmental scan of the workplace that showed an increase in displays of suicide prevention information. In sum, suicide prevention training can be feasibly incorporated into domestic violence hotline workers’ roles. Limitations and suggestions for future studies are discussed.     

反思·借鉴·重构——关于完善我国家庭暴力概念的思考

根据最高人民法院的司法解释,家庭暴力是指行为人以殴打、捆绑、残害、强行限制人身自由或者其他手段,给其家庭成员的身体、精神等方面造成一定伤害后果的行为。这在一定程度上解决了新婚姻法颁布后所遇到的司法实践难题,具有十分重要的积极意义。然而,基于家庭暴力的普遍性和复杂性,该解释仍显不足,司法实践中困惑犹存。因此,有必要重新界定家庭暴力概念,完善相关理论,以利于司法实践中正确认定家庭暴力和有效处理相关纠纷。     

Deconstructing Criminology’s Origin Stories

The global production of knowledge is grossly skewed to the northern Anglophone world (Hogg et al. in International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 6(1), 1–7, 2017; Connell 2007). It should be no surprise therefore that criminology’s origin stories are derivative of northern experiences, yet generalised as universal theories of crime causation. In this article, we argue that the origin stories of criminological theory translated the ‘darker’, ‘hairier’ and ‘muscular’ masculinities of the global south into prototypes of dangerousness. These prototypes were first articulated as scientific claims in the nineteenth century works of Lombroso, but have been refined and embedded in mainstream criminological discourses well into the present, mainly through the quantitative study of social disorganisation, ‘race’ and racialised masculinities as variables in crime causation. The paper concedes that while deeply troubling expressions of violent masculinity exist now and in the past in the global south, it is mistaken to conceive this violence simply as expressions of atavism or social disorganisation associated with a less civilised world. On the contrary, this paper argues that the violence of colonality itself has had, and continues to have, a criminogenic impact on the present.     

DNA Databases as Alternative Data Sources for Criminological Research

DNA traces found at crime scenes and DNA records held in databases have already helped the police to solve numerous investigations into specific crimes. The police clearly benefit from the use of forensic science at an operational (i.e. case) level. This paper focuses on the use of forensic DNA at a strategic level: its use in the study of patterns of criminal behaviour. The usual sources of information for this type of research are recorded crime data, self-report studies and victimization surveys. However, as our review will show, these data sources cannot provide a complete picture of crime. We therefore propose an alternative approach to criminological research that takes into account DNA databases and has the potential to augment current methods and extend the existing knowledge beyond known offenders. The use of DNA databases has an important advantage for criminological research: it is possible to link offences committed by the same individual, whether the offender’s identity is known or not. By making a one-on-one comparison of police data with the corresponding DNA data, not only can co-offenders be studied, but a larger network of offenders connected to each other can also be analysed, even if their identity is unknown to the police.