ABSTRACT It is generally understood that visits to see incarcerated family members are good for children, families and those in prison. Much research has focused on the impact of prison visits on children and incarcerated mothers, ‘parents’ as a generic group or barriers to contact, while less attention has been paid to the effect of prison visits on incarcerated fathers. When COVID-19 spread across the globe in early 2020, prisons restricted in-person visits. In Australia, alternative forms of communication between prisoners and their families were utilised, including phone calls and video visits. Drawing on data from an online survey of caregivers of children with a family member in prison (n = 84), this paper specifically focuses on a sub-sample, reporting on imprisoned fathers (n = 70), describing and evaluating experiences with video visits. Most respondents reported that the father was not coping well with the lack of face-to-face contact, and almost two-thirds of respondents reported problems with keeping in contact after in-person visits were suspended. However, a small cohort of fathers were found to be coping well. These findings are explored, highlighting barriers to technology-facilitated visits, and point to a range of issues that need to be addressed for such visits to be beneficial.

ABSTRACT New South Wales has the largest population of incarcerated people in Australia, with increasing levels of community supervision. Corrective Services NSW offers eligible people the EQUIPS suite of offender treatment programs, which follow the Risk-Need-Responsivity model of offender rehabilitation. Referrals to the programs are also targeted to meet the specific reoffending needs of individuals, including EQUIPS Foundation, Aggression, Addiction and Domestic Abuse. This study examined the profile of people targeted for treatment in NSW by examining demographic, sentencing and criminogenic characteristics within a cohort of 18,963 individuals allocated to attend EQUIPS programs in custody and in the community between 2015 and 2018. Most individuals allocated to EQUIPS programs (80%) had a history of criminal justice system involvement, were male, with low education and most often from major cities or inner regional areas. Around a third were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. Less than half of those referred to EQUIPS participated in at least one treatment session and only one quarter completed the course of treatment. Recommendations for improved program delivery include: 1) more timely risk assessment and allocation to programs during individual’s sentences; and 2) enhancing equitable allocation between custodial and community settings based on individual risk and the types of programs available.

ABSTRACT Legislation permits or requires the use of audio-visual recordings and closed-circuit television where child witnesses give evidence in certain matters. Since its introduction, problems with the technology have been reported, such as poor audio-visual quality and connectivity issues, causing trial delays and exacerbating witness anxiety. This study analyses the perceptions of 18 professionals (n = 18) across 5 Australian jurisdictions (Queensland, the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Western Australia) who regularly work with the technology. We used non-directive prompts to determine what problems (if any) still exist in Australian courtrooms, the cause and impact of these problems, and potential solutions. Key themes emerged in the analysis. Problems were still commonplace, which included operator error, quality of the recordings, and issues with the recording technology and devices. The detrimental impacts of these problems included added stress to court employees and witnesses, extended and disrupted trial proceedings, poor quality evidence, and added costs of fixing problems. Tangible recommendations for change were provided by the participants, and the overall findings and their implications were discussed.

ABSTRACT Romance fraud uses the guise of a genuine relationship to deceive a victim into transferring often large amounts of money to an offender/s. Romance fraud has been in the top three categories of financial loss for Australian victims over the past decade, and this is a trend mirrored internationally. However, in recent years there has been a convergence of romance fraud and investment fraud approaches. Terms such as romance baiting, cryptorom and ‘pig butchering' have all emerged to describe how offenders are evolving in their attempts to defraud victims through offering fake cryptocurrency investment opportunities, using a relationship as the mechanism. This article analyses this shift in romance fraud offending and its embracing of investment scheme opportunities. It highlights the underlying reasons for the success of this amalgamated approach and further demonstrates how it potentially distorts the reporting of fraud as well as prevention messaging targeting these incidents.

ABSTRACT The conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell on five counts of sex trafficking illuminated a wilful blind spot in sexual abuse discourse—the existence of women who perpetrate sex crimes. This article unpacks why sexually aggressive women make us so uncomfortable, by examining how the law treats women who transgress traditional ideas of femininity. To deny the reality of feminine agency, the law treats violent perpetrators who are women as victims, mad or bad. The publicity of Maxwell’s sentencing hearing, however, meant that the harms of her perpetration could not be swept under the rug of a traumatised victim narrative, forcing us to not only confront our discomfort with women who are perpetrators, but also women who are perpetrators and victims. This article explores ideas about feminine agency, culpability and wickedness through a construction of Maxwell as equal parts victim and perpetrator. Situating Maxwell within Claudia Card’s moral grey zone framework provides opportunity for a nuanced analysis of the intersections of abuse, psychological trauma and wilful infliction of harm. By re-working how we understand sexual abusers who are women, we also re-work our understanding of atrocity as fundamentally human, allowing for a redrafting of the gendered coordinates of sexual violence.

ABSTRACT People with Cognitive Disability (PWCD) are over-represented in Australian and International Criminal Justice Systems (CJS). Research has focused on the disadvantages experienced by PWCD which bring them into earlier and more continuous contact with the CJS than the general population. There has been little empirical analysis of how sentencing might contribute to over-representation. This article reports on a project which investigated: (1) the characteristics of PWCD who appeared before Queensland courts to be sentenced; and (2) the factors that judges considered during the sentencing of PWCD. An inductive thematic analysis of 34 sentencing remarks transcripts from Queensland’s Supreme and District Courts provided a descriptive overview to address the first component. Themes addressing the second component included: difficulties and disadvantages; capabilities; and the subjectivities of defendants. Interpreted using critical sociological perspectives on punishment, these themes demonstrated how judges navigated a tension between responding to defendants’ needs and protecting the community from a ‘dangerous other’. The community was often prioritised, contributing to the enmeshment of PWCD in the CJS. This adds to over-representation and raises the dilemma of how to respond to community safety concerns while meeting the potentially complex needs of PWCD without drawing them more deeply into the CJS.

ABSTRACT This article explores the current legal frameworks surrounding necrophilia in the United Kingdom. More specifically, it draws upon Aggrawal's [(2009). A new classification of necrophilia. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 16(6), 316–320] typologies of necrophilia, arguing that a multifaceted definition of necrophilia is required in order to properly legislate against it. The recent case of David Fuller is incorporated into discussions, and efforts towards legal reform are examined accordingly. The article makes recommendations of how future research can progress discussions in this acutely underresearched area of criminology and law.