Academic Criminology Research Articles

The Japanese American incarceration and the origins of penology in California: A microhistory

AbstractThe history of academic criminology has been written at a macro‐scale from national and international perspectives. These histories rely on abstract concepts that overlook external events in the formation of criminology. Using a microhistory approach, this article explores the origins of the penology programme established at the Police School of San José State University. Willard Schmidt started the programme in 1946 based on his experience as director of security police at Tule Lake prison camp, a site for incarceration of Japanese Americans during the Second World War. The discussion examines August Vollmer's role in founding the Police School and his opposition to the incarceration, Schmidt's activities at Tule Lake, and how this shaped the first penology programme in California.

Popular Criminology, Sexual Violence and Alternative Modes of Justice

The idea of ‘popular criminology’ has gained currency within academic criminology, with criminologists recognising that popular cultural portrayals of crime, violence and justice offer alternatives discourses which enhance the criminological imagination beyond the limits of academic criminology, offering more complex understandings of crime and violence and reimagining the nature of justice (Brown and Rafter, 2012; Rafter, 2007; Wakeman, 2013; Wattis, 2018, 2022). This article will consider cultural representations of sexual violence as progressive portrayals which reveal the harms of sexual violence, disrupt stereotypical rape narratives and highlight the victim experience (Powell et al., 2015; McGlynn and Westmarland, 2019). There is now a growing activist and academic movement calling for a reimagining of justice beyond formal redress. This is in part a response to the widely acknowledged failure of formal justice systems to deliver justice for victims of sexual violence and the anti-carceral critique of feminism’s support for carceral justice responses to violence against women. Ultimately, I consider how popular culture might contribute to a more progressive vision of justice which resonates with McGlynn and Westmarland’s (2019) notion of ‘kaleidoscopic justice’ where victims are centred and the harms of sexual violence are fully recognised. I conclude by considering the ethics of representations of violence against within popular culture.

A Video Data Analysis of Pet Theft Incidents: An Examination of Offense Form, Situational Dynamics, & Offender Characteristics

ABSTRACT Pet theft is a type of property crime, but pet-owner relationships include emotional dimensions and life experiences that can compound their loss far beyond property value. Their bondedness with humans includes companionship as well as healthy lifestyle and mental wellness benefits, which are abruptly halted at junctures of pet loss. Though pets are stolen for various motives (e.g. ransom, reward, resale, or breeding), this crime form has received little research attention from academic criminology and criminal justice. Toward building a line of inquiry, this paper empirically explores the phenomena of “dognapping” as dogs are the most frequently stolen pet and the only pet for which there is a database large enough for meaningful exploration. Content analysis of online posts and web-based video data (Twitter/X1 posts, YouTube videos, and social media websites dedicated to missing and stolen pets) enabled a delineation of dog theft forms, offense dynamics, and offender characteristics. Findings regarding residential and commercial dog theft center discussion on situational crime prevention implications and additional research opportunities to further evidence and explore this relatively disregarded crime.

'Cocooning' in prison during COVID-19: Findings from recent research in Ireland.

The advent of COVID-19 prompted the enforced isolation of elderly and vulnerable populations around the world, for their own safety. For people in prison, these restrictions risked compounding the isolation and harm they experienced. At the same time, the pandemic created barriers to prison oversight when it was most needed to ensure that the state upheld the rights and wellbeing of those in custody. This article reports findings from a unique collaboration in Ireland between the Office of the Inspector of Prisons - a national prison oversight body - and academic criminologists. Early in the pandemic, they cooperated to hear the voices of people 'cocooning' - isolated because of their advanced age or a medical vulnerability - in Irish prisons by providing journals to this cohort, analysing the data, and encouraging the Irish Prison Service to change practices accordingly. The findings indicated that 'cocooners' were initially ambivalent about these new restrictions, both experiencing them as a punishment akin to solitary confinement, and understanding the goal of protection. As time passed, however, participants reported a drastic impact on their mental and physical health, and implications for their (already limited) agency and relationships with others, experienced more or less severely depending on staff and management practices. The paper also discusses the implications for prison practices during and following the pandemic, understanding isolation in the penological context, and collaboration between prison oversight bodies and academics.

Beyond Measure: On the Marketization of British Universities, and the Domestication of Academic Criminology

Beyond Measure: On the Marketization of British Universities, and the Domestication of Academic Criminology

REMARQUES SUR LE DIAGNOSTIC EN MATIÈRE PÉNALE

L'article est consacré au diagnostic correct en matière pénale. Son auteur analise les problèmes liés au passage de la criminologie universitaire à la pratique de la justice et aux institutions exécutant des décisions judiciaires (service pénitentiaire, agents de probation, etc.).L'auteur indique des difficultés de diagnostic résultant de la complexité de divers facteurs criminogènes, ainsi que de l'impossibilité de les couvrir par un examen approfondi. Leur effet est la faible precisions de la plupart des diagnostics préparés dans la pratique. Cela rend difficile de déterminer une réponse pénale adéquate au crime, en particulier le choix des peines et des mesures pénales appropriées.Cependant, la raison la plus importante de la difficulté à diagnostiquer est le facteur du libre choix de l'homme dans la criminogenèse (homo eligens). Il est visible dans la décision de commettre un crime ou son absence en réponse à une situation spécifique. Ce facteur est très difficile à examiner. L’auteur discute des theses de soi-disant la criminologie humaniste, qui tente d'expliquer le rôle du libre arbitre humain dans la genèse du crime.En conclusion, l'auteur souligne que les tribunaux agissent dans une large mesure de manière schématique. Ils se concentrent sur le nombre le plus grand de décisions et de jugements que possible. Dans la pratique quotidienne, il n’ya pas de temps pour une réflexion intellectuelle approfondie. Il sufit d’appliquer les schémas simplifiés éprouvés et des mêmes outils de diagnostic, d’analyser et d’évaluer les facteurs de risque standard. A la fin d’article son auteur tire la conclusion finale que la criminologie universitaire est utile pour le juge moyen, l'agent de probation ou l’educateur de prison dans une mesure limitée.

Forever trapped in the imaginary of late capitalism? The serialized true crime podcast as a wake-up call in times of criminological slumber

Within this article, we explore the emergence of the serialized true crime podcast through an ultra-realist lens. These representations have become increasingly popular in recent years and appear to embody changing sensibilities towards crime and criminal justice – we critically consider whether serialized true crime podcasts do or could represent a change from the true crime of the past. More importantly, we question the extent to which academic criminology is equipped to engage in critical analysis of this media and address the questions that they raise about crime and society’s response to it in late capitalist society.

The 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda and Academic Criminology

AbstractThis essay introduces some research and pedagogical issues relevant to the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda into academic criminology, especially concerning teaching and learning about these issues in the context of climate change. Academic criminology should not hesitate to take on board the normative dimension of socio-economic development. Certainly, the 2030 United Nations Agenda is a very fitting case in point.

Recovery and desistance: what the emerging recovery movement in the alcohol and drug area can learn from models of desistance from offending

In the last 20 years, the recovery movement in alcohol and other drugs has emerged as a major influence on alcohol and drug policy and practice in the UK, US and Australia. In roughly the same period of time, the desistance movement has become increasingly prominent in academic criminology, and is increasingly influential in criminal justice practice, particularly in the area of probation. Furthermore, the populations involved in recovery and desistance research have significant overlap, yet there has been little shared learning across these areas. The current article explores the evolution of thinking around desistance and what lessons it might offer conceptual models of recovery. It will be argued that one of the most important shared assumptions relates to identity change, and the extent to which these identity changes are intrinsically social or ‘relational’. The paper will advance a social identity model as a mechanism for understanding the journey to recovery or desistance and the centrality of reintegration into communities for a coherent model and public policy around addiction recovery.

Realist Criminology, the New Aetiological Crisis and the Crime Drop

This paper aims to provide a summary of some of the key issues outlined in my recent publication Realist Criminology (2014a). It discusses, in particular, the perceived deficiencies of both mainstream and critical criminology in relation to their explanations of the crime drop. It argues that the failure of criminologists to provide a convincing and plausible explanation of the recent decrease in recorded crime in Britain, North America and other countries has resulted in a new aetiological crisis. It is suggested that the failure to explain what is arguably the most significant development in relation to crime in living memory is no accident, but rather a function of the theoretical and methodological inadequacies that are prevalent in academic criminology.

Desistance and restorative justice: it’s now or never

This special issue of Restorative Justice: An International Journal explores the synergies between two of the fastest growing, most influential developments in academic criminology and applied crim...

Convict Criminology and the Struggle for Inclusion

Convict Criminology (CC) began in the early 1990s as a reaction to the then current state of academic criminology that did not adequately reflect the voices of convicted felons. Since its beginnings, CC has attempted to draw attention to a range of problems created by the criminal justice apparatus and defenders of the status quo. Dr. Joanne Belknap’s 2014 ASC presidential address and subsequent article presented an argument that stressed the importance of activism to be considered as part of criminological research. In the process, she reviewed her career and then criticized the field of Critical Criminology, in particular Convict Criminology. The article, however, ignored the numerous efforts that CC has engaged in to build an inclusive group school, movement, organization and network that includes the diverse voices of Ph.D. educated convicts and excons, and overall reflected a superficial understanding of the history and intent of Convict Criminology. This article attempts to explain the shortcomings of Belknap’s article and clarifies misunderstandings.

Collecting Criminology: an Introduction to the Radzinowicz Library of Criminology

AbstractThe Radzinowicz Library is the specialist criminology library of the Institute of Criminology, a research and teaching department of the University of Cambridge. As Stuart Stone explains, it is the premier academic criminology collection in the United Kingdom and indeed it is one of the major collections in this subject in the world. The library primarily serves the Institute and the University but also the wider community of criminal justice researchers, many of whom are regular visitors. In common with other libraries, financial pressures are a continuing concern, especially because of the interdisciplinary nature of the subject. Outreach and engagement with organisations outside academia add to the distinctive characteristics of the library.

In defence of administrative criminology

This paper is based on an address given as joint winner with Ronald V. Clarke of the 2015 Stockholm Prize in Criminology. This was awarded for some early studies we worked on together in the UK Home Office which were seen as important in re-focusing the task of preventing crime towards simply reducing opportunities for it. This approach became known as situational crime prevention. It had a hostile academic reception from academic criminologists and earned the label of ‘administrative criminology’. Later, the same label was given to what was portrayed as narrow, unscholarly research done for government to serve their political agenda, in contrast to research with more range and theoretical thrust. Administrative criminology is a term most familiar in relation to UK research supported by its government; this is the paper’s context. Administrative criminology deserves a much more positive appraisal than it has been given to date. First, government research activity through to the 1990s at least was self-generated (not imposed), was influential, and was often controversial. The research establishing situational crime prevention as a generally effective approach has withstood criticism that it lacks intellectual weight and would not work. Second, administrative criminologists have been consistently brought to heel as regards ensuring that they communicate what they know effectively and clearly. Third, administrative criminology has arguably had more influence on policy than academic criminology, since its business is to address the concerns of government to which it is better placed to make its voice heard. Finally, administrative criminology should be credited for keeping the ‘criminological ball rolling’ insofar as it provides a wealth of data from expensive surveys on victimisation and offending, as well as basic ‘facts and figures’ from statistical series on crime and the criminal justice system. These data serve criminologists of all complexions. This paper discusses the two fronts on which administrative criminology has been criticised. It defends its record on both fronts. It also argues that critics overlook the contribution that administrative criminology makes to supplying much of the basic empirical data on which all criminologists draw.

Thirty years of criminology at HKU: themes and trends in crime and its control

Purpose This paper, aims to contribute to the wider project of understanding the production of knowledge about crime and justice and, “to cultivate and sustain a reflexive awareness about the conditions under which such knowledge is (or is not) produced” (Loader and Sparks, 2012, p. 6). In reviewing the core issues and concerns about crime and control from the 1980s as articulated in these research dissertations, the authors seek to be self-reflexive about academic criminology as a field of enquiry in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach In this research, 209 dissertations, completed between 1988 and 2015, are categorized on the basis of the main subject or theme of investigation carried out by each of the research paper. Findings and originality/value This discussion is among the first and few attempts to look at the development of criminology in the Hong Kong China region and draws from the unique perspectives of practitioners – those working on the front lines – in their attempts to understand crime and its control with a criminological imagination.

Taking stock: the establishment of a distinctive criminological tradition

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer an insider account of the establishment of Hong Kong University (HKU’s) Master of Social Sciences in Criminology. Design/methodology/approach The paper is biographical in approach, based on the author’s recollections and departmental documentation relating to the establishment of the MSocSc criminology degree. Findings The author argues that for all the practical complications, a distinctive criminological tradition was forged in the early years that has had a lasting influence. The paper concludes by considering the challenges faced by criminology in contemporary Hong Kong. Originality/value The paper provides an account of the origins and development of academic criminology in Hong Kong.

ROMANTIC TERRORISM? AN AUTO-ETHNOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF GENDERED PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL TACTICS IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

This paper draws on the theoretical arguments outlined in Hayes (2014) to frame critical analyses of two real life domestic violence narratives. The authors are both academic criminologists and victims/survivors of domestic violence, but within differing contexts – one a conventional heterosexual relationship, the other a female same-sex relationship. Their experiences are intertwined in an extensive collaborative auto-ethnographic analysis that spans seven years of working and socializing together, in which each provided a sounding board and support for the other. The analysis therefore documents two personal journeys. Auto-ethnography is a methodology that “seeks to describe and systematically analyze (graphy) personal experience (auto) in order to understand cultural experience (ethno)” (Ellis, Adams, and Bochner, 2011). The methodological approach taken by the authors is analytic rather than evocative, in the sense that we focus on collaboratively analyzing our dual experiences, rather than simply narrating them. We occupy the dual role of researcher and researched, and turn our gaze both inward and outward (Olson, 2004: 6). The academic and theoretical are intertwined with the personal and subjective to elicit an evocative and yet empirically validated study. The theoretical underpinnings of romantic love distortion, misogyny and sexism are used to frame these experiences of domestic violence and the differing sexualities of the authors provide a rich context for exploring the ways in which domestic violence victimization experiences are impacted by gender, sexuality, and heteronormative discourses of love, sex and relationships.

Reflections on a long career in criminology

On the occasion of receiving the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology Distinguished Criminologist Award, David Biles reflects on his long career in criminology and a number of criminal justice agencies. He reviews the establishment of the ANZSOC in 1967, suggesting that it was both premature and serendipitous. He notes particularly the central role of Allen Bartholomew at that time and for the next 13 years. He comments on the changing nature of the membership of ANZSOC and regrets the intellectual separation of academic criminologists and criminal justice professionals that has (perhaps unavoidably) developed. He offers some comments on the membership of the Society and its journal, and suggests a number of issues that he believes deserve more attention and research.

Senior Female Faculty in Criminal Justice and Criminology: Professors and Associate Professors Navigating Pathways to Success

Studies on gender in the academic workplace have found persistent disparity between men and women in terms of salary, promotional opportunities, workload distributions, and other academic rewards despite the increasing number of women who are scholars and administrators. This study seeks to elaborate on women's presence in the academy by focusing on senior women faculty who teach at universities with criminology and criminal justice programs. In the present research, we analyze self-reported information on several employment factors. Most respondents were satisfied with their workplace environment, but we found some significant differences between female full professors and associate professors. Full professors felt more successful than associate professors, were less cynical toward the academy than associate professors, and did not feel that their service load interfered with their scholarship. Associate professors felt that they did not garner the same respect or other rewards that their peers received and felt that they carried too heavy a service load. Recommendations for improving the situation of female faculty in academic criminology and criminal justice programs are provided, as are recommendations for up-and-coming female scholars who will soon be navigating these programs.

Cultural realism?

Cultural criminology has provided a much needed energy and diversity within academic criminology. However, it has been criticised for its notion of ‘culture’, its tendency to romanticise deviance and for its lack of engagement with policy development. Realist criminology, on the other hand, has expressed a commitment to taking crime and victimisation seriously and to being policy relevant. The question that this paper addresses is whether these two strands of criminology can be combined to produce an approach that is both critical and useful. This was a question that Jock Young raised in his later writings.