Criminal Justice Responses Research Articles

Mapping Activist Responses and Policy Advocacy for Street Harassment: Current Practice and Future Directions

This article presents findings from a comprehensive mapping exercise of activist responses to, and policy advocacy for, street harassment across the US, UK and Australia. Analysis of activist groups found that the bulk of responses constituted forms of “awareness raising” and documenting the experiences of victims, suggesting that current advocacy is largely situated within the “problem identification” phase of policy development. The extent and focus of activism and advocacy efforts varied across the three locations, with the responses advocated for shaped by local concerns and politics. In particular, activist groups diverged in their support for criminal justice responses to street harassment. Where policy and other initiatives have been developed, these have rarely been evaluated, and there is a clear need to establish an evidence base to better support future policy and practice developments.

"Like Fetching Water with a Bucket Full of Holes": High-Profile Cases and Perceptions of System Failure.

High-profile trials are often held up as emblematic of social justice causes, but this often obscures rather than clarifies justice issues for the public. Trial outcomes may be seen as proxies of much deeper, structural problems, though media coverage routinely focuses on singular, criminal justice outcomes. This study uses a press analysis of two high-profile cases to investigate how these dynamics restrict our cultural understandings of justice outside the context of formal criminal justice responses. Specifically, we use three forms of media discourse to examine public discussion following the verdicts in the Stanford rape case in 2015 and the killing of Philando Castile by Officer Jeronimo Yanez in Minnesota in 2016. We find that both cases elicited diverse narratives, including those calling for alternative justice processes and penal populist ones. We explore these narratives under the framing of system failure, examining three different articulations. We conclude by theorizing the implications each case raises for how media negotiate ideas about what constitutes justice.

Thinking differently about family violence: Shifting from a criminal justice response to a recovery orientation

AbstractAgainst a backdrop of increasing rates of family violence in Aotearoa New Zealand, opportunities exist to reflect upon, and critically evaluate, our conventional understanding and responses to family violence. In doing so, there is considerable potential to further develop and progress more efficacious orientations and approaches. The current study sought to explore alternative approaches from the perspectives of 35 men who have engaged in family violence; understanding the type of supports and interventions that have aided their desistance. Participants traced their desistance to family violence to communities of support, communities that have raised awareness of family violence while simultaneously engaging men who either use violence or were at risk of using violence, and the development of holistic, therapeutic, and supportive communities. Themes from these men's narratives highlight the benefits of a move away from a criminogenic response to a community‐embedded recovery orientation.

Incarceration among adults living with psychosis in Indigenous populations in Cape York and the Torres Strait.

The relationship between psychosis and contact with the criminal justice system for Indigenous people living in rural and remote areas is not well understood. In this study, the authors examine patterns of incarceration among Indigenous people living with psychosis in Cape York and the Torres Strait over two decades. Data were collated from a clinical database of complete psychiatric records from 1992 to 2015, extracted for all Indigenous patients with a psychotic disorder from the Remote Area Mental Health Service, and linked to the Queensland Corrections Service database. Descriptive statistics were calculated to compare characteristics between those incarcerated and those not incarcerated during the study period and to quantify patterns of incarceration including types of offences, time spent in custody and frequency of incarceration. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used to assess associations between reported variables and 'first incarceration'. Forty-five percent of Aboriginal patients (n = 116) were incarcerated compared with 31% of Torres Strait Islanders (n = 41) (p = 0.008), and the proportion of males incarcerated (51%, n = 141) was approximately twice that of females (24%, n = 35; p = 0.001). A cluster of first incarcerations were observed in close time proximity to diagnosis of psychosis. Individuals who had a history of both alcohol and cannabis use had approximately two times higher risk of being incarcerated following positive diagnosis compared to those without a history of substance use (hazard ratio = 1.85; 95% confidence interval: [1.08, 3.17]; p = 0.028). Males accounted for approximately 85% (n = 328) of sentences. The most common most serious offence was causing physical harm to others (assault - n = 122, 31%). Our study found that for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a psychotic disorder in North Queensland, criminal justice responses with resultant incarceration occurs frequently. Access to appropriate mental health services and diversion options for Indigenous Australians with psychosis should be a key public health and justice priority.

Shifting the Service Referral Paradigm Using Community-Based Second Responders: Examining Weapon Use in Intimate Partner Violence

To address a rise in intimate partner violence (IPV) related homicides, Cincinnati Police Department (CPD) partnered with Women Helping Women (WHW), a community, gender-based violence prevention organization to create the Domestic Violence Enhanced Response Team (DVERT). Second responders are sent out to the scene of IPV police calls to better address the needs of survivors and connect them with services. The aim of this study is to assess how calls involving weapons differed from those that did not. The sample included 1253 calls from August 2018 to January 2020, which were then categorized by whether or not the incident included a weapon. A series of bivariate analyses were conducted to assess for differences between groups in perpetrator and survivor characteristics, harm incurred, criminal justice responses, and referrals for services. There were significant differences in perpetrator characteristics between weapon involvement groups. Perpetrators in the weapon involvement group were more likely to have access to weapons; history of physical violence, verbal or mental abuse; substance abuse problems, and mental illness. Black women were disproportionately more likely to have a weapon used on them. The criminal justice system did not differ significantly in their response to cases involving weapons. However, survivors of weapons related cases were overall more likely to receive service referrals. Findings suggest a need for community-based second responder programs to partner with police departments to address the multitude of needs for survivors given the lethality of these incidents.

“They Steal Our Work”: Wage Theft and the Criminalization of Immigrant Day Laborers in Colorado, USA

Latino immigrant day laborers are among the most vulnerable populations in the USA, frequently subject to work-related abuses such as wage theft in violation of federal and state labor laws. Despite legal reforms to facilitate wage recovery for low-wage workers and to recognize wage theft as a crime, this article draws on over two years of community-based research to show how day laborers face challenges mobilizing their legal rights and holding employers accountable for the crimes they suffer owing to their own criminalization and devaluation in US society. Contributing to harms-based approaches in critical criminology, it explores how individual legal remedies or criminal justice responses can risk obscuring the ways that wage theft is embedded along a continuum of legal and illegal exploitative labor practices that are normalized and maintained by the broader degradation of work and the criminalization of immigration.

Illegal drugs in the UK: Is it time for considered legalisation to improve public health?

This paper investigates options available to policy makers responding to the challenges of drug use in modern society, focussing on the UK. It investigates the failings of prohibition policy that has driven historic reactions to drugs, drug use and drug users globally, nationally and locally. This policy paradigm has been largely destructive and counter-productive and has led to a whole host of health and social problems. The authors have approached their investigation from a public health perspective, free from moral biases that have driven many policy initiatives until now. Many countries and regions of the world are rejecting prohibition as they move towards public health models in opposition to criminal justice responses, and this trend is continuing. Four policy models are examined; prohibition as the status quo; extension of prohibition to include alcohol and other drugs; decriminalisation; legalisation and regulation of all drugs. Each of these policy options are contested; none have universal support. However, given careful consideration, this paper proposes that our only way out of the public health and criminal justice crises that have been driven by drug policy globally is to adopt the more contentious option of legalisation and regulation of all drugs commonly used non medically.

UKRAINE’S DRUG POLICY ON PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS AND BEHAVIOR DUE TO THE USE OF PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES: PROSPECTS FOR DEVELOPMENT

The aim: Is to review the current state of Ukraine’s drug policy development, primarily on criminal justice response to crimes committed by a person under the influence of drug addiction, to evaluate its compliance with international standards and best foreign practices. Materials and methods: The study is based on the analysis of international documents, drug control strategies, sociological research in this area. The article is grounded on dialectical, systemic, and structural, comparative legal methods, methods of analysis, and synthesis. Conclusions: The search for effective measures to tackle drug-related crimes remains an integral part of drug policy both in Ukraine and abroad. Programs for the prevention, medical and psychological rehabilitation of addicts need a scientific basis. The current situation, in which criminal justice does not consider the specifics of persons who have committed criminal offenses due to mental disorders connected with the use of psychoactive substances, is not effective in terms of recidivism prevention and ensuring public safety.

Rapid, remote and responsive research during COVID-19

In March 2020, the UK Research and Innovation announced an emergency call for research to inform policy and practice responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. This call implicitly and explicitly required researchers to work rapidly, remotely and responsively. In this article, we briefly review how rapid response methods developed in health research can be used in other social science fields. After outlining the literature in this area, we use the early stages of our applied research into criminal justice responses to domestic abuse during COVID-19 as a case study to illustrate some of the practical challenges we faced in responding to this rapid funding call. We review our use of and experience with remote research methods and describe how we used and adapted these methods in our research, from data gathering through to transcription and analysis. We reflect on our experiences to date of what it means to be responsive in fast-changing research situations. Finally, we make some practical recommendations for conducting applied research in a ‘nimble’ way to meet the demands of working rapidly, remotely, responsively and, most importantly, responsibly.

A Comparison of Street Gangs and Fraternities in the United States of America: Demographics, Conduct, and Criminal Justice Perception and Responses

Street gangs and university fraternities are both prevalent social institutions in the United States of America. Despite differences in classification and treatment, they share many of the same characteristics, particularly initiation rituals, the pervasiveness of drugs and alcohol, the emphasis placed on brotherhood and male bonding, and the ways in which misogynistic attitudes and violence are used to reinforce masculinity and dominance. Despite these similarities, offences ranging from misbehaviour to criminal activity by fraternity members are protected under the guise of “academic brotherhood”, and thus go largely unpunished. On the contrary, gang members, who often come from lower-class backgrounds and are over-represented in Black and Hispanic populations, are not afforded these same benefits. I will be further exploring these double standards by examining the experiences of Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs) and how they are likened to ‘educated gangs’. In this paper, I will be exploring the similarities between street gangs and fraternities in the United States in terms of demographics, conduct, and the types and prevalence of criminal offending. I will also be discussing the differences in classification and response of these two institutions by both the general public and the criminal justice system. While I am not advocating for the expansion of federal gang definitions to include fraternities, there needs to be a serious conversation regarding the types of violence that we take seriously, and the ways in which race and class factor into these decisions.
 Keywords: gang, fraternity, sexual violence, alcohol, initiation, masculinity, Black Greek Letter Organizations

Tamna i svijetla strana tamne brojke kriminala: o izazovima istraživanja nepoznanica i blagoslovu neznanja

In the paper at hand the authors critically analyse the state of the art in the research into the dark figure of crime, as well as the conceptual and methodological challenges that are inherent to this kind of research. They do so based on current international, foreign and domestic studies, with the goal of highlighting not only the commonly stressed ‘dark side’ of the dark figure of crime, but also in order to raise awareness of its almost completely disregarded ‘bright side’. In this regard the bright side of the dark figure of crime relates to the thesis of the so-called preventive effect of ignorance (germ. Präventivwirkung des Nichtwissens) and presents a phenomenon with a vastly important positive function which has thus far been completely neglected in the domestic criminological and criminal law discourse. This function basically ensures that the criminal justice response to criminal behaviour is perceived as comprehensive and effective. Without such perception the general preventive effect, as envisaged by criminal law, would be unsubstantial. By highlighting the dark figure’s bright side, the authors on the one hand aspire to make a scientific contribution to the comprehensiveness of the discourse about the dark figure of crime in Croatia, while on the other hand they illustrate the unsolvable conceptual and almost unavoidable methodological challenges which are inherent to the attempts of shedding light upon the dark figure of crime. The authors’ intention is neither to devalorize dark figure research in general, nor to bring about resignation with regard to enterprises seeking to reveal the dark figure of certain types of crime by means of victimisation or self-report studies. It is rather the intention of the authors to comprehensively and critically examine the dark figure phenomenon in all its complexity, vividness and mutual interwovenness with the criminal justice actors, and while doing so to neither underestimate the dark figure’s negative cognitive effects, nor to ignore its overly positive function in the service of norm stabilisation and sustaining the repressive system, as well as society as a whole.

The Rape Kit’s Promise: Techno-optimism in the Fight Against the Backlog

ABSTRACT News of hundreds of thousands of untested forensic rape kits in police storage facilities and forensic labs across the United States has sparked a national dialogue about criminal justice responses to sexual assault. In a battle for more funding for forensic testing, victim advocacy organizations and activists are pointing to the necessity of rape kits for identifying and convicting sexual offenders. When tested, they argue, rape kits can ensure victims’ healing and justice, and increase public safety. Current campaigns to reduce rape kit backlogs reflect a widespread techno-optimism around forensic technologies’ ability to reduce and prevent violent crime. This optimism has a long history. The rape kit’s development in the 1970s was fueled by anti-violence activists’ hope that a new technology would improve criminal justice responses to sexual assault. The rape kit’s history provides an insightful backdrop to current rape kit backlog campaigns and the optimistic sociotechnical imaginary of a society rid of sexual violence through forensic technologies that drives them. An analysis of textual data, including media articles, government reports, conference proceedings, and advocates’ social media campaigns, reveals the history of techno-optimism around the rape kit and its recent expressions in rape kit backlog campaigns. This data also draws attention to the less visible consequences of this techno-optimism: a booming forensic industry profiting from the optimism around the rape kit, an increasing pressure on sexual assault survivors to comply with forensic procedures, and a narrowing of critical dialogues on criminal justice responses to sexual assault and sexual assault prevention.

Getting to Know Women Convicted of Human Trafficking in Spain: Personal Profiles and Involvement in Crime

This paper contributes to existing global knowledge on female traffickers by providing data about 43 women punished for human trafficking in Spain between 2015 and 2018. Several factors related to the women’s profiles, methods and roles performed in the criminal enterprise are analyzed, based on information obtained from 39 court judgments. The results highlight the similarity between victims’ and perpetrators’ personal circumstances, and show that women’s involvement in trafficking can vary substantially, illustrating the complex dynamics behind this crime. Overall, the paper underlines the need to develop gender-appropriate policies to prevent human trafficking and guarantee proportionality in criminal justice responses.

What, Besides a Lack of Reoffending, Indicates Successful Completion of a Drug Court Program

Drug courts were developed in the United States in the late-1980s as a response to the perceived ineffectiveness of traditional criminal justice responses to drug-related problems. Over the past 20 years drug courts have begun to emerge across the world. In Australia, the model was first adopted in New South Wales in 1999 and continues to gain popularity in most States. Drug court program evaluations routinely focus on recidivism rates as a key indicator of performance; however, this measure does not consider any other components that can result in a successful drug court outcome. This article presents the methodology and analysis of research that sought to determine what other elements of the drug court process are linked to the successful completion of a drug court program. A documentary analysis was conducted of the operation and outcomes of Australian drug courts and thematic analysis of naturalistic observation data from drug court proceedings. The research conclusively identified one overarching theme – “the rehabilitative ideal” – and how it is linked to drug court success. In this vein, the article discusses a number of recommendations on how drug courts can be informed by evidence of best practice to enhance outcomes.

Reflections from the Field: Disparate responses to labour exploitation in post-Katrina Louisiana

Hurricane Katrina was a devastating natural disaster that changed the landscape of the United States’ Gulf Coast. This was followed by a human-made disaster of failed policies, poor governmental oversight, and rampant labour abuse. This article compares how the anti-trafficking and labour rights movements responded to the widespread labour abuse following Katrina. It examines how the worker rights movement responded to systemic issues impacting labourers, and explores the anti-trafficking movement’s criminal justice response to severe forms of exploitation. It shows how the anti-trafficking movement failed to adequately address severe forms of labour abuse, as opposed to the more successful organising efforts of the worker rights movement. The article concludes by considering how the two movements may respond to conditions of labour exploitation emerging as a result of a new disaster impacting workers in Louisiana: the COVID-19 pandemic.

MEASURES OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESPONSE TO PROHIBITIONS IN THE FIELD OF TRAFFIC SAFETY AND VEHICLE OPERATION: SOME ASPECTS OF REGULATORY CERTAINTY AND PRACTICE OF USE

The article is devoted to the research of measures of criminal justice response to prohibitions in the field of traffic safety and vehicle operation. It is noted that the primary role in state response to violation of criminal justice prohibitions in the field of traffic safety and vehicle operation is given to punishment, but no less important role is paid to other alternative to prohibition measures of criminal justice nature based on the concussion (special confiscation) or the encouragement (exemption from criminal responsibility or serving a sentence). It is concluded that the normative regulations of threats of application of certain punitive measures of criminal justice nature in sanctions of the articles of this section of the Special part in which the legislator defines the threat of application of various types of punishment for committing the crimes stipulated in crimes’ dispositions, needs specification from the point of view of the system interconnection, along with the provisions of the General Part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, whereas the practice of application of special confiscation its further distribution and development, considering the proposed recommendations of its delimitation with the so called criminal procedural confiscation as means of criminal procedural concussion. In particular, it is noted that such clarification may be implemented either by enforcing additional penalties specified in the sanctions of Part 1, 2, 3 of Article 286, part 1 of Article 287 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, to the common list of types of punishments, with their separate meaningful definition in the corresponding articles of the section X of the General part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, or by covering normative definition in sanctions of the specified articles of section XI of the Special part of threats of application of such additional types of punishments according to the existing parts of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In this regard the sanctions of Article 286 and 287 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine propose to make appropriate changes. As for the practice of applying special confiscation for committing crimes in the field of traffic safety and vehicle operation, it is recommended that the question of its implementation should be based on the fact that the subject of special confiscation may be defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Art. 96-2 of the Criminal Code - items 6, 6-1 part 9 of Art. 100 of the Criminal Procedure Code, paragraph 2, part 1 of Art. 96-2 of the Criminal Code - item 2 part 9 of Art. 100 of the CPC, paragraph 3, part 1 of Art. 96-2 of the Criminal Code - item 5 part 9 of Art. 100 of the CPC, paragraph 4, part 1 of Art. 96-2 of the Criminal Code - item 1 part 9 of Art. 100 of the CPC items of the material world that possess a certain property value, and are usually considered as physical evidence in criminal proceedings initiated on the fact of committing certain crimes in the field of traffic safety and vehicle operation.

Women’s stories of non-fatal strangulation: Informing the criminal justice response

Non-fatal strangulation is commonly reported by women who have experienced intimate partner violence and it has been identified as both an immediate risk to health and life but also a risk for future serious harm and even death. While some Australian states and Canada have followed the lead of American states in introducing criminal offences of non-fatal strangulation the United Kingdom is yet to do so. Non-fatal strangulation offences have come with challenges of definition and identification. The success of criminal justice responses requires an understanding of the ways in which women understand and describe their non-fatal strangulation victimisation. We analyse 24 women’s experiences of non-fatal strangulation as a basis for considering how to ensure that jurisdictions considering introduction of a new non-fatal strangulation offence or reform of an existing offence do not reproduce obstacles to prosecution and legal recognition and suggest a model definition of non-fatal strangulation for an offence.

Prohibitionist Drug Policy in South Africa—Reasons and Effects

The moral approach that has been used to interpret and implement the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs exacerbates the health burden faced by people who use drugs. Drawing on our experience in research, programming and policy relating to drug use and health in South Africa, we illustrate the negative consequences prohibition has had for the health of people who use drugs in our country. We argue that South Africa illustrates how approaches that stigmatise people who use drugs are morally justified at the expense of human rights and public health outcomes. We highlight how South Africa is perpetuating prohibitionist approaches on international platforms and question why this has endured. Conflicting health and law enforcement policies, local conservatism and donor conditionality have thwarted harm reduction expansion and evidence-based drug policy development, resulting in notable harms. Persistent morally-based perspectives contribute to stigma and discrimination in healthcare facilities and negatively affect treatment-seeking by people who use drugs. Criminal justice responses have increased TB exposure and entry into correctional centres that do not offer evidence-based drug treatment services. Encouragingly, progressive health and HIV policy affecting people who use drugs has recently been developed, and the recent decriminalisation of cannabis opens a door for policy debate. We recommend that to improve health, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs should be challenged to prioritise rights and health and that the personal use of drugs be decriminalised. We also highlight the need for mechanisms to hold health and other actors accountable for ensuring that the health and rights of all people are prioritised and strengthened.

Addressing elder abuse: service provider perspectives on the potential of restorative processes

ABSTRACT Older adults often rely on family and friends for care and support. Individuals providing support can take advantage of their vulnerabilities, resulting in neglect, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, or financial exploitation. Conventional approaches, which older adults are often reluctant to pursue, utilize social service interventions, criminal justice responses, civil litigation, and case review multi-disciplinary teams. This project explored providers’ perspectives on using restorative processes, alternative approaches that bring together the person harmed, the person committing the harm, and the community to address the harm and repair relationships. Researchers recruited and interviewed providers working with abused older adults, as referred by a community-based elder justice working group. Providers perceived that restorative processes have the potential to address and prevent social isolation, which often leads to elder abuse. We recommend providers explore restorative processes to address elder abuse, paying attention to implementation barriers and identifying appropriate methods for supporting and maintaining outcomes.

The World Drug Policy Problem. An Interview with José Ramos-Horta

Jose Ramos-Horta is a former president of Timor-Leste, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a current member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP). Khalid Tinasti, one of the guest editors of this Thematic Issue, interviewed Jose Ramos-Horta to gain insight into his views and analyses of drug control policy. They discuss his experience as one of the drafters of the Constitution and criminal justice responses in Timor-Leste, and his role as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) at a time when the country was labelled a ‘narco-state’. Khalid Tinasti also asked him about his views on the future of the drug market in the context of a growing drug policy divide between countries that enforce a punitive approach to drug use and those now legalising cannabis and other substances for recreational purposes.