Critical Criminology Research Articles

Proceedings of the Second Australia and New Zealand Critical Criminology Conference, 19-20 June 2008, Sydney

Conducted by the Crime and Justice Research Network and the Australian and New Zealand Critical Criminology Network

“He Would Kill Me With His Penis”: Genocidal Rape in Rwanda as a State Crime

Only recently have critical criminologists begun a systematic exploration of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity as state crimes (Kramer and Michalowski 2005; Mullins and Rothe 2008; Haveman and Smeulers 2008). This paper contributes to that growing literature through examining the nature and dynamics of sexual violence as it occurred during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. It draws upon empirical examination of events depicted in transcripts of trials held before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. It qualitatively examines the role of leaders in producing mass sexual assaults. It explores how sexual mutilations were more intense expressions of what the genocide’s local leaders hoped to accomplish through the use of rape in the event. It also explores long-term results of victimization for survivors. Finally, this paper then uses an integrated theory of state crime (see Mullins and Rothe 2008; Rothe and Mullins 2006, 2008a) to illuminate the causal forces at play on multiple levels of analysis in producing the sexual violence specifically within the broader genocide.

Getting the usual treatment: research censorship and the dangerous offender

In the course of finishing dissertation research, this author encountered a wall of opposition from the Canadian penitentiary service and parole board to his proposal. For political reasons they opposed research on dangerous offenders from the perspective of ‘convict criminology’, concluding: ‘This proposal does not reflect CSC [Correctional Service of Canada] priorities and service objectives, and would result in disruption to institutional operations.’ For a period of two months, this criminologist was barred from all penitentiaries in Ontario and could not interview any prisoner. Complaints were made to Members of Parliament including the then‐Solicitor General of Canada, as well as the Office of the Correctional Investigator; even the University tried to censor the project. This article seeks to place this episode in the context of the historic marginalization to which critical and convict criminology have been subjected. It will document how the state controls the criminological research agenda and what happens when ‘voices from below’ want to have a say in penological research. Of related interest will be a discussion of how a university research ethics committee, in conjunction with the penitentiary service, tried to stop this project.

A construção do conceito de criminoso na sociedade capitalista: um debate para o Serviço Social

A violência, de alguma forma, sempre esteve presente na história da humanidade, assumindo características diferentes nos diversos contextos sociais e econômicos. Ela é o foco do assunto discutido neste artigo¹, sobretudo, em sua vertente urbana na sociedade capitalista contemporânea. Analisa-se, com base na história do direito penal, a centralidade que o conceito de criminoso alcançou no decorrer da história da sociedade moderna. A partir dos dados observados, busca-se refletir sobre a irrupção da violência individual em detrimento das demais formas de violência, presentes na ordem societária capitalista. Examina-se, no segmento, como os processos de criminalização e de controle social, empregados pelo aparato estatal elegem um inimigo comum a ser combatido: o delinqüente. Com o aporte teórico da criminologia crítica, discutem-se as contribuições que essas idéias trazem para o Serviço Social e como o assistente social pode apropriar-se delas em seu processo de formação e exercício profissional.

A criminalização do tráfico de mulheres: proteção das mulheres ou reforço da violência de gênero?

O conteúdo de 23 decisões judiciais proferidas no período de 2004 a 2008, em casos de tráfico de mulheres para a prostituição (art. 231 do Código Penal) é analisado no contexto teórico da Criminologia Crítica feminista com o objetivo de verificar se os juízes avaliam o fato na perspectiva de gênero, de maneira a não reforçar a discriminação e a violência contra as mulheres. A análise revela posições ambíguas entre o respeito à liberdade sexual/dignidade humana e a proteção da moralidade pública, bem como a sobrevitimização das mulheres, o que torna duvidosa a eficácia da aplicação da lei penal na prevenção do tráfico.

Speed/pure war/power crime: Paul Virilio on the criminogenic accident and the virtual disappearance of the suicidal state

This essay applies the theoretical concepts of pure war and speed-politics developed by the critical theorist and urbanist Paul Virilio to the concept of power crime. The aim of this paper is to present readers unfamiliar with Virilio’s work with a philosophical methodology of great potential significance to critical criminology. It is divided into two major parts. The first part re-considers power crime and the broader criminogenic environment in terms of the Virilian notions of velocity, optics, and pure war: criminogenic phenomena are shown to be the necessary and unavoidable by-products of the wider convergences among political, economic, and military systems governed by speed. The second part consists of an empirical case study illustrating the practical applicability of these abstract Virilian concepts: the federal prosecution of the private security firm Custer Battles for fraud. The systemic corruption of the US military procurement process and the inability of the federal judicial system to provide a remedy for the fraud perpetrated against the American public is read as a key sign of the suspension of the liberal juro-political order and the effective abolition of the rule of law by fast moving, or “high velocity”, criminogenic processes.

Experiments in risk and criminal justice

Risk has not been regarded positively in most social theory and critical criminology, especially in the light of Beck's `risk society' thesis. This paper argues that such criticism is misplaced. Risk is an extremely variable governmental technology, and many of the targets of criticism are shaped by the contemporary political environment. The same environment has given a similar negative cast to other approaches to security. There are ways of deploying risk, such as drug harm minimization strategies, that offer considerable promise for linking risk to security, and more broadly to issues of social justice. However, abstract calls for harm minimizing security suffer exactly the same problems that confront generalizing about risk-based security. This paper suggests that we could use a governmental analytic to construct a strategic knowledge of risk, both through the analysis of existing approaches (such as harm minimization and restorative justice) and by using this to generate experiments in risk, security and justice.

Using the 1994 Rwanda Genocide to Intergrate Critical Criminology and Liberation Sociology

This article explores the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and its educational ramifications in terms of linking critical criminology to liberation sociology and giving greater exposure to Genocide as a criminological issue. The article provides practical advice and theoretical insights on teaching Genocide Studies in the undergraduate classroom. I start by exploring critical criminology and liberation sociology. I then introduce the reader to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide and resources used in my classroom. I explore the implications for (critical) criminology of these materials. Finally I discuss issues that arose during the class.

Ordering Iraq: Reflections on Power, Discourse, & Neocolonialism

Several years into the occupation of Iraq, there remain questions as to that nation’s relative sovereignty. Given the degree of political, economic, and military control by the US government, numerous commentators characterize Iraq as a neocolonial state. Indeed, the design for nation-building has been firmly established by external rather than internal forces; those developments invite closer scrutiny into the nature of power in a post-9/11 world. Accordingly, this critique sets out to explore the conceptual underpinnings of neocolonialism by turning critical attention to discourse and biopower shaping the reconstruction of Iraq. The analysis similarly attends to state crime, especially controversial economic tactics banned under international and federal laws. So as to contextualize those violations within a broader social and legal framework, the discussion considers the significance of states of exception and institutionalized impunity. Foucault’s writings figure prominently among these reflections on order, governmentality, and power. Nonetheless, in an effort to contribute to a wider theoretical agenda for critical criminology, the article also draws on other interdisciplinary sources, including Agamben (State of exception, 2005), Gregory (The colonial present: Afghanistan, Palestine, Iraq, 2004) and Hardt and Negri (Empire, 2001; Multitude: War and democracy in the age of empire, 2004).

Solidarity Action Research as Methodology

Colombian society is in an ongoing violent confrontation in which research is immediately referenced by policy debate. Assumptions about crimes of powerful actors, trusting or skeptical, oblige a choice between a corporate-led and a victim-led investigation. A fresh response to social movements seeking international support to overcome human rights violations takes critical criminology as its framework. The research approach is oriented toward the social movements' experience. Social movements are rendered not simply as victims but as conscious social actors. The role of multinational corporations is analyzed from a social movement standpoint by a methodology that combines NGO- based research with action research.

Book review: The Critical Criminology Companion

The Critical Criminology Companion is a wonderful new addition to the field of criminology. The book showcases many of the major Australian and New Zealand politically committed and theoretically sophisticated criminologists writing in their particular area of expertise.

Whither Critical Criminology? A Contemplation on Existential Hybridization

There has been much debate, in recent years, about the task, aims and goals of critical criminology, and about the need for critical criminology to re-invent itself. Referring to Sartre’s existentialism, this contribution introduces and expands on the thesis that critical criminology may be able to re-invent itself with the help of new ‘guiding images’, most notably: existential hybridization.

Hitting the panic button: policing/'mugging'/media/crisis

Policing the Crisis ( PTC) is an intriguing text that flickers hazily in the contested histories of both critical criminology and cultural studies in the UK. For 'the last of the true believers' within critical criminology, it remains the most thorough and sophisticated example of how to use Marxism to theorize the problem of crime. The strength of PTC lies in its hard-edged stance on analysis and prescription and its intellectually eclectic explanatory framework. Not surprisingly, re-reading Hall et al.'s analysis of 'mugging' and the news media in 2007 one realizes how much has altered since 1978.

Working toward Social Justice in the Classroom and Beyond: The Idea(I)s of Martin Luther King Jr. and Contemporary Criminology

This paper addresses the following questions: (1) How did the ideals and beliefs of Martin Luther King Jr. shape his vision of a just society and world? (2) How did he believe this could be accomplished? (3) How do his idea(l)s compare to those of contemporary “critical criminologists”? The paper closes with a proposal and strategy for progressive nonviolent social action to make social justice a reality in and outside of the classroom environment.

Depleted uranium, state crime and the politics of knowing

This article explores the use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions and armour in war, and its impact on environments, humans and other animals. Specifically, the concern is to describe the use of depleted uranium weapons in the Gulf (over two wars, within the space of sixteen years), and to trace the health and environmental implications of this use. The article then analyses the use of depleted uranium from the point of view of state crime, in relation to the issues of legitimacy and denial. This is followed by consideration of the relevance of such issues for a 21st-century critical criminology. The politics of knowing—when `knowledge' is uncertain—is highlighted in discussion of the complexities of denial/affirmation surrounding the use of DU for war purposes.

Social harm future(s): exploring the potential of the social harm approach

The notion of social harm has sporadically interested critical criminologists as an alternative to the concept of crime. In particular, it has been viewed as a means to widen the rather narrow approach to harm that criminology offers. More recently, the publication of Beyond Criminology: Taking Harm Seriously has renewed interest in the notion of social harm. The book asserted a number of very valid reasons for a social harm approach that provoked a number of interesting critical responses. The article seeks to respond to five recurring questions: Should the social harm perspective move beyond criminology? If so, where should the perspective locate itself? From this position, how will the perspective continue to engage within ‘law and order’ debates and address the concerns of those affected by crime? If the notion of crime is problematic, how will the perspective form an alternative definition of harm? Moreover, without a notion of crime and the accompanying concept of criminal intent, how would the perspective allocate responsibility for harm? The article is not offering definitive answers to these questions, but possible directions for the perspective’s future development.

Critical Penology, Prisoners and Citizenship: in the genre of gonzo—a road trip to the cauldron for the Roach case

This article is a speech given at the Australasian Teaching Critical Criminology conference. The main focus is on 'imprisoned citizens' and the nature of 'citizenship' and prisoner's rights.

Criminology and the Transnational Condition: A Contribution to International Political Sociology

This article contributes to international political sociology and the further enhancement of the interdisciplinary study of the global system by introducing some of the lexicon of critical criminology into the discourse. It suggests that the contemporary global system is ripe with existential anxieties that are symptoms of momentous historical change and it argues that, for good or for ill, issues of crime definition and control have become central to the transnational condition. As a consequence, criminological theories should be introduced into theoretical discussions about the nature of the contemporary global scene. Such interdisciplinary cross-fertilization is vital, given the centrality of the language of criminal threats in the language of global governance and the language of governance globally.

State crimes and state harms: a tale of two definitional frameworks

Criminologists have long debated the issue of how to define crime, and hence, the scope of criminological inquiry. For years, some critical criminologists have argued for expanded definitions of crime that include harmful behaviors of the state that may not be officially defined as criminal. Other critical criminologists have argued that existing legal frameworks may be used to study varieties of state crime, and that defining the harmful actions of the state as criminal is important to help mobilize public support for their control. In this paper, we first trace the historical development of these two perspectives, and then offer a tentative solution to the seeming tension between these two perspectives.

From ‘crime’ to social harm?

Debates around the relationships between criminology and social harm are long-standing. This article sets out some of the key features of current debates between, on the one hand, those who would retain a commitment to ‘crime’ and criminology and those, on the other hand who would abandon criminology for a social harm perspective. To this end, the article begins by highlighting several criticisms of criminology, criticisms raised in particular by a diverse group of critical criminologists over the past 30 to 40 years. While these are hardly new, the rehearsal of these is an important starting point for a discussion of the potential of the development of an alternative discipline. The paper then proposes a number of reasons why a disciplinary approach organised around a notion of social harm may prove to be more productive than has criminology hitherto: that is, may have the potential for greater theoretical coherence and imagination, and for more political progress.