International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy

Building a Panopticon Through Nodal Governance: Mass Surveillance and Plural Policing in China’s COVID-19 Lockdown

2023-03-15T08:37:08+10:00

At one time monitoring over 900 million people, China’s health code system is arguably the most controversial invention of the pandemic. This study explores how the system emerged and its implications for security governance in urban communities. By analysing 9,533 social media posts published during three key weeks, the study revealed that early pandemic responses in China were heavily shaped by private nodes, such as estate management companies, private security guards and homeowners. Homeowners’ demands for extra security clashed with migrants’ and tenants’ demands for mobility. The health code system was presented as a ‘solution’ to these conflicts. The findings of this study highlight the limitations of consumer-driven pluralisation in policing. Such pluralisation offered limited opportunities for democratisation. Instead, the radical pursuit of ‘club goods’ by consumer-denizens reinforced existing inequalities. Entrenched inequalities tempted marginalised social groups to accept ‘indiscriminate’ surveillance, which paved the way for a neo-panopticon. The study also warns against the alliance of state nodes and big-tech companies. Through collaboration, these powerful players can replace political dynamics in the community with data-driven modulation, thus destroying the foundation of nodal governance.

Neo-Colonial Criminology 10 Years On: The Silence Continues

2023-08-17T12:36:36+10:00

Decolonial academic discourse has gained substantial momentum since 2010, prompting the question of whether research on hyperincarcerated Indigenous peoples in settler-colonial societies has increased. Earlier research found a lack of engagement with this social problem in high-ranked criminology journals in the decade preceding 2010. This study focuses on the subsequent decade (2011–2020) to ascertain any discernible shifts. The discursive mass on hyperincarcerated populations (Indigenous, African American, Hispanic American) is determined, finding that it still fails to reach the critical mass required to mainstream the idea that most discussions of criminality cannot afford to remain colourblind considering lived realities. Publication-to-incarceration-rate ratios for hyperincarcerated populations are compared, finding that the relative silence regarding Indigenous peoples also continues. The study concludes that the surging decolonial debate had little effect on the quantity of topical research published in high-ranked mainstream criminology journals, calling for future research to investigate why and to address any qualitative changes.

The Theoretical Contributions of Asian Criminology in Reconstructing Criminology

2023-05-25T19:58:38+10:00

A recent primary development in criminology is a growing recognition that there has been Western domination in knowledge production and dissemination. The imbalance of knowledge in criminology is a significant weakness of the discipline. Prominent scholars have called for the decolonisation of criminological knowledge to correct this bias. Asian criminology and Southern criminology are the latest developments and promising forces in decolonising criminology (Liu 2018; Moosavi 2018). One of Asian criminology’s exceptional contributions to the current decolonisation movement is its significant theoretical achievements. This paper reviews theoretical efforts in Asian criminology and the theoretical innovation of the theoretical works, particularly those developed by Liu (Liu 2014; 2016; 2017; 2021a; 2022; 2023). It shows how theory development in criminology can gain insights from observations based on Asian contexts. The paper provides an update on these developments and their contributions to the reconstruction of criminology.

‘“She Tells Me I'm Pushy” is More Likely than the Man Directly Admitting to Being Pushy’: Practitioners’ Views on Screening and Assessing Risk of Intimate Partner Sexual Violence

2023-10-13T14:44:08+10:00

Domestic and family violence (DFV) and sexual violence intersect, with sexual violence often perpetrated by an intimate partner alongside other forms of DFV. While DFV perpetrator interventions are commonly used in response to DFV perpetration, scant research has considered how these interventions identify and address sexual violence, including intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV). Drawing on the findings from an Australian study which involved a survey of 97 practitioners, this paper explores screening and risk assessment of IPSV within the DFV perpetrator intervention context. The research findings demonstrate limited screening and risk assessment of IPSV, particularly when compared to other forms of DFV. This demonstrates a clear need for focused attention on IPSV as part of broader efforts to hold perpetrators accountable for all forms of DFV.

Counting and Accounting for Mental Health Related Deaths in England and Wales

2023-05-31T06:15:34+10:00

This article examines how mental health related deaths (MHRDs) in England and Wales are counted and accounted for. Data collated by the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health (NCISH) constructs such deaths as being predominantly the result of suicide. This article examines 221 Reports to Prevent Future Deaths (PFDs) issued by coroners’ courts in relation to MHRDs. It establishes that in 49% of cases suicide is not recorded as the sole cause of death. The article also provides thematic findings that emerged from the qualitative analysis of these PFDs and identifies issues with errors or deficiencies in the provision of care (in 72% of cases), communication (55%) and policy (26%). The findings emphasise that organisational and structural issues contribute to deaths of people in connection with mental healthcare and that these deaths should not solely be considered suicides. The article raises significant questions about the accuracy of mortality data and the capacity of public organisations to learn lessons that might prevent future deaths.

Masculinities and the Lived Understandings of Bystander Responses to Everyday Violence

2023-10-06T12:28:27+10:00

Among criminologists there has been an expanded contemporary interest in measures that encourage bystander intervention in the social settings of escalating and potentially violent incidents. These broadly include partner abuse and domestic disputes, as well as confrontational social interaction and other forms of targeted harassment and violence (racist, sexist, homophobic, ableist etc.), in everyday life. This article considers the likely success or failure of seeking to foster such measures as a core strategy of violence prevention, with discussion of the author’s Sydney-based study of the understandings of violence arising from young men’s lived experience of its various forms. It particularly concentrates on the results of focus groups conducted with a mixed sample of young men (aged 16-25 years) between 2018-2020. These participants had personal engagements with violence and potential violence, that shaped their reservations and doubts about regular intervention and general male anti-violence advocacy as reasonable and achievable social practices.

Eating E.T.: Carnism and Speciesism

2023-05-29T09:04:07+10:00

This article takes as its point of departure an event in which a plant-based version of the space alien, the Extra-Terrestrial (‘E.T.’), from the science fiction film bearing its name, was barbecued and served as a meal to participants at a conference. The soy dish produced different reactions: some laughed, while others seemed appalled. These different sentiments provide the basis for a broad green cultural criminology analysis of the traditions of meat-eating, tracing its role in human history and in the barbecue. The purpose of this is to explore why humans treat different categories of animals so differently. To understand the reactions the meal produced, the article addresses two contrasting aspects of the human–non-human animal relationship—‘carnism’ and ‘pet-keeping’—and contemplates these in relation to the reactions to eating E.T. The goal is to expand on the study of the human–animal relationship, particularly speciesism—understood as ideology and practice that legitimise and produce animal abuse through the analytical concept categorical discriminatory speciesism.

Lois Presser (2022) Unsaid: Analyzing Harmful Silences. Oakland, CA: University of California Press

2023-11-27T07:59:37+10:00

Lorenzo Natali reviews Unsaid: Analyzing Harmful Silences by Lois Presser

Aaron Good (2022) American Exception: Empire and the Deep State. New York: Skyhorse Publishing

2024-01-08T12:44:40+10:00

Shane Miller reviews American Exception: Empire and the Deep State by Aaron Good