- Colin Bell Building, University of Stirling, Stirling, United Kingdom, FK9 4LA.
- Offender Rehabilitation, Desistance, Cultures of Punishment, Critical Prison Studies, Therapeutic jurisprudence, Probation, and 107 moreCriminology, Offender Management, Substance Misuse, Drugs and drug culture, Ethics in Criminology, Vulnerable Populations, Reintegration of ex-offenders, Critical Criminology, Sociology of Crime and Deviance, Sociology of Punishment, Drug Courts, Mental Health Courts, Arts / Theatre Projects in Prisons, Innovative and creative work with offenders, Qualitative methodology, Community Corrections, Hoons, boy racers, and car cultures, Criminality and Punishment, Criminal Justice, Penology, Correctional Rehabilitation, Prisoner reentry, Social Control, Law and Society, Policing Studies, Sociology, Youth Studies, Innovation statistics, Ethnomethodology, Pracademia, Co-Production, Co-Production and Personalisation of Care, Euthanasia, Human Rights, Jurisprudence, Suicide prevention, Social Determinants of Health, Health Inequalities, Sociology of Work, Critical Theory, Political Economy, Politics, Critical Pedagogy, Parole and post-release supervision, Comparative Criminal Justice, Innovative Justice, Vulnerability, Reflexivity, Sociology of Professions, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation, Intrapreneurship, Greening Justice, Sustainability in Prisons, Eco-Prisons and Sustainability, Animals and Therapeutic Justice, Appreciative Inquiry, Sociology of the Professions, Pierre Bourdieu, Recovery, Addiction and Recovery, Knowledge Exchange, Prisoners Families, Social Change, Social Inclusion, Social Justice, Learning and Change In Organisations, Organizational Learning, Design thinking, Probation and Community Based Sanctions, Penal Reform, Ecological Justice, Rehabilitation Work, Max Weber, Carceral Geography, Mass Incarceration, Punishment and Prisons, Resilience, Risk and Vulnerability, Vulnerable People Policing, Electronic Monitoring, Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Sociology of prison life, Architecture, Visual Criminology, Architectonics, Semiotics Of Culture, Penal Spaces, Architecture of Justice, Ethics and Social Justice In Architecture, Co-creation, Co-Design, Design for Social Innovation, Citizen Science, Creativity, Arts-Based Research, Participatory Democracy, Participatory Research, Community Engagement & Participation, Public Criminology, Transdermal Drug and Alcohol Monitoring Devices, Surveillance Studies, Home detention curfew (HDC), Punishment, Justice, Sociological Fiction, and Creative Writingedit
- Dr Hannah Graham is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) in... moreDr Hannah Graham is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stirling. She previously worked as an academic in Criminology and Sociology at the University of Tasmania, Australia.
Outwith the university, Hannah is a member of the Scottish Sentencing Council, a public appointment to an independent advisory body. As a criminologist, she has contributed expert evidence to the Scottish Parliament on justice policy and law reform, including the presumption against short prison sentences; electronic monitoring tagging and the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019; prisoner voting and human rights. She is also a member of the National Council of the Scottish Association for the Study of Offending (SASO).edit
All the world’s criminal justice systems need to undertake direct work with people who have come into their care or are under their supervision as a result of criminal offences. Typically, this is organised in penal and correctional... more
All the world’s criminal justice systems need to undertake direct work with people who have come into their care or are under their supervision as a result of criminal offences. Typically, this is organised in penal and correctional services – in custody in prisons, or in the community supervised by services such as probation. Bringing together international experts, this book is the go-to source for students, researchers and practitioners in criminal justice, looking for a comprehensive and authoritative summary of available knowledge in the field. Covering a variety of contexts, settings, needs and approaches, and drawing on theory and practice, this Companion brings together 91 chapter entries, offering readers concise and definitive overviews of a range of key contemporary issues on working with offenders. This book is an essential and flexible resource for researchers and practitioners alike and is an authoritative guide for students taking courses on working with offenders, criminal justice policy, probation, prisons, penology and community corrections.
Research Interests: Criminology, Psychology, Forensic Psychology, Criminal Justice, Sociology of Work, and 12 moreSocial Sciences, Rehabilitation, Penology, Desistance, Probation and Community Based Sanctions, Prisons, Community Corrections, Community Justice, Resettlement, Reintegration of ex-offenders, Criminal Justice Social Work, and Rehabilitating Offenders
Conversations about rehabilitation and how to address the drugs-crime nexus have been dominated by academics and policymakers, without due recognition of the experience and knowledge of practitioners. Not enough is known about the... more
Conversations about rehabilitation and how to address the drugs-crime nexus have been dominated by academics and policymakers, without due recognition of the experience and knowledge of practitioners. Not enough is known about the cultures and conditions in which rehabilitation occurs. Why is it that significant numbers of practitioners are leaving the alcohol and other drugs field, while disproportionate numbers of criminal justice practitioners are on leave?
Rehabilitation Work provides a unique insight into what happens behind the closed doors of prisons, probation and parole offices, drug rehabs, and recovery support services drawing on research from Australia. This book is among the first to provide a dedicated empirical examination of the interface between the concurrent processes of desistance from crime and recovery from substance misuse, and the implications for rehabilitation work. Hannah Graham uses practitioner interviews, workforce data and researcher observations to reveal compelling differences between official accounts of rehabilitation work, and what practitioners actually do in practice. Practitioners express a desire to be the change rather than being subject to change, actively co-producing progressive reforms instead of passively coping with funding cutbacks and interagency politics.
Applied examples of how practitioners collaborate, lead and innovate in the midst of challenging work are complemented with evocative illustrations of insider humour and professional resilience. This book is a key resource for students, academics and practitioners across fields including criminology and criminal justice, social work, psychology, counselling and addiction treatment.
Rehabilitation Work provides a unique insight into what happens behind the closed doors of prisons, probation and parole offices, drug rehabs, and recovery support services drawing on research from Australia. This book is among the first to provide a dedicated empirical examination of the interface between the concurrent processes of desistance from crime and recovery from substance misuse, and the implications for rehabilitation work. Hannah Graham uses practitioner interviews, workforce data and researcher observations to reveal compelling differences between official accounts of rehabilitation work, and what practitioners actually do in practice. Practitioners express a desire to be the change rather than being subject to change, actively co-producing progressive reforms instead of passively coping with funding cutbacks and interagency politics.
Applied examples of how practitioners collaborate, lead and innovate in the midst of challenging work are complemented with evocative illustrations of insider humour and professional resilience. This book is a key resource for students, academics and practitioners across fields including criminology and criminal justice, social work, psychology, counselling and addiction treatment.
Research Interests: Sociology, Criminology, Criminal Justice, Social Work, Sociology of Work, and 26 moreRehabilitation, Psychotherapy and Counseling, Third Sector, Collaboration, Substance Misuse, Qualitative Research, Pierre Bourdieu, Sociology of Professions, Desistance, Probation and Community Based Sanctions, Prisons, Practitioner Research, Sociology of Work and Professions, Penal policy, Smoking and Drug Rehabilitation, Recovery, Voluntary sector, Tasmania, Coproduction, Reintegration of ex-offenders, The Risk-Need-Responsivity Model (RNR) of Offender Rehabilitation, The Good Lives Model (GLM) of Offender Rehabilitation, Working with offenders, Charitable Non-profit Organisations, Drug Rehab, and Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care
This book showcases innovative justice initiatives from around the world which engage offenders, practitioners and communities to reduce reoffending and support desistance and positive change. It is groundbreaking in bringing together... more
This book showcases innovative justice initiatives from around the world which engage offenders, practitioners and communities to reduce reoffending and support desistance and positive change. It is groundbreaking in bringing together inspiring ideas and pioneering practices to analyse how ‘justice done differently’ is making a difference.
The voices and experiences of the people at the forefront of these innovative initiatives are presented throughout the book, including offenders, corrections staff and directors, the judiciary, scientists and academics, volunteers and community organisations. Strengths-based research methods are used to investigate and celebrate best practices and ‘good news stories’ from the field. The authors raise critical questions about what is considered innovative and effective, for whom and in what context, presenting their own conceptual approach for analysing innovation.
With initiatives drawn from diverse jurisdictions and cultures – including the UK, Europe, Australia, Asia, the US and South America – this book showcases original ideas and refreshing developments that have the potential to transform rehabilitation and reintegration practices. The book’s substance and style will resonate with practitioners, students and academics across the interdisciplinary fields of criminology and criminal justice.
‘For too long "innovation" has been a dirty word in the field of rehabilitation studies, for fear that anything that deviated from the official script would be deemed correctional "quackery". In this remarkable new book, the quacks strike back! Graham and White have assembled an incredible resource for a new generation of rehabilitation scholars and practitioners unafraid to experiment in the name of better outcomes, and, frankly, better science. Innovative Justice is precisely the right book for a true rehabilitation revolution.’ - Professor Shadd Maruna, Dean of the School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University Newark, USA
‘This fresh and inspirational book celebrates imaginative and progressive work in many different countries that is making a positive difference to the lives of offenders and those around them. Rather than being preoccupied with risks or needs, these initiatives have in common the guiding belief that creative activities and self-expression enable people to flourish: the route to desistance is most likely to be found by affording people opportunities to transcend their identity as offenders by developing their strengths and achieving their potential.’ - Rob Canton, Professor in Community and Criminal Justice, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
‘One of the most pressing questions facing criminology today is this: What good can criminal justice do? This isn't just a technical question about "what works". Rather, it suggests a much deeper challenge to frame what Durkheim called "the mission of justice" constructively and to make criminal justice mean something more than, and something better than, harm reduction or containment. Graham and White's excellent and inspiring new collection offers us tantalising glimpses of some possible answers and deserves to be read by anyone and everyone who cares about justice in any of its forms.’ - Fergus McNeill, Professor of Criminology & Social Work, University of Glasgow, UK
The voices and experiences of the people at the forefront of these innovative initiatives are presented throughout the book, including offenders, corrections staff and directors, the judiciary, scientists and academics, volunteers and community organisations. Strengths-based research methods are used to investigate and celebrate best practices and ‘good news stories’ from the field. The authors raise critical questions about what is considered innovative and effective, for whom and in what context, presenting their own conceptual approach for analysing innovation.
With initiatives drawn from diverse jurisdictions and cultures – including the UK, Europe, Australia, Asia, the US and South America – this book showcases original ideas and refreshing developments that have the potential to transform rehabilitation and reintegration practices. The book’s substance and style will resonate with practitioners, students and academics across the interdisciplinary fields of criminology and criminal justice.
‘For too long "innovation" has been a dirty word in the field of rehabilitation studies, for fear that anything that deviated from the official script would be deemed correctional "quackery". In this remarkable new book, the quacks strike back! Graham and White have assembled an incredible resource for a new generation of rehabilitation scholars and practitioners unafraid to experiment in the name of better outcomes, and, frankly, better science. Innovative Justice is precisely the right book for a true rehabilitation revolution.’ - Professor Shadd Maruna, Dean of the School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University Newark, USA
‘This fresh and inspirational book celebrates imaginative and progressive work in many different countries that is making a positive difference to the lives of offenders and those around them. Rather than being preoccupied with risks or needs, these initiatives have in common the guiding belief that creative activities and self-expression enable people to flourish: the route to desistance is most likely to be found by affording people opportunities to transcend their identity as offenders by developing their strengths and achieving their potential.’ - Rob Canton, Professor in Community and Criminal Justice, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
‘One of the most pressing questions facing criminology today is this: What good can criminal justice do? This isn't just a technical question about "what works". Rather, it suggests a much deeper challenge to frame what Durkheim called "the mission of justice" constructively and to make criminal justice mean something more than, and something better than, harm reduction or containment. Graham and White's excellent and inspiring new collection offers us tantalising glimpses of some possible answers and deserves to be read by anyone and everyone who cares about justice in any of its forms.’ - Fergus McNeill, Professor of Criminology & Social Work, University of Glasgow, UK
Research Interests: Sociology, Criminology, Social Change, Law, Criminal Justice, and 53 moreSocial Work, Social Sciences, Terrorism, Ethnography, Rehabilitation, Appreciative Inquiry, Innovation statistics, Qualitative methodology, Community Engagement & Participation, Social Capital, Australia, Science, Singapore, Hate Crimes, Restorative Justice, Intrapreneurship, Chile, Human Capital, Desistance, Social Enterprises, Cooperatives, Social Enterprise, England, Israel, Creative Arts, Knowledge Exchange, Probation and Community Based Sanctions, Italy, Prisons, Therapeutic jurisprudence, Canada, Social Innovation, Community gardens, Community Justice, Music in prisons, United States, Animals, Human Capital Development, Sewing, Women offenders, Incarceration, Co-Production, Reintegration of ex-offenders, Pracademia, Assistance Dogs, Innovation & Change Management, Reflexivity In Research, Innovative Justice, Greening Justice, Eco-Prisons and Sustainability, Creative Offender Rehabilitation, Penal Culture, and Penal Practices
"This book provides a theoretically informed guide to the practice of working with offenders in different settings and for different purposes. It deals with topics such as offender rehabilitation, case management, worker-offender... more
"This book provides a theoretically informed guide to the practice of working with offenders in different settings and for different purposes. It deals with topics such as offender rehabilitation, case management, worker-offender relationships, working with difficult clients and situations, collaboration, addressing complex needs, and processes of integration. The book offers a unique perspective on working with offenders in that it incorporates three key elements. As part of the latter, it provides different types of data, including descriptions of programs and selected statistics from each jurisdiction, and presents this information in easy-to-read formats. The chapters are structured around a dual focus of workers and their environments on the one hand, and the nature of the offenders with whom they work on the other. The condition and situation of workers is thus considered in the context of the condition and situation of offenders, and the relationship between the two. The book is intended to be relevant and familiar to those already working in the field, as well as to introduce contemporary principles and practices to those wishing to do so in the future. Each chapter concludes with two key features. The first, Further Reading, is oriented toward concepts and the 'why' questions of practice. The second, Key Resources, alerts readers to appropriate manuals and handbooks, and the 'how' questions of practice. This includes reference to evidence-based examples of good practice and specific intervention models."
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Justice, Correctional Rehabilitation, Collaboration, Restorative Justice, and 15 moreDesistance, Offender Rehabilitation, Motivational Interviewing, Punishment and Prisons, Prisoner reentry, Case Management, Court Diversion, Community Welfare and Social Justice, Reintegration of ex-offenders, Offenders With a Mental Illness, Drug Using Offenders, The Risk-Need-Responsivity Model (RNR) of Offender Rehabilitation, The Good Lives Model (GLM) of Offender Rehabilitation, Offender Engagement, and Special Populations In the Criminal Justice System
Hysteresis is a versatile concept for volatile times. Pierre Bourdieu's sociological use recognises hysteresis in times of dislocation and disruption between field and habitus, 'in particular, when a field undergoes a major crisis and its... more
Hysteresis is a versatile concept for volatile times. Pierre Bourdieu's sociological use recognises hysteresis in times of dislocation and disruption between field and habitus, 'in particular, when a field undergoes a major crisis and its regularities (even its rules) are profoundly changed' (Bourdieu, 2000: 160). In considering the issues and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, hysteresis renders visible 'multi-level, multi-temporal dynamics' (Strand and Lizardo, 2016: 169). It is attendant to the temporality of work and how workers, workplaces, workforces and fields of work are affected. The COVID-19 crisis may give rise to sudden changes such as no work (e.g. redundancies, mass unemployment), reduced work (e.g. reduced hours, underemployment), suspended work (e.g. going on furlough), or absence from work (e.g. leave and workforce absence rates). The transition to working from home and online, en masse, raises considerations of habitus and taking practice online, with many experiencing rapid digital transformation and remote working. The COVID-19 pandemic raises significant sociological issues of intersectionality and inequality, as precarity, risk and harms are experienced unevenly. There are age and gendered differences, including where working from home is in conflict with concurrent caring and home schooling responsibilities. These issues and changes, their meaning and collateral consequences, urgently warrant sociological analysis.
Research Interests:
This Special Issue of the European Journal of Probation (December 2017) considers examples and influences of innovation within criminal justice and community contexts. It offers some timely and insightful contributions from different... more
This Special Issue of the European Journal of Probation (December 2017) considers examples and influences of innovation within criminal justice and community contexts. It offers some timely and insightful contributions from different countries to broader discussions of innovation in this field, a multi-faceted topic which piques significant interest but has perhaps not yet received the level of sustained critical analytical engagement it warrants. This editorial introduction critically reflects on a series of questions and problematisations of innovation and criminal justice. Questions about the forms and functions ('what', 'where' and 'how') of innovation in criminal justice should not be divorced from questions about its architects and beneficiaries, including their intentions and ideologies ('who' and 'why'). Following this, a brief overview of the Special Issue is provided. There is much more yet to be done, as well as celebrated in this area.
Graham, H. (2017) ‘Innovation and Criminal Justice: Editorial Introduction to the Special Issue on ‘Innovation’, December 2017’ European Journal of Probation 9(3): pages 203-209. DOI http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2066220317747058
Graham, H. (2017) ‘Innovation and Criminal Justice: Editorial Introduction to the Special Issue on ‘Innovation’, December 2017’ European Journal of Probation 9(3): pages 203-209. DOI http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2066220317747058
Research Interests: Criminology, Social Change, Criminal Justice, Social Policy, Social Sciences, and 14 moreSocial Justice, Justice, Technological Innovation, Probation and Community Based Sanctions, Offender Rehabilitation, Social Innovation, Community Justice, Innovation and Creativity, Desistance from Crime, Parole and post-release supervision, Probation, Penal Reform, Coproduction, and Offender Supervision
Scotland has one of the highest prison population rates in Western Europe, coinciding with a recent growth in interest in electronic monitoring (EM) as a potential mechanism for diversion and decarceration. Scotland also has a relatively... more
Scotland has one of the highest prison population rates in Western Europe, coinciding with a recent growth in interest in electronic monitoring (EM) as a potential mechanism for diversion and decarceration. Scotland also has a relatively sophisticated suite of community sanctions and measures – from which court-imposed and prison-imposed EM orders have, for 15 years, been largely kept separate, until now. This article analyses the perspectives of Scottish practitioners and decision-makers regarding current stand-alone uses of electronic monitoring, canvassing relevant Scottish jurisdictional findings from within a larger European comparative research project. It reveals localised, institutional and professional differences in the Scottish criminal justice field. Our analysis demonstrates that Scottish practitioners want more integration in principle, but forewarns that the extent of their support may depend on how and by whom this is done in practice.
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Law, Criminal Justice, Social Work, Social Sciences, and 17 moreSurveillance Studies, Penology, Qualitative Research, Comparative Research, Privatisation, Probation and Community Based Sanctions, Punishment and Prisons, Practitioner Research, Professional Ideology, Scotland, Community Corrections, Community Justice, Tagging, Criminal Justice Social Work, Electronic Monitoring, Penal Policy and Criminal Sentencing, and Decarceration
Research Interests:
This article canvasses practitioner and decision-maker perspectives of the influences of electronic monitoring (EM) in processes of desistance from crime, with a particular focus on their views of its use with young people aged 16 to 25... more
This article canvasses practitioner and decision-maker perspectives of the influences of electronic monitoring (EM) in processes of desistance from crime, with a particular focus on their views of its use with young people aged 16 to 25 years old. Presenting findings from a qualitative mixed methods study, we offer a bounded exploration of the views of different actors working in the Scottish criminal justice field, which are framed and analysed here through the lenses of desistance scholarship.
Research Interests:
Electronic Monitoring has been used in a number of EU member states since the turn of the 21st century. There has been much mutual learning, facilitated by governments and probation services themselves, the CEP (the European Probation... more
Electronic Monitoring has been used in a number of EU member states since the turn of the 21st century. There has been much mutual learning, facilitated by governments and probation services themselves, the CEP (the European Probation Organisation) and the tech companies who supply the monitoring equipment (and who in Britain run EM services under central government contract). New countries continue to take up EM, as their penal problems become more pressing and as the use of digital technologies become ever more normal in government, commerce and everyday life. While official rhetoric surrounding the use of EM in Europe is ostensibly similar, it has nonetheless been embedded in very different legal and policy frameworks in different countries. Anthea Hucklesby, Professor of Criminology at the University of Leeds, was already a major British researcher on electronic monitoring before she and four senior European colleagues applied sucessfully for an “Action Grant” to the European Commission’s Directorate of General Justice to undertake the first major comparative study of EM in the European Union. Four member states, each with mature and established EM schemes, took part: Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Britain, the latter comprising the two separate jurisdictions of England and Wales, and Scotland, who began using EM in very similar ways but increasingly envisage its future very differently. Each of the lead researchers recruited staff to undertake the work over an eighteen month period. An Advisory Board comprising experts drawn from academia, the judiciary, the civil service and the private sector was appointed to comment of progress and assist with opening doors in the countries being researched. The project was subdivided into four complementary work streams, sequenced in a logical order, with each building on the knowledge acquired in its predecessor. The first documented the legal and policy contexts in which EM operated in the five jurisdictions. The second mapped the ways in which EM is implemented, explored the varying conceptions of effectiveness that prevailed in relation to it and traced the influence of policy transfer between countries. It gathered as much statistical data on patterns of use and outcomes as was possible in each country. The third utilized the comparative knowledge and findings to draw out similarities and differences between the jurisdictions and drew preliminary conclusions about better and worse forms of implementation. The fourth work stream focused on developing a dissemination strategy through the use of documentary material (reports, briefing papers and articles), conferences and workshops. Six briefing papers were produced at the end of the project, one on each of the jurisdictions and one which compared and summarized the findings. The latter is reproduced with permission in this issue of the journal. Separate dissemination conferences took place in each of the jurisdictions, except Scotland (in London, Berlin, Brussels and Utrecht) conveying the results to policy and practitioner audiences. Comparative overviews were further presented at an academic conference in Paris and at the 10th CEP Electronic Monitoring conference in Riga, Latvia, in April 2016.
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Justice, Social Work, Social Sciences, Surveillance Studies, and 14 moreQualitative Research, Comparative Research, Prisons, Community Justice, Tagging, Penal policy, Punishment, Probation, Criminal Justice Social Work, Transdermal Drug and Alcohol Monitoring Devices, GPS tracking, Offender Supervision, Electronic Monitoring, and Home detention curfew (HDC)
[Open Access, available at link below] This article presents empirical findings from a critical discourse analysis of institutional responses by the Catholic Church to clergy-child sexual abuse in Victoria, Australia. A sample of 28... more
[Open Access, available at link below]
This article presents empirical findings from a critical discourse analysis of institutional responses by the Catholic Church to clergy-child sexual abuse in Victoria, Australia. A sample of 28 documents, comprising 1,394 pages, is analysed in the context of the 2012-2013 Victorian Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations. Sykes and Matza’s (1957) and Cohen’s (1993) techniques of, respectively, neutralisation and denial are used to reveal the Catholic Church’s Janus-faced responses to clergy-child sexual abuse and mandatory reporting requirements. Paradoxical tensions are observed between Catholic Canonical law and clerical practices, and the extent of compliance with secular law and referral of allegations to authorities. Concerns centre on Church secrecy, clerical defences of the confessional in justification of inaction, and the Melbourne Response compensation scheme. Our research findings underscore the need for greater Church transparency and accountability; we advocate for mandatory reporting law reform and institutional reform, including adjustments to the confessional ritual.
This article presents empirical findings from a critical discourse analysis of institutional responses by the Catholic Church to clergy-child sexual abuse in Victoria, Australia. A sample of 28 documents, comprising 1,394 pages, is analysed in the context of the 2012-2013 Victorian Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations. Sykes and Matza’s (1957) and Cohen’s (1993) techniques of, respectively, neutralisation and denial are used to reveal the Catholic Church’s Janus-faced responses to clergy-child sexual abuse and mandatory reporting requirements. Paradoxical tensions are observed between Catholic Canonical law and clerical practices, and the extent of compliance with secular law and referral of allegations to authorities. Concerns centre on Church secrecy, clerical defences of the confessional in justification of inaction, and the Melbourne Response compensation scheme. Our research findings underscore the need for greater Church transparency and accountability; we advocate for mandatory reporting law reform and institutional reform, including adjustments to the confessional ritual.
Research Interests: Criminology, Law, Social Sciences, Victimology, Critical Criminology, and 15 moreCritical Discourse Analysis, Qualitative Research, Crime Prevention, Sex Offenders, Roman Catholicism, Catholicism, Child Sexual Abuse, Techniques of Neutralization, Clericalism, Stan Cohen, Church Secrecy, Cardinal George Pell, Child Abuse Inquiry, Clergy child sexual abuse, and Mandatory reporting
THIS ARTICLE offers a brief overview of a desistanceoriented approach to supporting community reintegration in the state of Tasmania, Australia. While community service is typically discussed in terms of ‘payback’ as a form of... more
THIS ARTICLE offers a brief overview of a desistanceoriented
approach to supporting community reintegration
in the state of Tasmania, Australia. While community service
is typically discussed in terms of ‘payback’ as a form of
punishment, it can be harnessed in creative ways to support
prisoner reintegration and desistance processes. Compelling
contributions from desistance scholars (see, for example,
McNeill and Weaver, 2010; Schinkel, 2014) advance the
recognition that people with offending histories benefit from
multi-faceted supports over time to change their lives, living
conditions and life chances. Through this lens, the remit of
supporting reintegration extends from a traditional blinkered
focus on securing essential items to aid survival post-release, to
include pursuit of identity change, relationships and resources
which enable sustained desistance and human flourishing. In collaboration with community-based stakeholders,
Tasmania Prison Service offers prisoners opportunities to take
part in a range of community service activities and restorative
‘giving back’ projects. Some of these are undertaken entirely
within prison facilities, and others use the rehabilitative and
reintegrative leave permits for day release.
approach to supporting community reintegration
in the state of Tasmania, Australia. While community service
is typically discussed in terms of ‘payback’ as a form of
punishment, it can be harnessed in creative ways to support
prisoner reintegration and desistance processes. Compelling
contributions from desistance scholars (see, for example,
McNeill and Weaver, 2010; Schinkel, 2014) advance the
recognition that people with offending histories benefit from
multi-faceted supports over time to change their lives, living
conditions and life chances. Through this lens, the remit of
supporting reintegration extends from a traditional blinkered
focus on securing essential items to aid survival post-release, to
include pursuit of identity change, relationships and resources
which enable sustained desistance and human flourishing. In collaboration with community-based stakeholders,
Tasmania Prison Service offers prisoners opportunities to take
part in a range of community service activities and restorative
‘giving back’ projects. Some of these are undertaken entirely
within prison facilities, and others use the rehabilitative and
reintegrative leave permits for day release.
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Justice, Social Sciences, Social Capital, Social Justice, and 15 moreRestorative Justice, Desistance, Community, Punishment and Prisons, Prisons, Community gardens, Generativity, Community Service, Penal Reform, Coproduction, Community participation and engagement, Reintegration of ex-offenders, Innovative Justice, Decarceration, and Research Coproduction
This article examines the growth of ecological awareness, alongside the emergence of environmental sustainability initiatives, within criminal justice institutions around the world. To date, such developments have received little... more
This article examines the growth of ecological awareness, alongside the emergence of environmental sustainability initiatives, within criminal justice institutions around the world. To date, such developments have received little empirical analysis from criminology scholars. Internationally, this article is among the first to critically analyse the ‘greening’ of policing, courts, prisons, offender supervision and community reintegration. Available literature and examples are reviewed, alongside original research findings. The motivations and ideologies underpinning this nascent green evolution raise deeper questions of ‘why?’ and ‘for whom?’ Innovative examples of sustainable justice architecture and catalysts for penal reform are differentiated from those which claim humanistic intentions and green credentials but, arguably, are based on instrumental fiscal motives that do little to challenge repressive carceral regimes.
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Justice, Social Sciences, Architecture, Community Development, and 15 moreCourts, Recycling, Social Justice, Sustainable Building Design, Police, Ecological Justice, Green architecture, Desistance, Environmental Sustainability, Citizenship, Social Innovation, Penal Reform, Carceral Geography, Reintegration of ex-offenders, and Decarceration
Research Interests: Sociology, Criminology, Social Sciences, Rehabilitation, Drugs And Addiction, and 16 moreNon-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Australia, Alcohol Studies, Culture, Critical Criminology, Change Management, Qualitative Research, Organisational Culture And Performance, Capacity Building, Organisational Psychology, Workforce Development, Substance Abuse, Drug Addiction, Sociology of the Professions, Practitioner Perspectives, and Alcohol Addiction
The COVID-19 pandemic has been disruptive and halting in its impact on Scottish justice. This chapter offers an overview of how the pandemic has affected Scottish prisons and how authorities and decision-makers have responded. In giving... more
The COVID-19 pandemic has been disruptive and halting in its impact on Scottish justice. This chapter offers an overview of how the pandemic has affected Scottish prisons and how authorities and decision-makers have responded. In giving an emerging account, we bear witness to the experiences of people in prison and their families, alongside the voices and decisions of people in positions of power. Long-standing issues and inequalities in Scottish justice have been exacerbated in the pressured circumstances of the pandemic. Proposals that had previously been discussed for years, with little or no action, have been progressed as compensatory measures in weeks or months, for compelling reasons. However, other more intractable problems have remained or become more severe. The pandemic provides an opportunity to, and a reason for, a profound penal reconsideration. However, at the time of writing, we are yet to see evidence whether this will materialise in practice, though it could still be too early to tell.
Research Interests:
Scottish society has a problem with punishment, well documented over decades and different parties of government. It sits uncomfortably with national identities, how we see ourselves and our futures. Overall, recorded crime in Scotland is... more
Scottish society has a problem with punishment, well documented over decades and different parties of government. It sits uncomfortably with national identities, how we see ourselves and our futures. Overall, recorded crime in Scotland is among the lowest seen in 45 years, since 1974 (Scottish Government, 2020). Yet dominant responses to crime and those who commit it may not make us safer or better off. Emerging from the exceptional circumstances and adversity of the COVID-19 crisis offers opportunities for doing justice differently. This chapter considers uncertain times and emergency measures in Scottish justice during the pandemic, as well as strategies for decarceration and change.
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Justice, Courts, Social Justice, Penology, and 15 morePrison Health, Probation and Community Based Sanctions, Punishment and Prisons, Prisons, Emergency Laws, Scotland, Sociology of Punishment, Penal policy, Recovery, Probation, Scottish Society, Criminal Justice Social Work, Moral Courage, Decarceration, and COVID-19 PANDEMIC
This chapter explores the implications of the different aims and approaches to prisoner resettlement in the European jurisdictions examined in this book, considered in the light of research about desistance from crime and how it appears... more
This chapter explores the implications of the different aims and approaches to prisoner resettlement in the European jurisdictions examined in this book, considered in the light of research about desistance from crime and how it appears to be best supported. The first section briefly synthesises parts of the country chapters in this collection to illustrate a range of aims of and approaches to resettlement. In providing this partial and illustrative synthesis, we do not claim any expertise in the justice systems of the countries profiled in this collection. Instead, reading into our colleagues’ accounts, we reflect not just on explicit aims and forms but also on what may be inferred as the implicit or latent aims and forms of resettlement in these countries. What language and terminology is used? What themes emerge from how resettlement and re/integration are constructed and supported in different ways in different places?
The second section of this chapter draws upon contemporary desistance scholarship, using previous work (both our own and others and, in particular, Graham and McNeill, 2017; McNeill, 2012; McNeill and Schinkel, 2016) to consider the implications of these different constructions of resettlement for re/integration and desistance from crime. Notions of citizenship and belonging are central to our understanding of these two processes (resettlement and desistance) in which personal capabilities, social relations, structural conditions and legal rights play key roles (see Graham, 2016; Graham et al., 2015; McNeill, 2012, 2016; Weaver, 2016).
The second section of this chapter draws upon contemporary desistance scholarship, using previous work (both our own and others and, in particular, Graham and McNeill, 2017; McNeill, 2012; McNeill and Schinkel, 2016) to consider the implications of these different constructions of resettlement for re/integration and desistance from crime. Notions of citizenship and belonging are central to our understanding of these two processes (resettlement and desistance) in which personal capabilities, social relations, structural conditions and legal rights play key roles (see Graham, 2016; Graham et al., 2015; McNeill, 2012, 2016; Weaver, 2016).
Research Interests:
Prisoners and prisons have become an increasing focal point in Scottish politics and policymaking in the 21st century. From 2000 – 2010, the Scottish prison population rose steadily and, despite recent reform efforts and some decreases in... more
Prisoners and prisons have become an increasing focal point in Scottish politics and policymaking in the 21st century. From 2000 – 2010, the Scottish prison population rose steadily and, despite recent reform efforts and some decreases in numbers, Scotland continues to have one of the highest prison population rates in Western Europe, at 143 per 100,000 of national population (Walmsley, 2016). The numbers of people leaving prison each year are considerable, as short custodial sentences are common. This chapter offers a bounded overview of the current legal and institutional infrastructure and throughcare provisions that shape the resettlement process. The chapter concludes with brief reflections on some of the challenges and unresolved issues, as well as strengths and opportunities that exist in relation to improving prisoner resettlement in Scotland. This chapter has been written during a time that we characterise as ‘a season of change’ in Scottish criminal justice, particularly in the midst of major restructuring of Community Justice as well as a sharp change in direction for the future of the women’s custodial estate. Overtures about penal policy and a rapid rate of legislative amendments have affected the custodial estate and community punishment (Barry, 2016; Graham and McIvor, 2017). More broadly, an atmosphere of political uncertainty has stemmed from Scots going to the ballot boxes to vote four times in a two-year period: between 2014-2016 there were two consecutive Parliamentary election years (for the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament) and, significantly, two referenda (the 2014 Scottish independence referendum and the 2016 UK referendum on EU membership, or ‘Brexit’). The impetus for diversion and decarceration has featured more prominently in Scottish political and professional discourses than that of prisoner resettlement, although the latter has gained some significant currency in recent years. Since the turn of the century, some landmark working groups, commissions and reports have sought to address the issues involved in reducing the prison population and to improve support for throughcare and resettlement pre-release and post-release (see McLean Committee, 2000; Scottish Executive, 2002; Scottish Prisons Commission, 2008; Commission on Women Offenders, 2012; Scottish Government, 2015, 2016a). Furthermore, proposals for reform have been consistently advocated by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons Scotland (HMIPS).
Research Interests:
With the proliferation of desistance scholarship in the last two decades, some might argue that a saturation point has been reached. We beg to differ. More diverse research is needed to generate more depth and detailed understandings of... more
With the proliferation of desistance scholarship in the last two decades, some might argue that a saturation point has been reached. We beg to differ. More diverse research is needed to generate more depth and detailed understandings of desistance. In this chapter, four areas are critically analysed as areas for further development: (1) decolonising and culturally diversifying desistance research; (2) comparative desistance research; (3) diversity and social differences in desistance research (e.g., race and ethnicity, migration, religion, gender, sexuality, class and power); and (4) developing solidarities and social movements in support of desistance. This chapter intentionally features diverse international studies and authors, providing an alternative reading list of desistance scholarship to be celebrated alongside the landmark studies of (already) highly cited authors.
Research Interests:
This chapter provides an overview of rehabilitation and desistance-orientated uses of digital tools and approaches in prison and probation settings. Considerable attention is often given to ‘what’ established and emerging technologies can... more
This chapter provides an overview of rehabilitation and desistance-orientated uses of digital tools and approaches in prison and probation settings. Considerable attention is often given to ‘what’ established and emerging technologies can do in criminal justice. Yet ‘how’ and ‘why’ such technologies are used and advanced, by whom and for whom remain indispensably important. ‘Digital justice’ and digitally enabled supports for rehabilitation are explored here, reflecting on their potential, alongside considerations of purposes and practicalities of implementing them. Monitoring and reporting technologies can be differentiated from technologies which are more therapeutic and rehabilitation-orientated in their uses; this chapter concentrates on the latter. International literature and practices are incorporated throughout, however, the chapter purposely focuses on applied examples from England and Wales, including a co-produced digital toolkit using animation in prisons and probation contexts.
Research Interests:
McNeill, F., & Graham, H. (2019) ‘Conceptualising Rehabilitation: Four Forms, Two Models, One Process and a Plethora of Challenges’ in Ugwudike, P., Graham, H., McNeill, F., Raynor P., Taxman, F., & Trotter, C. (eds.) The Routledge Companion to Rehabilitative Work in Criminal Justice, Routledge.more
Within the complex and contested context of criminal justice, rehabilitation still manages to stand out as a particularly complex and contested concept. Its resultant ambiguity is a problem both for its advocates and its critics; it is... more
Within the complex and contested context of criminal justice, rehabilitation still manages to stand out as a particularly complex and contested concept. Its resultant ambiguity is a problem both for its advocates and its critics; it is hard to debate a concept that is so slippery. Since we cannot hope to resolve these complexities in this brief introductory chapter, we settle instead for clarifying them, expecting that the rest of this Companion will add substance to the initial frameworks we offer here.
Research Interests:
This chapter provides an overview of desistance scholarship, surveying some of the major theoretical and empirical explanations of how and why people stop offending, and exploring the implications of this body of work for criminal... more
This chapter provides an overview of desistance scholarship, surveying some of the major theoretical and empirical explanations of how and why people stop offending, and exploring the implications of this body of work for criminal justice. Traditionally, criminology has been focused on the study of crime and in particular on the causes of crime, as well as criminal justice responses to it. By comparison, examining how and why people stop and refrain from offending, and considering which criminal justice responses might support or frustrate such processes has a much shorter history. We would argue that it is also an area of study which, despite being in some senses bound by its focus on crime and offending, nonetheless transcends more orthodox criminological concerns and ultimately compels those who study it to engage with more fundamental questions of political philosophy (as well as with other disciplinary perspectives). We want to argue therefore that desistance research is (or at least can be) a form of ‘alternative criminology’ both in the way it frames its objects of inquiry and in the ways it pushes it towards disciplinary borders and intersections.
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Fünf europäische Rechtssysteme nahmen am Forschungsprojekt zur elektronischen Überwachung (EÜ) teil: Belgien, England und Wales, Deutschland, die Niederlande und Schottland. Neben der begleitenden Beobachtung aller für den EÜ-Prozess... more
Fünf europäische Rechtssysteme nahmen am Forschungsprojekt zur elektronischen Überwachung (EÜ) teil: Belgien, England und Wales, Deutschland, die Niederlande und Schottland. Neben der begleitenden Beobachtung aller für den EÜ-Prozess relevanten Aspekte (insgesamt über eine Dauer von 75 Tagen) wurden in diesen fünf Ländern ausführliche Literaturanalysen, sowie 190 Interviews mit Entscheidungsträgern und Praktikern, die im EÜ-Prozess involviert sind, durchgeführt. Bei übergreifender Betrachtung aller fünf Rechtssysteme zeigt sich, dass Electronic Monitoring in jeder Phase des Strafprozesses eingesetzt wird; für die einzelnen Rechtssysteme an sich gilt dies indes nicht. In allen Rechtssystemen werden aber zumindest mehrere EÜ-Modelle praktiziert. Zunächst wird deutlich, dass in allen Rechtssystemen Radiofrequenz (RF)-Technik zum Einsatz kommt. Zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt ist Schottland das einzige Rechtssystem, das nicht von GPS-Technologie Gebrauch macht – obgleich dies hier bereits in Erwägung gezogen wurde. EÜ wird in allen Rechtssystemen regelmäßig mit Bewährungsaufsicht verknüpft, allerdings kann es in Belgien, England und Schottland auch als alleinstehende Maßnahme verhängt werden.
Research Interests:
Este artigo fornece uma visão geral dos estudos sobre a desistência, examinando algumas das principais concepções teóricas e empíricas de como e por que as pessoas deixam de cometer crimes, e, ainda, apresenta as implicações desse... more
Este artigo fornece uma visão geral dos estudos sobre a desistência, examinando algumas das principais concepções teóricas e empíricas de como e por que as pessoas deixam de cometer crimes, e, ainda,
apresenta as implicações desse trabalho para a justiça criminal. Tradicionalmente, a criminologia tem-se centrado no estudo do
crime e, em particular, nas causas do crime, bem como nas respostas da justiça penal para ele. Já o exame do como e do porquê as pessoas cessam e se abstêm de praticar infrações, bem como o conhecimento de quais responsabilidades da justiça criminal são capazes de suportar ou de frustrar tais processos tem uma história bem mais recente. A desistência também é uma área de estudo que, apesar de ser em alguns sentidos ligados por seu foco no crime e nas infrações, transcende as preocupações criminológicas mais ortodoxas e, finalmente, obriga os estudiosos a se envolverem com questões mais fundamentais da filosofia política (bem como com outras perspectivas interdisciplinares). A pesquisa sobre a desistência, portanto, é (ou pelo menos pode ser) uma forma de “criminologia alternativa”, tanto na forma como ela molda
seus objetos de investigação quanto nas maneiras que ela empurra o estudo para as fronteiras e interseções disciplinares.
apresenta as implicações desse trabalho para a justiça criminal. Tradicionalmente, a criminologia tem-se centrado no estudo do
crime e, em particular, nas causas do crime, bem como nas respostas da justiça penal para ele. Já o exame do como e do porquê as pessoas cessam e se abstêm de praticar infrações, bem como o conhecimento de quais responsabilidades da justiça criminal são capazes de suportar ou de frustrar tais processos tem uma história bem mais recente. A desistência também é uma área de estudo que, apesar de ser em alguns sentidos ligados por seu foco no crime e nas infrações, transcende as preocupações criminológicas mais ortodoxas e, finalmente, obriga os estudiosos a se envolverem com questões mais fundamentais da filosofia política (bem como com outras perspectivas interdisciplinares). A pesquisa sobre a desistência, portanto, é (ou pelo menos pode ser) uma forma de “criminologia alternativa”, tanto na forma como ela molda
seus objetos de investigação quanto nas maneiras que ela empurra o estudo para as fronteiras e interseções disciplinares.
Research Interests:
McIvor, G., & Graham, H. (2017) ‘Schottland’ (pages 215-238) in Dünkel, F., Thiele, C., & Treig, J. (eds.) Elektronische Überwachung von Straftätern – Divergenzen und Ähnlichkeiten in europäischen Sanktionensystemen [Electronic Monitoring... more
McIvor, G., & Graham, H. (2017) ‘Schottland’ (pages 215-238) in Dünkel, F., Thiele, C., & Treig, J. (eds.) Elektronische Überwachung von Straftätern – Divergenzen und Ähnlichkeiten in europäischen Sanktionensystemen [Electronic Monitoring of Offenders - Divergences and Similarities in European Sanctions Systems], Mönchengladbach: Forum Verlag Godesberg.
Research Interests:
This chapter offers critical reflections about the challenges, paradoxes and opportunities involved in conducting international criminological research about innovative and creative ways of working with offenders. Engaging with people and... more
This chapter offers critical reflections about the challenges, paradoxes and opportunities involved in conducting international criminological research about innovative and creative ways of working with offenders. Engaging with people and pioneering projects at the frontiers of criminal justice becomes even more intriguing and complex when this is to be done across cultures and national borders. Claims of ‘innovation’ and ‘success’ are inevitably relative and contextualised, subject to diverse interpretation and frequently contested. Here, we briefly outline our present research study on ‘innovative justice’, offering an analytical critique of its core components and some of the key questions that have emerged in thinking about the past, present and future of criminal justice.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Sociology, Criminology, Social Research Methods and Methodology, Social Sciences, Participatory Research, and 12 moreAppreciative Inquiry, Innovation statistics, Qualitative methodology, Organisational Change, Reflexivity, Qualitative Research, Strengths Based Practice, Capacity Building, Co-Production, Researching Prisons, Innovative Justice, and Strengths-Based Research Methods
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Justice, Collaboration, Social Capital, Drugs And Alcohol, and 24 morePolicing Studies, Desistance, Community Policing, Offender Rehabilitation, Community Corrections, Cannabis, Integrated Offender Management, Reintegration of ex-offenders, Drugs and crime, Drug Using Offenders, Special Populations In the Criminal Justice System, Diversion From the Criminal Justice System, Early Referral Into Treatment, Alcohol Using Offenders, Vulnerable People Policing, Policing Vulnerable People, Alternatives to Incarceration, Police Involvement In Community Justice, Police-Probation Partnerships, Sobering Up Units, Policing In Australia, Offenders As Citizens, Innovation In Community Policing, and Amphetamines
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Criminology, Evaluation Research, Qualitative methodology, Mental Health Courts, In-depth Interviews, and 9 moreReflexivity (Sociology), Therapeutic jurisprudence, Ethics in Social and Educational Research, Ethics in Criminology, Offenders With a Mental Illness, Human Research Ethics Committees In Australia, Vulnerable People In the Courts, Risks and Dangers to Social Researchers, and Ethical Regulation
The lecture speaks of moral courage and professional and political bravery, and the types of strategies in and beyond Scottish justice that will require them. It considers how emerging from the exceptional circumstances and adversity of... more
The lecture speaks of moral courage and professional and political bravery, and the types of strategies in and beyond Scottish justice that will require them. It considers how emerging from the exceptional circumstances and adversity of the COVID-19 crisis offers opportunities for doing justice differently. This is not about decorating the criminal justice system in silver linings. Being a high punishment society is not inevitable. A range of strategies are discussed, such as decarceration, diversion, decriminalisation, activism, sentencing and prosecutorial reform, and matters of health, welfare and social justice. In strategising how Scottish justice can recover and move on from the impacts of COVID, I warn of the need to avoid what I call ‘band-aids that wound’, or bandages that wound. Things designed to help in one way may, paradoxically, harm or hinder in others. The lecture also emphasises how the strength of our relationships rise to the fore in times of crisis and it is relationships among diverse allies that will be critical to making real progress in the days ahead.
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Law, Criminal Justice, Social Work, Drugs And Addiction, and 15 moreThird Sector, Professional Moral Courage, Politics, Social Justice, Penology, Prisons, Scotland, Sentencing, Community Corrections, Punishment, Probation, Diversion, Decarceration, Covid-19, and COVID-19 PANDEMIC
We welcome and support the proposed extension of the presumption against short prison sentences to 12 months and under in Scotland. In this evidence submission to the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee, we emphasise several key... more
We welcome and support the proposed extension of the presumption against short prison sentences to 12 months and under in Scotland. In this evidence submission to the Scottish Parliament Justice Committee, we emphasise several key points:
• We support the extension of the presumption to 12 months for several reasons. One reason is the aim of reducing the ‘churn’ of short-term prison admissions. Another reason is seeking to mitigate potential up-tariffing in summary courts.
• We do not support specific offences/groups being exempt from the presumption as such. The judiciary will retain all sentencing disposals to decide when it is necessary to depart from the presumption, for example, in cases of violent or sexual offending.
• Community-based approaches are already credible and, in general, have better outcomes than custody, but they must be well resourced. Crucially, they should be used as a sentence in their own right, not as an ‘alternative’ or addition to custody.
• Two key questions should inform discussions of the presumption: (1) what is prison for? and (2) how does prison help or resolve any of the issues raised in these discussions?
• Wider sentencing and penal reform is needed to maximise diversion and decarceration. Our prisons are over-crowded. Realistically, the presumption is expected to have a modest and gradual influence (Conlong, Justice Analytical Services, 2019). On its own, it will not be enough to significantly reduce the very high prison population so it needs to be one among several strategies, grounded in evidence, experience, and in a clear-sighted vision for constructive justice.
• We support the extension of the presumption to 12 months for several reasons. One reason is the aim of reducing the ‘churn’ of short-term prison admissions. Another reason is seeking to mitigate potential up-tariffing in summary courts.
• We do not support specific offences/groups being exempt from the presumption as such. The judiciary will retain all sentencing disposals to decide when it is necessary to depart from the presumption, for example, in cases of violent or sexual offending.
• Community-based approaches are already credible and, in general, have better outcomes than custody, but they must be well resourced. Crucially, they should be used as a sentence in their own right, not as an ‘alternative’ or addition to custody.
• Two key questions should inform discussions of the presumption: (1) what is prison for? and (2) how does prison help or resolve any of the issues raised in these discussions?
• Wider sentencing and penal reform is needed to maximise diversion and decarceration. Our prisons are over-crowded. Realistically, the presumption is expected to have a modest and gradual influence (Conlong, Justice Analytical Services, 2019). On its own, it will not be enough to significantly reduce the very high prison population so it needs to be one among several strategies, grounded in evidence, experience, and in a clear-sighted vision for constructive justice.
Research Interests:
The Aberdeen Problem-Solving Approach (PSA) has been running in Aberdeen Sheriff Court since November 2015 (for women) and since August 2016 (for young men). In line with theory and evidence on problem-solving justice, it aims to reduce... more
The Aberdeen Problem-Solving Approach (PSA) has been running in Aberdeen Sheriff Court since November 2015 (for women) and since August 2016 (for young men). In line with theory and evidence on problem-solving justice, it aims to reduce the use of short custodial sentences and reduce reoffending by combining the authority of the court with support and rehabilitative opportunities to address the underlying causes of offending. Unlike traditional problem-solving courts, which target a specific crime (e.g. domestic abuse) or problem (e.g. drug use), the Aberdeen PSA’s ‘specialisation’ is people with a history of frequent low-level offending with multiple and complex needs. Those admitted into the PSA have their sentence deferred while they engage with service providers for a specified period of time, during which they must return to court for regular judicial reviews with a dedicated sheriff.
Lorraine Murray and Jane Eunson from Ipsos MORI Scotland and Hannah Graham, Gill McIvor and Margaret Malloch from the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research/University of Stirling conducted an independent Review of the PSA between August 2017 and January 2018. A mixed method approach was adopted. This involved primary qualitative research (interviews and focus groups with PSA participants, professionals involved in delivering the PSA and wider stakeholders), court observations, and secondary analysis of routinely collected monitoring data. The qualitative research provided rich data on participants’ experiences and the perspectives of participants, professionals and wider stakeholders on: how the PSA is being delivered; what distinguishes it from other sentencing procedures;
what is working well; what could be improved; and lessons for other areas. The court observations enabled further comparisons with other sentencing procedures. The analysis of the monitoring data provided some quantitative data on the profile of participants (including risk/needs assessment), engagement, compliance and sentencing outcome.
Lorraine Murray and Jane Eunson from Ipsos MORI Scotland and Hannah Graham, Gill McIvor and Margaret Malloch from the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research/University of Stirling conducted an independent Review of the PSA between August 2017 and January 2018. A mixed method approach was adopted. This involved primary qualitative research (interviews and focus groups with PSA participants, professionals involved in delivering the PSA and wider stakeholders), court observations, and secondary analysis of routinely collected monitoring data. The qualitative research provided rich data on participants’ experiences and the perspectives of participants, professionals and wider stakeholders on: how the PSA is being delivered; what distinguishes it from other sentencing procedures;
what is working well; what could be improved; and lessons for other areas. The court observations enabled further comparisons with other sentencing procedures. The analysis of the monitoring data provided some quantitative data on the profile of participants (including risk/needs assessment), engagement, compliance and sentencing outcome.
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Law, Criminal Justice, Courts, Qualitative Research, and 10 moreWomen, Society, and Criminal Justice, Therapeutic jurisprudence, Sentencing, Sociology of Punishment, Probation, Court Diversion, Criminal Justice Social Work, Multiple and Complex Needs, Problem-solving justice, and prolific offending
This Insight research evidence summary introduces the ways in which electronic monitoring (EM) is currently used in the criminal justice system in Scotland, alongside international evidence and experience, to identify key issues and... more
This Insight research evidence summary introduces the ways in which electronic monitoring (EM) is currently used in the criminal justice system in Scotland, alongside international evidence and experience, to identify key issues and implications for use. It concisely tailors research evidence for practitioners, students and others interested in electronic monitoring, digital justice and criminal justice.
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Justice, Technology, Social Work, Courts, and 17 moreSocial Care, Wearable Technologies, Tagging Technologies, Probation and Community Based Sanctions, Scotland, Community Corrections, Community Justice, GPS TRACKING SYSTEM, Court Diversion, Criminal Justice Social Work, Transdermal Drug and Alcohol Monitoring Devices, Offender Supervision, Electronic Monitoring, Decarceration, Home detention curfew (HDC), Digital justice, and Community sentences
The use of electronic monitoring (EM) has grown rapidly in the European Union and elsewhere and is likely to continue to do so but knowledge about its operation and its potential to provide a humane, credible and effective alternative to... more
The use of electronic monitoring (EM) has grown rapidly in the European Union and elsewhere and is likely to continue to do so but knowledge about its operation and its potential to provide a humane, credible and effective alternative to imprisonment is limited. The research on which this report is based was carried out in five jurisdictions in Europe (Belgium, England and Wales, Germany, the Netherlands and Scotland) which deploy EM in different ways and to varying extents facilitating comparative analysis. The research is the first empirical comparative study of electronic monitoring. Its aim was to compare the law, policy and practices in the five jurisdictions focussing particularly on EM’s capacity to act as an alternative to custody and to identify best practices to enhance its effectiveness and ensure that EM is used legally, creatively, ethically and humanely. The research included an extensive literature review alongside observations of all aspects of the EM process and 191 interviews with policy-makers and practitioners involved in the provision of EM. The research was carried out between the autumn of 2014 and early 2016.
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Law, Criminal Justice, Social Work, Courts, and 22 moreSurveillance Studies, European Union, Qualitative Research, Comparative Research, Tagging Technologies, Comparative Criminal Justice, Prisons, GPS, Practitioner Research, Sentencing, Community Justice, Tagging, Parole, Penal policy, Probation, Alternatives to prison, Criminal Justice Social Work, Offender Supervision, Electronic Monitoring, Decarceration, Home detention curfew (HDC), and Breach and compliance
This research report examines the current uses of electronic monitoring (EM) tagging in the Scottish criminal justice system. The themes and findings presented here form one part of an EU-funded comparative research project1 involving... more
This research report examines the current uses of electronic monitoring (EM) tagging in the Scottish criminal justice system. The themes and findings presented here form one part of an EU-funded comparative research project1 involving five jurisdictions: England and Wales, Scotland, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. Significantly, this is the first comparative study of its kind in Europe. Criminologists Professor Gill McIvor and Dr Hannah Graham conducted the Scottish component of the research project, which spans a period of two years from May 2014 – April 2016. A range of key actors in the Scottish criminal justice field have been involved in this study as research participants
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Law, Criminal Justice, Technology, Social Work, and 21 moreCourts, Surveillance Studies, Police, Qualitative Research, Comparative Research, Tagging Technologies, Probation and Community Based Sanctions, Prisons, GPS, Scotland, Tagging, Punishment, Probation, Offender Management, Criminal Justice Social Work, Electronic Monitoring, Penal Policy and Criminal Sentencing, Decarceration, Parole Board, Home detention curfew (HDC), and Breach and compliance
Das Forschungsprojekt umfasste fünf europäische Rechts-systeme: Belgien, England und Wales, Deutschland, die Niederlande und Schottland. Zusätzlich zu Beobachtungen aller Aspekte des EM-Prozesses (insgesamt 75 Tage) wur-de eine... more
Das Forschungsprojekt umfasste fünf europäische Rechts-systeme: Belgien, England und Wales, Deutschland, die Niederlande und Schottland. Zusätzlich zu Beobachtungen aller Aspekte des EM-Prozesses (insgesamt 75 Tage) wur-de eine ausführliche Literaturanalyse durchgeführt, sowie 190 Interviews mit Entscheidungsträgern und Praktikern, die mit dem EM-Prozess zu tun haben.
Research Interests:
Le projet s’est penché sur 5 juridictions en Europe: la Belgique, l'Angleterre et le Pays de Galles, l'Allemagne, les Pays-Bas et l'Écosse. Une vaste étude bibliogra-phique a été menée ainsi que des observations de tous les aspects du... more
Le projet s’est penché sur 5 juridictions en Europe: la Belgique, l'Angleterre et le Pays de Galles, l'Allemagne, les Pays-Bas et l'Écosse. Une vaste étude bibliogra-phique a été menée ainsi que des observations de tous les aspects du processus de la SE (75 jours au total), et 190 entretiens auprès de décideurs politiques et de professionnels intervenants dans la mise en oeuvre de la SE.
Si l’on considère l’ensemble de ces 5 juridictions, la SE est utilisée à toutes les étapes du processus de justice pénale. Elle n’est cependant pas utilisée durant toutes ces étapes dans toutes les juridictions. Chacune de ces juridictions emploie divers modalités d’application de SE. Le tableau 1 fait la synthèse des différentes appli-cations de la SE dans chacune de ces juridictions. Le tableau 1 montre que toutes les juridictions utilisent les fréquences radio (FR). L'Écosse est la seule juridiction qui, à la date de rédaction de cette publication (janvier 2016), n'utilise pas la géolocalisation par GPS, bien que celle-ci soit à l'étude. La SE peut être associée à une supervision des services de probation dans toutes les juridictions, mais, elle est aussi utilisée comme peine autonome en Belgique, en Angleterre et en Écosse.
Si l’on considère l’ensemble de ces 5 juridictions, la SE est utilisée à toutes les étapes du processus de justice pénale. Elle n’est cependant pas utilisée durant toutes ces étapes dans toutes les juridictions. Chacune de ces juridictions emploie divers modalités d’application de SE. Le tableau 1 fait la synthèse des différentes appli-cations de la SE dans chacune de ces juridictions. Le tableau 1 montre que toutes les juridictions utilisent les fréquences radio (FR). L'Écosse est la seule juridiction qui, à la date de rédaction de cette publication (janvier 2016), n'utilise pas la géolocalisation par GPS, bien que celle-ci soit à l'étude. La SE peut être associée à une supervision des services de probation dans toutes les juridictions, mais, elle est aussi utilisée comme peine autonome en Belgique, en Angleterre et en Écosse.
Research Interests:
Het onderzoek greep plaats in 5 jurisdicties in Eu-ropa: België, Engeland en Wales, Duitsland, Neder-land en Schotland. Naast het observeren van alle aspecten van het ET-proces (75 dagen in totaal) en 190 interviews met beleidsmakers en... more
Het onderzoek greep plaats in 5 jurisdicties in Eu-ropa: België, Engeland en Wales, Duitsland, Neder-land en Schotland. Naast het observeren van alle aspecten van het ET-proces (75 dagen in totaal) en 190 interviews met beleidsmakers en professionals die betrokken zijn bij de uitvoering van ET werd een uitgebreid literatuuronderzoek uitgevoerd.
ET wordt toegepast in alle stadia van de straf-rechtsbedeling en in verschillende vormen. Tabel 1 geeft een overzicht van de toepassingen van het ET in de verschillende jurisdicties. In alle jurisdic-ties wordt Radio-frequentie-technologie (RF) ge-bruikt, terwijl Schotland tijdens de redactie van dit rapport (januari 2016) de enige jurisdictie is die geen GPS-toepassing gebruikt, hoewel dit wel wordt overwogen. ET kan in alle jurisdicties worden gecombineerd met reclasseringstoezicht, maar in België, Engeland en Schotland wordt het ook ge-bruikt als een op zichzelf staande maatregel.
ET wordt toegepast in alle stadia van de straf-rechtsbedeling en in verschillende vormen. Tabel 1 geeft een overzicht van de toepassingen van het ET in de verschillende jurisdicties. In alle jurisdic-ties wordt Radio-frequentie-technologie (RF) ge-bruikt, terwijl Schotland tijdens de redactie van dit rapport (januari 2016) de enige jurisdictie is die geen GPS-toepassing gebruikt, hoewel dit wel wordt overwogen. ET kan in alle jurisdicties worden gecombineerd met reclasseringstoezicht, maar in België, Engeland en Schotland wordt het ook ge-bruikt als een op zichzelf staande maatregel.
Research Interests:
The comparative research project covered 5 jurisdictions in Europe: Belgium, England and Wales, Germany, the Netherlands and Scotland. An extensive literature review was undertaken alongside observations of all aspects of the electronic... more
The comparative research project covered 5 jurisdictions in Europe: Belgium, England and Wales, Germany, the Netherlands and Scotland. An extensive literature review was undertaken alongside observations of all aspects of the electronic monitoring (EM) process (75 days in total) and 190 interviews with policy-makers and practitioners involved in the provision of EM.1
Electronic monitoring is used at all stages of the criminal justice process across the 5 jurisdictions but not in every jurisdiction. All jurisdic-tions use multiple modalities of EM. Table 1 summarises the applications of EM in the juris-dictions. Table 1 demonstrates that all jurisdic-tions use Radio Frequency (RF) technology and Scotland is the only jurisdiction which at the time of writing (January 2016) does not use GPS applications, although it is under consid-eration. EM can be combined with probation supervision in all jurisdictions but in Belgium, England and Scotland it is also used as a standalone measure. This briefing paper is one output from the Eu-ropean project: ‘Creativity and effectiveness in the use of electronic monitoring as an alterna-tive to imprisonment in EU member states’ by Professors Anthea Hucklesby (University of Leeds, UK), Kristel Beyens (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium) Miranda Boone (Utrecht Universiteit, the Netherlands), Frieder Dünkel (Universität Greifswald, Germany) and Gill McIvor and Dr Hannah Graham (University of Stirling, Scotland).
Electronic monitoring is used at all stages of the criminal justice process across the 5 jurisdictions but not in every jurisdiction. All jurisdic-tions use multiple modalities of EM. Table 1 summarises the applications of EM in the juris-dictions. Table 1 demonstrates that all jurisdic-tions use Radio Frequency (RF) technology and Scotland is the only jurisdiction which at the time of writing (January 2016) does not use GPS applications, although it is under consid-eration. EM can be combined with probation supervision in all jurisdictions but in Belgium, England and Scotland it is also used as a standalone measure. This briefing paper is one output from the Eu-ropean project: ‘Creativity and effectiveness in the use of electronic monitoring as an alterna-tive to imprisonment in EU member states’ by Professors Anthea Hucklesby (University of Leeds, UK), Kristel Beyens (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium) Miranda Boone (Utrecht Universiteit, the Netherlands), Frieder Dünkel (Universität Greifswald, Germany) and Gill McIvor and Dr Hannah Graham (University of Stirling, Scotland).
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Justice, Wearable Technologies, Criminology (Social Sciences), Comparative Research, and 15 moreTagging Technologies, Comparative Criminal Justice, Belgium, Germany, England and Wales, Scotland, Community Justice, Tagging, The Netherlands, Prisoners, Electronic Monitoring and Pre Trial Detention, GPS tracking, Offender Supervision, Electronic Monitoring, and Breach and compliance
This briefing paper summarises key research findings and recommendations about the uses of electronic monitoring (EM) in Scotland. This briefing paper is one output from the comparative European research project: ‘Creativity and... more
This briefing paper summarises key research findings and recommendations about the uses of electronic monitoring (EM) in Scotland. This briefing paper is one output from the comparative European research project: ‘Creativity and effectiveness in the use of electronic monitoring as an alternative to imprisonment in EU member states’ by Professors Anthea Hucklesby (University of Leeds, England & Wales), Kristel Beyens (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium) Miranda Boone Utrecht Universiteit, the Netherlands), Frieder Dünkel (Universität Greifswald, Germany), Gill McIvor and Hannah Graham (University of Stirling, Scotland).
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Justice, Technology, Courts, Wearable Technologies, and 14 moreCriminology (Social Sciences), Comparative Research, Tagging Technologies, Comparative Criminal Justice, Scotland, Community Justice, Confinement, Prisoners, GPS tracking, Electronic Monitoring, Home detention curfew (HDC), RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), RF tag, RSSI (Received Strength Signal Indicator), Restriction of Liberty Orders, and Breach and compliance
This Review provides a bounded overview of Scottish and international evidence and experience of the uses, purposes and impact of electronic monitoring (EM).
Research Interests: Criminology, Law, Criminal Justice, Technology, Social Work, and 17 moreCourts, Probation and Community Based Sanctions, Punishment and Prisons, Scotland, Tagging, GPS TRACKING SYSTEM, Desistance from Crime, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Children and Young People, Reintegration of ex-offenders, Criminal Justice Social Work, Alcohol and Drug Monitoring Devices, Transdermal Drug and Alcohol Monitoring Devices, Electronic Monitoring, Decarceration, Alternatives to Custody, and Home detention curfew (HDC)
A report prepared for the Magistrates Court of Tasmania and other Mental Health Diversion List stakeholders, based on the author's 2007 Masters of Criminology & Corrections thesis conducted with the University of Tasmania, Australia.
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Chronopolitics - the politics of time - has scarcely been developed in criminology and penology. This paper uses chronopolitics and the sociology of time to critically analyse penal policy and community justice in Scotland, focusing on a... more
Chronopolitics - the politics of time - has scarcely been developed in criminology and penology. This paper uses chronopolitics and the sociology of time to critically analyse penal policy and community justice in Scotland, focusing on a significant piece of legislation in the Scottish Parliament. The Management of Offenders (Scotland) Act 2019 is a Scottish law which reforms and departs from a prominent UK law, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Time features in political and professional language, with some choosing to speak in terms implying active criminality and punishment, while others recognise personhood and speak of having a record or past to leave behind. It also features in deliberations of disclosure law reform regarding the length of time for which people have to disclose convictions and criminal records. Chronopolitics is evident in discussions of sentence length and type, with community sentences and mechanisms for early release from prison characterised in penal populist terms of 'soft touch justice' by a minority of conservative politicians. Using the sociology of time to understand how the Management of Offenders Act 2019 developed and changed brings to the fore lived experiences of time and temporality, specifically how they relate to punishment or measures after punishment in the community. The paper argues that the attentiveness of chronopolitics literature to power relations and social-structural influences demonstrates its utility and relevance for greater use in criminology and penology.
Research Interests: Sociology, Criminology, Criminal Justice, Politics, Temporality (Time Studies), and 11 moreScottish Politics, Chronopolitics, Sociology of Time, Community Justice, Punishment, Scottish Parliament, Probation, Penal Populism, Criminal Records, Reentry, Collateral Consequences, Electronic Monitoring, and Penal Policy and Criminal Sentencing
Speakers: Kristel Beyens, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Kerstin Svensson, Lund University, Nicola Carr, University of Nottingham, Gwen Robinson, University of Sheffield, Hannah Graham, University of Stirling, An-Sofie Vanhouche, Vrije... more
Speakers: Kristel Beyens, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Kerstin Svensson, Lund University, Nicola Carr, University of Nottingham, Gwen Robinson, University of Sheffield, Hannah Graham, University of Stirling, An-Sofie Vanhouche, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and Christine Morgenstern, Trinity College Dublin.
European Society of Criminology Conference 2019 Roundtable in Ghent, Belgium.
Time is a central issue in society, and also in criminal justice practices and decision-making. Sentences are most often measured in certain amounts of time. Doing time in prison or the community is recognized as an important aspect of punishment and prison life is organized according to strict schedules. Time is not only an issue in the organized practice in criminal justice, it is also central in the everyday experiences of those who are subjected to punishment as well as of criminal justice agents. From a managerial and efficiency perspective, speeding up criminal proceedings are becoming a central issue. On the other hand, waiting and imposing useless time on accused or convicted people can be used as ways of exercising power. For example, ‘non-activities’ as having a deferred sentence, waiting lists for sentences to be served, ‘waiting’ for things to happen in prisons, while serving community sanctions or being transported to another prison etc., can be recognized as ‘temporal pains’ of punishment. A counterpoint to this is that ‘time’ is also an important concept in relation to the prospect of change or transformation, so we could also think about the productive possibilities of time. This roundtable panel opens up a space for discussion on the nature and experiences of temporal pains/possibilities of punished persons and of those working in the criminal justice system. We will also raise the methodological question of how to study these temporal issues.
European Society of Criminology Conference 2019 Roundtable in Ghent, Belgium.
Time is a central issue in society, and also in criminal justice practices and decision-making. Sentences are most often measured in certain amounts of time. Doing time in prison or the community is recognized as an important aspect of punishment and prison life is organized according to strict schedules. Time is not only an issue in the organized practice in criminal justice, it is also central in the everyday experiences of those who are subjected to punishment as well as of criminal justice agents. From a managerial and efficiency perspective, speeding up criminal proceedings are becoming a central issue. On the other hand, waiting and imposing useless time on accused or convicted people can be used as ways of exercising power. For example, ‘non-activities’ as having a deferred sentence, waiting lists for sentences to be served, ‘waiting’ for things to happen in prisons, while serving community sanctions or being transported to another prison etc., can be recognized as ‘temporal pains’ of punishment. A counterpoint to this is that ‘time’ is also an important concept in relation to the prospect of change or transformation, so we could also think about the productive possibilities of time. This roundtable panel opens up a space for discussion on the nature and experiences of temporal pains/possibilities of punished persons and of those working in the criminal justice system. We will also raise the methodological question of how to study these temporal issues.
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Presentation about the Aberdeen Problem Solving Approach, showcasing research conducted by Lorraine Murray and Jane Eunson from Ipsos MORI Scotland and Hannah Graham, Gill McIvor and Margaret Malloch from the University of Stirling, UK.... more
Presentation about the Aberdeen Problem Solving Approach, showcasing research conducted by Lorraine Murray and Jane Eunson from Ipsos MORI Scotland and Hannah Graham, Gill McIvor and Margaret Malloch from the University of Stirling, UK. This research was funded by the Scottish Government. Presented on 5th September 2018 in Edinburgh.
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Uses of technology and visions of digital justice are prominent in discussion of the future of criminal justice. New apps, devices and wearable tech, platforms, electronic monitoring and information sharing capabilities warrant thoughtful... more
Uses of technology and visions of digital justice are prominent in discussion of the future of criminal justice. New apps, devices and wearable tech, platforms, electronic monitoring and information sharing capabilities warrant thoughtful consideration. The forms and functions of technology within criminal justice must be understood in context – how, why, with whom and by whom it is used matters. Against a backdrop of swollen prison populations and budgetary constraints, governments and justice policymakers are increasingly interested in how electronic monitoring and other technologies may be used to reduce the use of imprisonment, including a form of diversion, as early release from prison and as a condition of parole. This paper showcases international evidence and experiences, incorporating the findings of research on electronic monitoring tagging technologies in Europe. Practitioner perspectives are featured to offer real-world firsthand insights into key issues. Using technology can involve positive outcomes as well as restrictions of liberty and privacy for people with convictions and, simultaneously, it may affect the focus of supervision and scope of practitioners’ work. Technology can be used within punitive approaches centered on control, risk and restrictive surveillance, or it can be integrated as a feature within more rehabilitative and reintegrative approaches where supervision and social supports are oriented towards enabling desistance from crime. Ultimately, advances in digital justice and criminal justice need to be socially just, pursuing ethical and effective uses of technology with respect for the individual, families and communities involved.
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Digital justice technologies and interventions are becoming increasingly used in criminal justice settings. The versatility of electronic monitoring (EM) is evident in how it is used for different offender groups, to achieve different... more
Digital justice technologies and interventions are becoming increasingly used in criminal justice settings. The versatility of electronic monitoring (EM) is evident in how it is used for different offender groups, to achieve different penological purposes and across different modalities. App technologies are also becoming more prominent in the field of probation and community justice. Thinking about the uses and effectiveness of a particular technology needs to incorporate deep consideration of the ethics and purposes of how, why and by whom or with whom it is used. Reflection on what makes a certain technological approach innovative, effective and ethical and in what social context is important, as there are no panaceas or universally effective approaches in criminal justice. In this conference plenary, Dr Hannah Graham from the University of Stirling in Scotland presents alongside Deborah Thompson from Reclassering NL, the Dutch Probation Service in Utrecht, on app technologies, electronic monitoring and probation, posing ethical and practical questions for discussion in the associated conference workshop which follows the plenary.
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- Overview of current uses and purposes of electronic monitoring in Scottish criminal justice and selected international jurisdictions; - Featured findings from cutting-edge comparative research on electronic monitoring in the EU,... more
- Overview of current uses and purposes of electronic monitoring in Scottish criminal justice and selected international jurisdictions;
- Featured findings from cutting-edge comparative research on electronic monitoring in the EU, including in Scotland;
- Exploration of the interfaces of digital justice, criminal justice and social justice, raising reflexive questions.
- Featured findings from cutting-edge comparative research on electronic monitoring in the EU, including in Scotland;
- Exploration of the interfaces of digital justice, criminal justice and social justice, raising reflexive questions.
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Graham, H. (2016) 'Rehabilitation Work and Cultures: Valuing Practitioner Perspectives' plenary presentation at 'Alternatives to Detention in Central and Eastern Europe' international conference hosted by the Confederation of European Probation (CEP) in Dubrovnik, Croatia, 17th-18th November 2016.more
Conversations about rehabilitation and supporting desistance have been dominated by academics and policymakers, without due recognition of the experiences and knowledge of practitioners. Not enough is known about the cultures and... more
Conversations about rehabilitation and supporting desistance have been dominated by academics and policymakers, without due recognition of the experiences and knowledge of practitioners. Not enough is known about the cultures and conditions in which rehabilitation and criminal justice work occurs. This presentation draws on the findings of research conducted with different types of practitioners, the researcher’s observations and rehabilitation and desistance literatures to reveal compelling differences between official accounts and what practitioners actually do in practice. Applied examples of how practitioners collaborate, lead and innovate in the midst of challenging work are complemented with evocative illustrations of practitioner humour, creativity and resilience. The presentation considers the influence of professional ideologies and cultures in probation and other criminal justice work. It includes an analytical critique of the issues and implications involved in narrow technical portrayals of practitioners as single-mindedly focused on reducing criminogenic risk, even in contexts where the Risk-Need-Responsivity model of offender rehabilitation is used. There is much more to their work than the tools and models that they use. The importance of valuing practitioner perspectives is underscored as an essential element for changing rehabilitation cultures in probation and community justice, including better supporting those who support rehabilitation and desistance.
Research Interests: Sociology, Criminology, Criminal Justice, Rehabilitation, Intrapreneurship, and 9 moreDesistance, Probation and Community Based Sanctions, Practitioner Research, Sociology of Work and Professions, Recovery, Probation, Criminal Justice Social Work, The Risk-Need-Responsivity Model (RNR) of Offender Rehabilitation, and Pracademia
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This plenary presentation features a few of the key research findings and recommendations of the Scottish component of comparative research ‘Creativity and effectiveness in the use of electronic monitoring as an alternative to... more
This plenary presentation features a few of the key research findings and recommendations of the Scottish component of comparative research ‘Creativity and effectiveness in the use of electronic monitoring as an alternative to imprisonment in EU member states,' involving research partners from England & Wales, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, and funded by the Criminal Justice Programme of the European Commission (JUST/2013/JPEN/AG/4510).
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This article examines the emergent growth of environmental sustainability activities and ecological awareness within criminal justice institutions around the world. To date, such developments have received little empirical analysis from... more
This article examines the emergent growth of environmental sustainability activities and ecological awareness within criminal justice institutions around the world. To date, such developments have received little empirical analysis from amongst criminology scholars. Internationally, this article is among the first to critically analyse the ‘greening’ of policing, courts, prisons, offender supervision and community reintegration. Available literature and examples are reviewed, alongside original research findings. The motivations and ideologies underpinning this nascent green evolution raise deeper questions of ‘why?’ and ‘for whom?’ Genuinely innovative examples which seek to enable penal reform and rehabilitation are differentiated from those which claim humanistic intentions and green credentials but, arguably, are simply based on instrumental fiscal motives that do little to challenge repressive carceral regimes.
Research Interests: Sociology, Criminology, Environmental Science, Law, Criminal Justice, and 27 moreSocial Sciences, Architecture, Social Entrepreneurship, Rehabilitation, Renewable Energy, Conservation, Courts, Recycling, Social Capital, Waste recycling, Police, Restorative Justice, Gardens, Human Capital, Desistance, Environmental Sustainability, Nature, Green Building, Prisons, Social Innovation, Generativity, Community Service, Penal Reform, Carceral Geography, Innovative Justice, Greening Justice, and Public Policy
Research Interests: Sociology, Criminology, Criminal Justice, Social Entrepreneurship, Appreciative Inquiry, and 14 moreInnovation statistics, Social Capital, Australia, Singapore, Human Capital, Desistance, Offender Rehabilitation, Prisons, Community gardens, Reintegration of ex-offenders, Pracademia, Sustainable Prisons, Innovative Justice, and Greening Justice
Case studies of innovative justice initiatives and new developments from around the world are presented as illustrations of how justice done differently is making a difference. Strengths-based research methods, restorative justice and... more
Case studies of innovative justice initiatives and new developments from around the world are presented as illustrations of how justice done differently is making a difference. Strengths-based research methods, restorative justice and desistance scholarship are used to investigate and theorise ‘good news stories’ and hopeful practices emerging from the international field. These innovative justice initiatives are diverse and creative in how they engage ex/offenders, practitioners and institutions, governments and communities to aid restoration and enable desistance and change. The voices, values and experiences of the people at the forefront of these pioneering initiatives are featured, including ex/offenders, prison and probation practitioners, the judiciary, advocates, scientists and academics, volunteers and community groups. Implicit within the analysis of these case studies are notions of social innovation and social justice, as well as acknowledgement of the visionary influences of ‘intrapreneurs’ and ‘pracademics’ as drivers of change and knowledge exchange. In pursuing pathways towards a better future – for individuals, institutions and communities – changing penal cultures and practices may enable criminal justice systems to better support people in the process of desistance and change.
Research Interests: Sociology, Criminology, Criminal Justice, Social Sciences, Innovation statistics, and 12 moreCommunity Engagement & Participation, Social Capital, Restorative Justice, Desistance, Creative Arts, Prisons, Forgiveness, Generativity, Penal Reform, Victims of Crime, Rehabilitating Offenders, and Restorative Reintegration
Rehabilitation is changing. It is changing in ways that impact the people at the centre of rehabilitative services and systems, ways that also bear influence at the levels of institutions, workforces and sectors. There is urgency in the... more
Rehabilitation is changing. It is changing in ways that impact the people at the centre of rehabilitative services and systems, ways that also bear influence at the levels of institutions, workforces and sectors. There is urgency in the need to better understand these changes. Yet much of the extant literature has been devoted to concentrated analysis of rehabilitation in terms of tools and interventions, policies and institutions. Where the ‘doing’ of rehabilitation work is examined, it tends to be understood and bounded in a segmented or siloed fashion. Studies that position their findings with consideration for the other key stakeholders involved (especially practitioners), and the reality that rehabilitation processes are intrinsically collaborative and contextualised, are the exception, rather than the norm. This presentation outlines practitioner perspectives on the realities of rehabilitation work from a recent study of the alcohol & other drugs and criminal justice sectors in Tasmania. In particular, the presentation considers how practitioners show leadership and creativity in their work, how this can be theorised, and how and why further ‘pracademia’ and knowledge exchange is necessary to positively shape policy, culture and practice change.
Research Interests: Sociology, Criminology, Criminal Justice, Social Sciences, Research Methodology, and 17 moreRehabilitation, Drugs And Addiction, Innovation statistics, Institutional Change, Job Crafting (Organizational Behavior), Intrapreneurship, Qualitative Research, Addiction and Recovery, Knowledge Exchange, Max Weber, Organisational culture, Max Weber (Sociology), Practitioners, Learning and Change In Organisations, Moral legitimacy, Rehabilitation Work, and Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care
Research Interests: Sociology, Criminology, Communication, Innovation statistics, Collaboration, and 13 moreSubstance Misuse, Desistance, Addiction and Recovery, Academia, Applied sociology, Substance Abuse, Drug Addiction, Research partnerships, Alcohol and other drugs, Practitioner Perspectives, Pracademia, Co-Production and Personalisation of Care, and Alcohol Addiction
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The session presents new findings from original research conducted with practitioners from across Tasmania who work with clients in criminal justice and alcohol and other drugs service settings. The data from open ended conversations with... more
The session presents new findings from original research conducted with practitioners from across Tasmania who work with clients in criminal justice and alcohol and other drugs service settings. The data from open ended conversations with those interviewed raises interesting questions, issues and opportunities on key theme areas, including: opportunities and tensions in interagency collaboration; government-community sector relations and the clinical/non-clinical divide; competitive tendering; working with challenging and complex client groups in challenging and complex work environments; ‘practitioner toolkits’ and practice wisdom on what really works. Hearing what workers want, what they think about their work and those they work with, what they do well and what they hope for offers valuable insights into the identity, culture and future of the alcohol and other drugs and justice sectors in Tasmania, Australia. Promising practices and sectoral strengths are celebrated, alongside important questions about changing culture and the future of reform.
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The 11th European Electronic Monitoring conference was held in Zagreb, Croatia, in April 2018, hosted by the Confederation of European Probation (CEP) and the Republic of Croatia Ministry of Justice. The theme was ‘blurring boundaries,... more
The 11th European Electronic Monitoring conference was held in Zagreb, Croatia, in April 2018, hosted by the Confederation of European Probation (CEP) and the Republic of Croatia Ministry of Justice. The theme was ‘blurring boundaries, making and breaking connections’ and the conference was attended by more than 230 delegates from 41 countries around the world, with significant numbers of conference delegates from the Netherlands, Israel, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and others from a diverse range of countries including Azerbaijan, Thailand, Japan, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. In this review article, Dr Hannah Graham summarizes noteworthy presentations from the meeting, including sessions led by Anthea Hucklesby (UK), Deborah Thompson (Netherlands), and Kristel Beyens (Belgium).
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In 2018, the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Bill has been introduced to the Scottish Parliament. What are the Scottish Government proposing in this Bill and why? Dr Hannah Graham, a criminologist at the University of Stirling,... more
In 2018, the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Bill has been introduced to the Scottish Parliament. What are the Scottish Government proposing in this Bill and why? Dr Hannah Graham, a criminologist at the University of Stirling, provides an overview.
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This is an article by Dr. Hannah Graham, Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR), Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Stirling, Scotland. In this article, Dr. Hannah Graham... more
This is an article by Dr. Hannah Graham, Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR), Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Stirling, Scotland. In this article, Dr. Hannah Graham explores some of the issues and questions she raised in her plenary presentation at the Confederation of European Probation (CEP) European Electronic Monitoring conference in Zagreb, Croatia in April 2018. At the conference, Hannah presented and co-led a workshop alongside Deborah Thompson from the Dutch Probation Service on innovative uses of apps and electronic monitoring technologies in probation.
Technology, especially electronic monitoring (EM) technology, has been used in some probation and community justice settings for decades. Yet with the advent of more options and emerging potential to integrate different functions, a myriad of questions arise. These questions are not so much about practicalities such as battery life or losing internet and satellite signal in rural areas, but are more focused on the ‘who?’, ‘what?’ and ‘why?’ questions of using technology in probation.
Technology, especially electronic monitoring (EM) technology, has been used in some probation and community justice settings for decades. Yet with the advent of more options and emerging potential to integrate different functions, a myriad of questions arise. These questions are not so much about practicalities such as battery life or losing internet and satellite signal in rural areas, but are more focused on the ‘who?’, ‘what?’ and ‘why?’ questions of using technology in probation.
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Justice, Technology, Tagging Technologies, Probation and Community Based Sanctions, and 8 moreMobile apps, Community Corrections, Community Justice, Reintegration of ex-offenders, Offender Supervision, Electronic Monitoring, Community Sanctions and Measures, and Digital justice
Dr Hannah Graham is interviewed by Victor Perton in a blog post on the 3rd January 2018 for the Australian Leadership Project http://www.australianleadership.com/
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This is a subjective, reflexive piece on academic activism and influence. It harnesses personal reflections to identify issues and opportunities involved in engaging with others in pursuit of change. In some but not all cases, our work as... more
This is a subjective, reflexive piece on academic activism and influence. It harnesses personal reflections to identify issues and opportunities involved in engaging with others in pursuit of change. In some but not all cases, our work as criminologists and sociologists and, indeed, our lives can be enriched by participatory public engagement, including in social movements. Excellence in published criminology and sociology can be nourished and reciprocally influenced by a calibre of public criminology and sociology, knowing and being known by diverse citizens, publics and parliaments, working to build better futures and more just and civil societies, together. Yet, sometimes our moral and political convictions and participation in social movements may or may not have direct links with our research, academic CV, institutional affiliation, or disciplinary field. Sometimes they amalgamate facets of our lives and intellectual commitments in hyphenated or hybridised ways. Ethical and, indeed, effectual academic activism and influence is prudently anchored in academic citizenship and service, in a civic commitment to justice and human flourishing. For criminologists, this means a commitment that may transcend a narrow focus on criminal justice. Academic citizenship is an important opportunity to listen, learn and lead. Meaningful influence rarely abides in esoteric echo chambers. Insularity, indifference or inaction are not desirable outworkings of sociological and criminological imaginations, nor are they noble uses of academic freedom, time, voice, capital or power. For me, citizenship and a civic commitment to justice looks like something.
Research Interests: Sociology, Criminology, Public Sociology, Social Sciences, Reflexivity, and 17 moreKnowledge sharing, Politics, Social Justice, Social Activism, Media, Academia, Advocacy and Activism, Public Engagement, Public Intellectuals, Sociological Imagination, Public Criminology, Policy Advocacy, Academic Activism, Criminological Imagination, Academic labour, Reflexivity In Research, and Academic citizenship
This is a reflexive response to the wonderfully carte blanche invitation to offer thoughts on the work of the COST Action ‘Offender Supervision in Europe’, and its recent conference in Athens, from the perspective of one who has only... more
This is a reflexive response to the wonderfully carte blanche invitation to offer thoughts on the work of the COST Action ‘Offender Supervision in Europe’, and its recent conference in Athens, from the perspective of one who has only recently encountered this network (having only recently moved to the continent from Australia). Following on from the last guest post in this blog is no easy feat. In that post, conference guest speaker and psychologist Prof. Stef Decoene articulated numerous questions and arguments about the conference, and about the research methods developing in and through the network’s activities. Although my post was mostly written before reading Stef’s post, and is not intended as a formal response to his, it is clear that my voice and thoughts on the same conference and the same research are different. Informed by the work of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, the notion of ‘the penal field’ shapes the thoughts that follow – a concept that has already been employed in a guest post for this blog by Joshua Page back in 2013 (available here, see also Page, 2012; Durnescu and McNeill, 2014).
Considering the penal field, including its practices and cultures, creates space for simultaneous (self) reflection on ourselves as criminological actors (and our respective disciplinary allegiances, cultures and ‘habitus’ as Bourdieu would say, as ‘seers’ and ‘knowers’ of the penal field). The leitmotif of this COST network is its culture. It encompasses a remarkable and rare combination of productivity, creativity, empirical integrity, and epistemological humility. I affirm Stef’s observation that a palpable sense of joy and camaraderie exists among COST network researchers, creating a special atmosphere infrequently observed in other academic forums of the same size.
In this blog, I summarise some of the network’s compelling characteristics and contributions across three inter-related spheres, using the metaphors of ‘seasons’, ‘senses’ and ‘spaces’. Interwoven within this is a reflexive critique of what I see as some of the wider issues affecting criminology and criminal justice research, demarcating why the work of this COST network is distinctive.
Considering the penal field, including its practices and cultures, creates space for simultaneous (self) reflection on ourselves as criminological actors (and our respective disciplinary allegiances, cultures and ‘habitus’ as Bourdieu would say, as ‘seers’ and ‘knowers’ of the penal field). The leitmotif of this COST network is its culture. It encompasses a remarkable and rare combination of productivity, creativity, empirical integrity, and epistemological humility. I affirm Stef’s observation that a palpable sense of joy and camaraderie exists among COST network researchers, creating a special atmosphere infrequently observed in other academic forums of the same size.
In this blog, I summarise some of the network’s compelling characteristics and contributions across three inter-related spheres, using the metaphors of ‘seasons’, ‘senses’ and ‘spaces’. Interwoven within this is a reflexive critique of what I see as some of the wider issues affecting criminology and criminal justice research, demarcating why the work of this COST network is distinctive.
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This guest post offers reflexive discussion of the challenges and opportunities of reproducing and upscaling co-productive forums and ventures which support desistance. Consideration of the impact of growth and change on participants’... more
This guest post offers reflexive discussion of the challenges and opportunities of reproducing and upscaling co-productive forums and ventures which support desistance. Consideration of the impact of growth and change on participants’ perceptions of trust and legitimacy are threaded throughout. In this post, the focus is on forums and ventures which seek to support and ‘co-produce desistance’, ranging from mutual aid groups, peer mentoring and service user/peer advocacy forums, to cooperatives, time banks, creative arts initiatives, and social enterprises for people with convictions, through to big picture participative social action initiatives and awareness raising campaigns. As ground-breaking and exciting as they are, establishing these types of forums and ventures can be hard work. However, this post looks further downstream to consider what happens when an innovative initiative is successful, and its members are thinking about the opportunities and challenges of making it more widely available and mainstream. Despite the fine-grain details and start-up challenges of conceiving co-productive forums and relationships, trust and legitimacy are further tested in their reproduction.
Research Interests: Criminology, Criminal Justice, Social Sciences, Creativity, Trust, and 11 moreCommunity Engagement & Participation, Collaboration, Legitimacy, Desistance, Social Enterprises, Social Innovation, Sociology of Punishment, Offender Reintegration, Mutual Aid, Coproduction, and Innovation & Change Management
This blog post reflects on issues of trust and legitimacy as they relate to people with convictions and experiences of punishment, and the co-productive forums and relationships in which they take part. Attention is drawn to the... more
This blog post reflects on issues of trust and legitimacy as they relate to people with convictions and experiences of punishment, and the co-productive forums and relationships in which they take part. Attention is drawn to the relational and moral dimensions of building trust and co-producing desistance which, in return, reflect on those same dimensions of the circumstances and communities to which reintegration is sought.
The co-productive ventures and forums of interest here range from mutual aid groups, peer mentoring and service user/peer advocacy forums, through to cooperatives, time banks, creative arts initiatives, and social enterprises for people with convictions, through to big picture participative social action and awareness raising campaigns. Some of these forums and ventures are positioned directly within and specifically for people in criminal justice institutions; others prefer to operate independently of institutions. Importantly, participation is chosen, not coerced.
The co-productive ventures and forums of interest here range from mutual aid groups, peer mentoring and service user/peer advocacy forums, through to cooperatives, time banks, creative arts initiatives, and social enterprises for people with convictions, through to big picture participative social action and awareness raising campaigns. Some of these forums and ventures are positioned directly within and specifically for people in criminal justice institutions; others prefer to operate independently of institutions. Importantly, participation is chosen, not coerced.
Research Interests: Criminology, Performing Arts, Social Sciences, Social Entrepreneurship, Trust, and 21 moreCommunity Engagement & Participation, Stigma, Collaboration, Social Capital, Legitimacy, Transformational Leadership, Creative Industries, Cooperatives, Social Inclusion, Social contract, Civic Engagement, Social Trust, Citizenship, Punishment and Prisons, Social Innovation, Coproduction, Civic Society, Reintegration of ex-offenders, Time Banks, Rehabilitating Offenders, and Innovative Justice
As Scotland’s prison population spirals towards unenviable heights, passive acceptance of the status quo is increasingly at odds with notions of an effective and ethical justice system. To try to address this, the Scottish Government are... more
As Scotland’s prison population spirals towards unenviable heights, passive acceptance of the status quo is increasingly at odds with notions of an effective and ethical justice system. To try to address this, the Scottish Government are about to introduce plans to Scottish Parliament of a presumption against prison sentences of up to 12 months. Short prison sentences for crimes that aren’t serious are short-sighted. As a criminologist who researches and writes books on rehabilitation and justice, there’s plenty of research I can point to showing that people are more likely to leave crime behind and address its contributing causes if supervised and supported in the community. Community-based approaches have better outcomes than custody. What’s needed in Scotland is a pragmatic, principled plan and cross-party consensus to shift towards communities over custody for cases that aren’t serious crimes. It will take time, resources and a series of brave decisions and actions.
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Criminologist Dr Hannah Graham explains what’s covered by the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Bill. The Management of Offenders (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced to Scottish Parliament last month, has three objectives: more... more
Criminologist Dr Hannah Graham explains what’s covered by the Management of Offenders (Scotland) Bill. The Management of Offenders (Scotland) Bill, which was introduced to Scottish Parliament last month, has three objectives: more electronic monitoring of offenders (and more strategic uses of it), reduced disclosure times for past criminal convictions and more modern fit-for-purpose parole board processes.
Research Interests: Criminology, Law, Criminal Justice, Social Sciences, Human Rights, and 12 moreSocial Justice, Tagging Technologies, Probation and Community Based Sanctions, Disclosure, Tagging, Parole and post-release supervision, Punishment, Scottish Parliament, Criminal Records, Resettlement and rehabilitation, Electronic Monitoring, and Penal Policy and Criminal Sentencing
Members of the public are being asked their views on the expansion of electronic tagging in Scotland. Potential new uses for tagging, including technology to monitor alcohol consumption and voluntary schemes for persistent offenders, are... more
Members of the public are being asked their views on the expansion of electronic tagging in Scotland. Potential new uses for tagging, including technology to monitor alcohol consumption and voluntary schemes for persistent offenders, are being considered by MSPs. It comes as part of a major expansion of electronic monitoring to help further reduce reoffending levels and keep communities safe, which would see new legislation introduced. Stirling University criminologist and electronic monitoring researcher Dr Hannah Graham said: "This consultation is an important opportunity for people to voice their views because the proposals it contains for new uses of electronic monitoring will require changes to the law to be passed." "There's a pressing need to reduce unnecessary and costly uses of prison in Scotland and how this is done matters. What roles new uses of electronic tagging might play in this are central to what the consultation asks people to comment on." She added: "International evidence shows electronic monitoring can be used effectively and ethically, without routinely resorting to custody. This doesn't mean indiscriminate tagging and surveillance en masse, nor does it mean ignoring victims and families. It means tailoring tagging to be fit-for-purpose, with due regard for all affected. This consultation proposes some practical ways of better integrating electronic tagging with supports for rehabilitation to help people leave crime behind."
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New tagging technology part of government’s development of community interventions helping reconviction rates to 17-year low, with comment by Dr Hannah Graham.
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Stirling University researchers say electronic tagging could be used to greater effect. Scotland should follow the example of its European neighbours and introduce more electronic tagging to help reduce its swollen prison population,... more
Stirling University researchers say electronic tagging could be used to greater effect. Scotland should follow the example of its European neighbours and introduce more electronic tagging to help reduce its swollen prison population, according to research. The country has one of the highest proportions of prisoners in western Europe, with one in every 700 people in jail. Curfews enforced by putting monitoring equipment in offenders' homes are often imposed by courts as an alternative to custody but Stirling University criminologists say tagging could be used to even greater effect. A report by Professor Gill McIvor and Dr Hannah Graham says tailored approaches, as used in the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries, could be more effective in tackling reoffending
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A new report by criminologists indicates support among criminal justice practitioners for key changes to be made to electronic tagging of prisoners. Professor Gill McIvor and Dr Hannah Graham from the University of Stirling sought the... more
A new report by criminologists indicates support among criminal justice practitioners for key changes to be made to electronic tagging of prisoners. Professor Gill McIvor and Dr Hannah Graham from the University of Stirling sought the views of criminal justice social workers, Scottish Prison Service staff, sheriffs, the Parole Board for Scotland, Police Scotland, G4S monitoring staff, Scottish government policy-makers, and a third sector organisation.
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Electronic tagging of offenders should be better integrated with other measures to support rehabilitation, according to a new report by University of Stirling researchers. The two year study by criminologists Professor Gill McIvor and Dr... more
Electronic tagging of offenders should be better integrated with other measures to support rehabilitation, according to a new report by University of Stirling researchers. The two year study by criminologists Professor Gill McIvor and Dr Hannah Graham, working with an international team, sought the views of criminal justice social workers, Scottish Prison Service staff, sheriffs, the Parole Board for Scotland, Police Scotland, G4S monitoring staff and Scottish Government policymakers, among others.
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by Natalie Walker, The Scotsman Tagging should be used more frequently to reduce Scotland’s “swollen” prison population and more needs to be done to convince sheriffs of the effectiveness of the electronic device, criminal experts have... more
by Natalie Walker, The Scotsman
Tagging should be used more frequently to reduce Scotland’s “swollen” prison population and more needs to be done to convince sheriffs of the effectiveness of the electronic device, criminal experts have said. A new study involving Stirling University criminologists Dr Hannah Graham and Prof Gill McIvor has revealed growing support among police, prison staff, charities and social workers for changes to the use of electronic monitoring tagging in Scotland.
Read more: http://www.scotsman.com/news/sheriffs-urged-to-tag-criminals-to-cut-swollen-prison-rates-1-4166691#ixzz4DA9Iw100
Tagging should be used more frequently to reduce Scotland’s “swollen” prison population and more needs to be done to convince sheriffs of the effectiveness of the electronic device, criminal experts have said. A new study involving Stirling University criminologists Dr Hannah Graham and Prof Gill McIvor has revealed growing support among police, prison staff, charities and social workers for changes to the use of electronic monitoring tagging in Scotland.
Read more: http://www.scotsman.com/news/sheriffs-urged-to-tag-criminals-to-cut-swollen-prison-rates-1-4166691#ixzz4DA9Iw100
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University of Stirling criminologist Dr Hannah Graham responds to the Scottish Conservatives' proposal to send those who breach the terms of their community sentences to prison for 24 or 48 hours.
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Scottish Government press release about the launch of new research by Hannah Graham and Gill McIvor (2015) who conducted a Scottish and International Review of electronic monitoring, published through the Scottish Centre for Crime and... more
Scottish Government press release about the launch of new research by Hannah Graham and Gill McIvor (2015) who conducted a Scottish and International Review of electronic monitoring, published through the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research and commissioned by Scottish Government Community Justice.
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Research Interests: Criminology, Law, Australia, Euthanasia, Health, and 5 moreMedicine, Law reform, Assisted Suicide, Tasmania, and Assisted dying
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Buying and maintaining your first car is a rite of passage for lots of young Australians. But does being into fast, powerful and flashy cars necessarily mean you're a dangerous driver? Recently there's been increased reporting of hoons... more
Buying and maintaining your first car is a rite of passage for lots of young Australians. But does being into fast, powerful and flashy cars necessarily mean you're a dangerous driver?
Recently there's been increased reporting of hoons being a menace on the roads, and many states have been concerned enough to enact anti-hoon legislation. According to research from the University of Tasmania though, a lot of the concern is misplaced.
Time: 26 minutes into the radio programme
Interviewer: Steve Cannane
Interviewees: Hannah Graham and Josh Edwards
Recently there's been increased reporting of hoons being a menace on the roads, and many states have been concerned enough to enact anti-hoon legislation. According to research from the University of Tasmania though, a lot of the concern is misplaced.
Time: 26 minutes into the radio programme
Interviewer: Steve Cannane
Interviewees: Hannah Graham and Josh Edwards
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Scottish society has a problem with punishment, well documented over decades and different parties of government. It sits uncomfortably with national identities, how we see ourselves and our futures. Overall, recorded crime in Scotland is... more
Scottish society has a problem with punishment, well documented over decades and different parties of government. It sits uncomfortably with national identities, how we see ourselves and our futures. Overall, recorded crime in Scotland is among the lowest seen in 45 years, since 1974 (Scottish Government, 2020). Yet dominant responses to crime and those who commit it may not make us safer or better off. Emerging from the exceptional circumstances and adversity of the COVID-19 crisis offers opportunities for doing justice differently. This chapter considers uncertain times and emergency measures in Scottish prisons, courts and community justice during the pandemic, and proposes strategies for change
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This guest post reflects on issues of trust and legitimacy as they relate to people with convictions and experiences of punishment, and the co-productive forums and relationships in which they take part. Attention is drawn to the... more
This guest post reflects on issues of trust and legitimacy as they relate to people with convictions and experiences of punishment, and the co-productive forums and relationships in which they take part. Attention is drawn to the relational and moral dimensions of building trust and co-producing desistance which, in return, reflect on those same dimensions of the circumstances and communities to which reintegration is sought.
Research Interests: Criminology, Performing Arts, Social Sciences, Social Entrepreneurship, Political Science, and 15 moreCollaboration, Social Capital, Legitimacy, Creative Industries, Community, Cooperatives, Social Inclusion, Social contract, Punishment and Prisons, Social Innovation, Desistance from Crime, Punishment, Coproduction, Rehabilitating Offenders, and Innovative Justice
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Research Interests: Sociology, Clinical Psychology, Criminal Justice, Technology, Rehabilitation, and 15 moreSociology of Technology, Desistance, Probation and Community Based Sanctions, Crime and punishment, Sociology of Punishment, Desistance from Crime, Prison, Probation, Coproduction, App, Criminal Justice Social Work, Routledge, Crime and Criminal Justice, Digital Criminology, and Digital justice
This guest post offers reflexive discussion of the challenges and opportunities of reproducing and upscaling co-productive forums and ventures which support desistance. Consideration of the impact of growth and change on participants’... more
This guest post offers reflexive discussion of the challenges and opportunities of reproducing and upscaling co-productive forums and ventures which support desistance. Consideration of the impact of growth and change on participants’ perceptions of trust and legitimacy are threaded throughout (following on from another recent blog post on trust and legitimacy in co-producing desistance, available here). In this post, the focus is on forums and ventures which seek to support and co-produce desistance, ranging from mutual aid groups, peer mentoring and service user/peer advocacy forums, to cooperatives, time banks, creative arts initiatives, and social enterprises for people with convictions, through to big picture participative social action initiatives and awareness raising campaigns. As ground-breaking and exciting as they are, establishing these types of forums and ventures can be hard work. However, this post looks further downstream to consider what happens when an innovative i...
Research Interests: Sociology, Criminology, Criminal Justice, Social Sciences, Trust, and 12 moreCollaboration, Legitimacy, Desistance, Social Enterprises, Social Innovation, Sociology of Punishment, Desistance from Crime, Community Reintegration, Offender Reintegration, Coproduction, Innovation & Change Management, and Innovation
Hysteresis is a versatile concept for volatile times. Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological use recognises hysteresis in times of dislocation and disruption between field and habitus, ‘in particular, when a field undergoes a major crisis and its... more
Hysteresis is a versatile concept for volatile times. Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological use recognises hysteresis in times of dislocation and disruption between field and habitus, ‘in particular, when a field undergoes a major crisis and its regularities (even its rules) are profoundly changed’ (Bourdieu, 2000: 160). In considering the issues and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic, hysteresis renders visible ‘multi-level, multi-temporal dynamics’ (Strand and Lizardo, 2016: 169). It is attendant to the temporality of work and how workers, workplaces, workforces and fields of work are affected. The COVID-19 crisis may give rise to sudden changes such as no work (e.g. redundancies, mass unemployment), reduced work (e.g. reduced hours, underemployment), suspended work (e.g. going on furlough), or absence from work (e.g. leave and workforce absence rates). The transition to working from home and online, en masse, raises considerations of habitus and taking practice online, with many expe...
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This Special Issue of the European Journal of Probation considers examples and influences of innovation within criminal justice and community contexts. It offers some timely and insightful contributions from different countries to broader... more
This Special Issue of the European Journal of Probation considers examples and influences of innovation within criminal justice and community contexts. It offers some timely and insightful contributions from different countries to broader discussions of innovation in this field, a multi-faceted topic that piques significant interest but has perhaps not yet received the level of sustained critical analytical engagement it warrants. This editorial introduction critically reflects on a series of questions and problematisations of innovation and criminal justice. Questions about the forms and functions (‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘how’) of innovation in criminal justice should not be divorced from questions about its architects and beneficiaries, including their intentions and ideologies (‘who’ and ‘why’). Following this, a brief overview of the Special Issue is provided. There is much more yet to be done, as well as celebrated in this area.
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This article presents empirical findings from a critical discourse analysis of institutional responses by the Catholic Church to clergy-child sexual abuse in Victoria, Australia. A sample of 28 documents, comprising 1,394 pages, is... more
This article presents empirical findings from a critical discourse analysis of institutional responses by the Catholic Church to clergy-child sexual abuse in Victoria, Australia. A sample of 28 documents, comprising 1,394 pages, is analysed in the context of the 2012-2013 Victorian Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and Other Organisations. Sykes and Matza’s (1957) and Cohen’s (1993) techniques of, respectively, neutralisation and denial are used to reveal the Catholic Church’s Janus-faced responses to clergy-child sexual abuse and mandatory reporting requirements. Paradoxical tensions are observed between Catholic Canonical law and clerical practices, and the extent of compliance with secular law and referral of allegations to authorities. Concerns centre on Church secrecy, clerical defences of the confessional in justification of inaction, and the Melbourne Response compensation scheme. Our research findings underscore the need for greater Church transparency an...
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A poem about the enculturated rhetoric, rituals and degradation ceremonies within tabloid news cycles and consumption, and the costliness of their collateral consequences. Published in the journal, Crime, Media, Culture (SAGE) in 2018.
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A short story published in SoFi sociological fiction zine (edited by Ashleigh Watson), second edition (2017), pages 84-86, which explores social encounters and injustices in Myanmar/Burma.