British Journal of Criminology - current issue

'We Are Going to Rape You and Taste Tutsi Women': Rape during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide

Mullins, C. W. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:03 PDT

Over the past decades, scholars have paid greater attention to sexual violence, in both theorization and empirical analysis. One area that has been largely ignored, however, is sexual violence during times of armed conflict. This paper examines the nature and dynamics of sexual violence as it occurred during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Drawing upon testimonies given to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), descriptions of rapes—both singular and mass—were qualitatively analysed. In general, three broad types of assaults were identified: opportunistic assaults, which seemed to be a product of the disorder inherent within the conflict; episodes of sexual enslavement; and genocidal rapes, which were framed by the broader genocidal endeavours occurring at the time.

'I'm a Muslim, but I'm not a Terrorist': Victimization, Risky Identities and the Performance of Safety

Mythen, G., Walklate, S., Khan, F. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:03 PDT

Since the events of 11 September 2001, Muslim minority groups have been subjected to pervasive scrutiny in the United Kingdom. The 7 July 2005 attacks have led to young Muslims’ being party to intensified modes of monitoring, surveillance and intervention by crime and security agencies. The introduction of multiple forms of counter-terrorism regulation by the state has been underpinned by discourses of (in)security, which have defined British Muslims en bloc as a risky, suspect population. Against this wider backdrop, this paper presents the findings from a study investigating the effects of these processes on young British Pakistanis in the North-West of England. Giving voice to these young people, we explore their responses to risk-victimization and articulate the impacts of legal and cultural regulation both on the management of Muslim identities and performances of safety in the public sphere.

Aggravating Racism and Elusive Motivation

Gadd, D. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:03 PDT

Since the implementation of the 1998 Crime and Disorder Act, courts in England and Wales have seen an increase in the number of racially aggravated charges brought before them. However, the extent to which racism is central, rather than ancillary to, the offences prosecuted under this law remains contested, both in individual legal cases and in criminological writing about hate and bias-motivated crime. Using the narrative accounts of one man convicted of perpetrating a racially aggravated assault, this article outlines how important it is to engage with the complexity of motivation as it is perceived by offenders and the necessity of developing analytic approaches capable of transcending what offenders say about their attitudes to race.

Social Control in the Face Of Security and Minority Threats: The Effects of Terrorism, Minority Threat and Economic Crisis on the Law Enforcement System in Israel

Sela-Shayovitz, R. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:03 PDT

This study focuses on a combination of security, minority and economic threats that occurred concurrently during the Second Intifada in Israel and their impact on social control. The Israeli situation provides a unique opportunity for implementing the natural experiment approach. This study was based on an interrupted time-series analysis of a restricted time period, namely 1995–2005. ARMA models were used to examine the effects of Intifada period, terrorist attacks, unemployment rates and ethnic origin on pre-trial detention rates. The findings support the minority threat hypothesis. A strong and statistically significant interaction effect was found between the Second Intifada and ethnic origin: pre-trial detentions of Arabs increased during the Intifada and were higher than those of Jews. The results partially support the economic threat hypothesis.

Community Policing or Zero Tolerance?: Preferences of Police Officers from 22 Countries in Transition

Lum, C. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:03 PDT

Since the 1970s, approximately 60 countries in the world have experienced major political transition away from authoritarianism towards democracy and more liberal modes of governance. Subsequently, this era has provided opportunities for researchers to observe how major changes in the political environment affect a country's policing practices. This study is the first of a two paper series on the relationship between democratization and police attitudes, preferences and behaviours. This study reports the results of a pilot study of 315 police supervisors from 22 transitioning nations asking about their preferences towards two different styles of crime prevention—community-oriented policing and zero tolerance approaches. The results indicate that the officers from countries more democratically consolidated tend to have stronger relative preferences towards community-oriented policing over zero tolerance styles.

Governing Through Anti-social Behaviour: Regulatory Challenges to Criminal Justice

Crawford, A. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:03 PDT

The ‘anti-social behaviour’ agenda in Britain and the introduction of diverse new powers and regulatory tools represent a major challenge to traditional conceptions of criminal justice. This article argues that the language of regulation has been appropriated and deployed to cloak and legitimize ambitious (yet ambiguous) bouts of hyper-active state interventionism. These may have more to do with quests to demonstrate government's capacity to be seen to be doing something tangible about public anxieties than with meaningful behavioural change. Rather, regulatory ideas are being used to circumvent and erode established criminal justice principles, notably those of due process, proportionality and special protections traditionally afforded to young people. Consequently, novel technologies of control have resulted in more intensive and earlier interventions.

Public Health and Fear of Crime: A Prospective Cohort Study

Jackson, J., Stafford, M. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:03 PDT

Public insecurities about crime are widely assumed to erode individual well-being and community cohesion. Yet, robust evidence on the link between worry about crime and health is surprisingly scarce. This paper draws on data from a prospective cohort study (the Whitehall II study) to show a strong statistical effect of mental health and physical functioning on worry about crime. Combining with existing evidence, we suggest a feedback model in which worry about crime harms health, which, in turn, serves to heighten worry about crime. We conclude with the idea that, while fear of crime may express a whole set of social and political anxieties, there is a core to worry about crime that is implicated in real cycles of decreased health and perceived vulnerability to victimization. The challenge for future study is to integrate core aspects of the everyday experience of fear of crime with the more layered and expressive features of this complex social phenomenon.

Embodying Uncertainty?: Understanding Heightened Risk Perception of Drink 'Spiking'

Burgess, A., Donovan, P., Moore, S. E. H. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:03 PDT

There is a stark contrast between heightened perceptions of risk associated with drug-facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) and a lack of evidence that this is a widespread threat. Through surveys and interviews with university students in the United Kingdom and United States, we explore knowledge and beliefs about drink-spiking and the linked threat of sexual assault. University students in both locations are not only widely sensitized to the issue, but substantial segments claim first- or second-hand experience of particular incidents. We explore students’ understanding of the DFSA threat in relationship to their attitudes concerning alcohol, binge-drinking, and responsibility for personal safety. We suggest that the drink-spiking narrative has a functional appeal in relation to the contemporary experience of young women's public drinking.

Reconsidering the Theory on Adolescent-Limited and Life-Course Persistent Anti-Social Behaviour

Skardhamar, T. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:03 PDT

This article presents a critical review of the taxonomic theory of adolescent-limited and life-course persistent anti-social behaviour (Moffitt 1993) and its empirical evidence. This influential theory suggests that there are two qualitatively distinct types of offenders that require distinct theoretical explanations. Moreover, the empirical evidence for the typology is considered to be strong, at least by some. I discuss along three lines: first, to what extent the taxonomy should be interpreted literally; second, whether the suggested mechanisms are likely to produce the hypothesized groups; third, whether some of the most important empirical evidence really does support the theory. I conclude that the theoretical arguments are surprisingly unclear on key issues and that the empirical evidence is highly problematic.

What Works for Women?: A Comparison of Community-Based General Offending Programme Completion

Martin, J., Kautt, P., Gelsthorpe, L. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:03 PDT

Women's completion rates on General Offending Programmes are significantly lower than men’s. Is this evidence of the programmes’ design and delivery being focused on men? This study uses multivariate statistical techniques on national data for 2006–07 to examine the characteristics significantly predicting completion rates for General Offending Programmes. In particular, it uses criminogenic factors from the OASys risk-assessment tool to identify the features predicting compliance, as captured by the Interim Accredited Programmes System (IAPS), and determine whether they differ between men and women. The results show significant variation between the women and men in the predictors of programme completion. The practical implications of these for research, policy and practice are discussed.

Mothers for Justice?: Gender and Campaigns against Miscarriages of Justice

Charman, S., Savage, S. P. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:04 PDT

Miscarriages of justice are often only exposed through the extra-judicial activities of parties determined to fight for a particular cause, involving those closest to victims of miscarriages of justice. This paper examines the role of women, and particularly of mothers, in such justice campaigns and the extent to which there is a gendered dimension to campaigns against injustice. Based on interviews with those closely associated with justice campaigns, the paper argues that women tend to occupy a special, powerful place in campaigns against miscarriages of justice, one interwoven with familial relationships. The paper proceeds to relate this ‘special’ place to differential processes of grieving and the dynamics of women's engagement with protest and campaigning more generally.

Police Occupational Culture: New Debates and Directions. Edited by M. O'Neill, M. Marks and A.-M. Singh (Amsterdam: Elsevier JAI Press, 2007, 393pp. {pound}59.00 hb)

Stenning, P. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:04 PDT

Policing and Crime Control in Post-Apartheid South Africa. By Anne-Marie Singh (Ashgate: Aldershot, 2008, 158pp. {pound}50.00)

Dixon, B. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:04 PDT

Out There/in Here: Masculinitiy, Violence and Prisoning. By Elizabeth Comack (Halifax Winnipeg: Fernwood Publishing, 2008, 160pp. {pound}12.26)

Earle, R. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:04 PDT

Unequal Crime Decline: Theorising Race, Urban Inequality and Criminal Violence. By Karen F. Parker (New York: NYU, 2008, 163pp. {pound}35.50)

Antonopoulos, G. A., Papanicolaou, G. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:04 PDT

The Currency of Justice: Fines and Damages in Consumer Societies. By Pat O'Malley (Abingdon and New York: Routledge-Cavendish, 2009, ix + 187pp. {pound}22.99)

Carlen, P. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:04 PDT

A History of Murder: Personal Violence in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Present. By Pieter Spierenburg (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7456-4378-6. {pound}17.99)

Seal, L. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:04 PDT

Victims of Crime: Policy and Practice in Criminal Justice. By Matthew Hall (Devon: Willan, 2009, 262pp. {pound}38.00 hb)

Walklate, S. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:04 PDT

Imaginary Penalities. Edited by Pat Carlen (Cullompton, Devon: Willan, 2008, 332pp. {pound}25.00)

Ruggiero, V. — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:44:04 PDT