International Journal of Criminology and Sociological Theory (IJCST - York University)
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Contesting Evidence through a Comparative Research Program OR Understanding and Implementing Criminal Justice Reform in an Era of Dumb on Crime
Full text linkThis paper examines the development of evidence-based policies and the complexity associated with its definition. Using correctional education programs on the one hand, and the D.A.R.E program on the other, we demonstrate why evidence based on numeric analysis is inherently limited and limiting. By juxtaposing efforts to reform the justice system in the US, and the recent policies of the Federal government in Canada, we propose a research program to capture not only numeric indices of success and failure, but the costs and consequences for those caught up in an era of dumb in crime
Forensic Linguistics: A Conceptual Frame of Bribery with Linguistic and Legal Features (a case study in Iran)
Full text linkCriminology is a wide-spread science with different scientific branches, one of which is forensic linguistics. Forensic linguistics as a sub-branch of linguistics is a new-born science which makes connection between linguistics and the law. Linguistic findings have been considered as evidences in courts in two last decades. Linguistics is a scientific study of language, and forensic linguistics as sub-branch of it could push linguistic findings into the jurisdiction. Forensic linguistics examines crime such as bribery with a new look. Bribery is a special crime committed by language; therefore, it is called language crime. The author aims to provide a conceptual frame, considering constructive features. Having gathered different data in Iranian courts and Bureau of Police investigation, the author found that speech act as a linguistic and constructive element is very important to form language crimes like bribery. Besides, bribery has five stages including problem, illegal proposal, perlocutionary act, completion and extension
Police Genre: Interruption and its Classification as a Sign of Asymmetry in Police Interview/Interrogation
Full text linkGeneric knowledge is, in part, knowledge of what texts and their constituents do. Since this knowledge creates infrastructure for different kinds of talk like legal talk, police genre as a branch of legal talk is born. As Gibbons (2003:130) says (quoting Swales 1990), genres are ‘prototypes’ that can be followed or modified. The most usual feature of police genre is questioning. Questioning is done under powerful relation between police officer [interviewer] and culprit [interviewee]. This asymmetrical relation cause police officer easily interrupts his interviewee. In order to explain and analyze the police genre, all signs should be identified. Therefore, the author concentrates on interruption and its types. Having gathered data in Iranian courts and Bureau of Police Investigation, the author found nine different types of interruption with aims of getting information, cooperation, etc
A Crime Rate Forecast and Decomposition Method
Full text linkCrime forecast is a hotspot in criminology. This paper comes up with a new stochastic crime rate forecast method, namely based on historical age-specific crime rates, we employ SVD (singular value decomposition) in matrix theory to lower the rank of the crime rate matrix, and then transform the time-series vector to a time-series variable problem, then we use time-series analysis to forecast the time-series variable and then the age-specific crime rates. With the forecasted age-specific crime rates and population projection, we obtain the forecasted crude crime rate and then decompose the difference between two crude crime rate into the change in age-specific crime rates, change in age structure and change in sex structure
The Theoretical Model of Criminal Social Identity: Psycho-social perspective
Full text linkIndividuals become criminals because of the presence of a persistent criminal identity which has its origin in processes of negative social comparisons carried out by individuals who have failed in their pro-social roles and have exhibited non-conforming behaviour, aggravated and compounded by contextual factors such as a dysfunctional family environment and/or the presence of criminal peers. Development of a criminal identity might be influenced by representations of known criminals which are stored in memory system, and are made accessible due to relevant situational cues. This is consistent with the concept of multiple social identities which postulates that as a person’s social context changes, corresponding social identity changes are likely to occur as a result of the activation of situation-specific schemas
Media and Prison Sexual Assault: How We Got to the “Don’t Drop the Soap” Culture
Full text linkSexual assault among inmates has become a topic which is generating considerable interest. For many years, public perceptions have been nonchalant and dismissive of this phenomenon. Because the general public has little practical knowledge of the correctional system, these attitudes are likely, at least in part, a result of the media depiction of sexual assault among the incarcerated population. This paper will seek to understand the ways which popular movies characterize sexual misconduct that occurs among inmates. Ultimately, this discussion will help not only understand why individuals hold their beliefs of prison sexual assault, but also allow the public to understand the seriousness this topic
Contradictions of Capitalism and Their Ideological Counterparts: The Neo-Liberal Project and the Concept of 'Social Capital'
Full text linkEven though the concept of social capital has been around for a long time, it has recently gained a growing currency in academic literature on social and economic development. Numerous theorists, policy analysts, government officials and even international institutions such as the World Bank have attempted to theorize social capital as an indispensable prelude to economic development and democratization. Contrary to this line of argumentation, there is in fact a weak positive correlation between social capital, economic development and a vibrant democracy. The ascendancy of social capital lies in its potential to facilitate the consolidation of neo-liberal project. Social capital is conducive to externalizing the inherent contradictions of capitalist market economy, blurring the unequal power relations, and re-personalizing social responsibilities for economic outcomes which are the main objectives of neo-liberalism
Digitalizing Crime Prevention Theories: How Technology Affects Victim and Offender Behavior
Full text linkIn the last thirty years, two main theoretical traditions in crime prevention literature have emerged: 1) the victimization perspective, which considers the victim, offender, and environment, and 2) the social control perspective, an alternative view that considers the role that community and family members play in informally influencing the moral values of potential offenders. Both of these theories have been used to inform crime prevention techniques by focusing on modifying the behavior of potential victims and the motivations of potential offenders. While both the social control and victimization perspectives have been used to discuss criminal behavior and crime prevention, neither acknowledge the role that technology plays in the lives of those that may commit crimes or be victimized. In this paper, we attempt to “digitalize” theories of crime prevention. By digitalize, we mean to understand how technology use influences the lives of both potential offenders and victims. We explore the theoretical foundations of both the victimization and social control perspectives and discuss their limitations as a result of not considering how technology influences information-seeking practices and communication routines. We argue that examining technology use is essential to crime theories that are used to help understand and predict criminal behavior, and we propose modifications to each framework to increase their effectiveness in predicting criminal behavior and practical application
The Signature of Hip Hop: A Sociological Perspective
Full text linkExploring the conditions and origins of Rap music and Hip Hop culture from a contextual standpoint facilitates a sociological perspective that is often missing. Who were some of the key players? What sort of agency and experiences informed their creativity under conditions that were marginal and wretchedly underdeveloped vis-à-vis the wider society in which they exist? Is it the structure of capitalism, race, or space that germinated the grounds for hip hop culture? This paper draws on various ‘conversations’ and consciousness to shape a narrative of early hip hop culture and its exponential growth to a global phenomenon. Hip hop remain an intriguing cultural enigma while still very profitable for many of those involved. It is often oversimplified in analysis, stereotyped in the wider society, criminalized by authorities, and receives lopsided coverage in the mass media. Yet, hip hop culture has managed to grow from the racial/spatial confines of the South Bronx, New York to touch almost every institution and ethnicity in the United States and across the globe, almost! There is a sociological obligation to examine this culture as this paper attempts to do
Model Uncertainty in Ecological Criminology: An Application of Bayesian Model Averaging With Rural Crime Data
Full text linkIn this study we explore the use of Bayesian model averaging (BMA) to address model uncertainty in identifying the determinants of Midwestern rural crime rates using county level data averaged over 2006-07-08. The empirical criminology literature suffers from serious model uncertainty: theory states that everything matters and there are multiple ways to measure key variables.By using the BMA approach we identify variables that appear to most consistently influence rural crime patterns. We find that there are several variables that rise to the top in explaining different types of crime as well as numerous variables that influence only certain types of crime