International Journal of Criminology and Sociological Theory (IJCST - York University)
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143 research outputs found
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Merging ‘Critical Criminology’ with ‘Critical Gerontology’
Full text linkThis paper analyses the extent to which aging has been overlooked by ‘critical criminology’. The notion of ‘aging’ is introduced and the paper argues that there are strong conceptual insights from another discipline that Critical Criminology should learn epistemic and ontological lessons: Critical Gerontology, One can portend that there are three key theoretical approaches within the paradigm of ‘Critical Gerontology’: ‘political economy of old age’; ‘feminist gerontology’; and ‘postmodern gerontology’. The invisibility of criminological perspectives is explicitly missing when one considers older people and crime. We can begin, however, by questioning what ‘critical criminology’ can be defined as and map out some of its leading theoretical approaches: left idealism; left realism; and culture of crime control. Ultimately, the paper highlights how insights from critical gerontology to critical gerontology opens up dialogue with older people and aging issues – a silent issue for too long
More insights on the English Borstal: ‘shaping’ or just ‘shaking’ the young-offender?
Full text linkThe borstal project was a system aiming at the arrestment of the youth criminal tendencies. The idea was to expose the youth to values and skills which may have stimulated a responsible and thoughtful way of living. The novelty of the system laid in the rejection of the damaging effects that the prison had on the mind and character of the prisoner. But mainly, the borstal penal policy recognized that the youth would not be detained for ever; thus, great effort was put in cultivating a healthy and positive relationship between the youth and the outside world. How this was done, and to what extent this was successful, are questions that this article has attempted to answer
Manifestation of Social Trust among Migrants: The Case of Iranian Residents in Toronto, Canada
Full text linkThis paper is excerpted from a research project titled “A Sociological Analysis of Socio-economic Situation of Iranian Migrants in Canada (Case Study: Toronto). This survey research has been carried out in 2005. Its main goal is to answer the following questions: What is the trust level among Iranian migrants residing in Toronto? What is the difference between the in-group social trust level (trust among Iranians) and the out-group trust level (confidence toward Canadians living in Toronto)? In an attempt to answer these questions a sample of 182 Iranians were interviewed on the basis of a standardized questionnaire. The findings reveal that the in-group social trust level – as measured against the defined scale – is slightly below the average, whereby the difference from the middle point of the scale is statistically significant. Moreover, it demonstrates that the mean figure for out-group social trust is significantly higher than the average defined on the scale. The results also suggest that the most important cause for lower in-group trust should be sought for in the pre- migration period. Researches carried out on social confidence indicate that weakness of social trust in home country is often transferred to other countries – after migration – and is intensified due to problems of the migrant community and increase of social risk
Cultures and People of the Post 9-11 Port Securityscape
Full text linkIn criminological debates, explanations of post 9/11 fear and control warn for the rise of security obsessions in which civil rights and social welfare principles are endangered. In this study on port security, the author entered the social world behind port security, where antiterrorist maritime laws that are influenced by global xenophobic politics and populist media, push police officers, customs officers and security personnel to interact in a multi-agency in the space of the port to establish a secure environment. The key research question focuses on this multi-agency of port security. By giving face to the rather unknown port security community and it cultures, this paper provides a criminological understanding of those responsible for securing and policing “at the docks”. As will be argued, illustrated by of collected ethnographic data, the port security realm reveals how virtues of fearlessness, trust and wish to decontrol come paradoxically forward from cultures of fear and control
Mental Health in Prison: A Trauma Perspective on Importation and Deprivation
Full text linkPrison is primarily intended as a punishment for criminal acts. It is an establishment which aims to punish those who commit crime, protect the public from crime and criminals, and reform criminals into law abiding citizens, thus reduce re-offending. It has however, been reported that imprisonment increases vulnerabilities and heightens mental ill health. Studies across a variety of counties have reported that the prevalence of mental illness in prison far exceeds that of the general population. Several studies have suggested that prisoners experience a number of pre-prison adversities which contribute to subsequent mental ill health. However, there are additional reports that prisoners develop mental illness due to the prison environment. This debate is rooted within a theoretical framework which considers importation and deprivation models (i.e., do prisoners take mental illness with them when they are imprisoned or do factors associated with being imprisoned cause mental illness to develop?). This current paper discusses how this theoretical framework may be placed within a trauma context. Many studies report that trauma precipitates the development of mental illness. Trauma is often prevalent for individuals prior to imprisonment and often experienced during imprisonment. Thus, it is suggested that the adverse effects of trauma are cumulative and thus likely to precipitate severe mental illness suggesting that mental illness in prison is attributable to both importation and deprivation perspectives
Theorising Masculinities and Crime: A Genetic-Social Approach
Full text linkThis paper examines competing notions of ‘masculinities’ in relation to crime, and the global nature of gendered inequalities. It is the contention here that social constructionist theories of male sexualities contain certain theoretical deficits. It is suggested that a post-Postmodern analysis of ‘masculinities’ might incorporate some of the insights from Owen’s Genetic-Social meta-theoretical framework. Owen’s ‘sensitising’ framework has been ‘applied’ to the sociological study of human biotechnology, ageing, ‘trust’ and professional power and crime in recent times. Owen’s notion of the biological variable, in particular, might be incorporated into an analysis of ‘masculinities’ in relation to violence and crime. Additionally, it is recommended that these notions are combined with Layder’s concept of Psychobiography in order to theorise ‘masculinities’ and crime in the post-Genome age
Linguistic recontextualization of police interrogation: a new approach in Forensic Linguistics
Full text linkForensic linguistics is a discipline coordinated with legal goals in the judicial system, focusing on all branches of linguistics including phonetics, semantics, discourse etc. This science is not so known in Iran; where as, it can have a lot of applications in judicial system. The author aims to show how linguistic tools can help to rebuild the police interrogation. In Iran, it is common a police interview is changed into a written form. It brings some problems like the accused one denies what has been written later in front of a judge that he has not said that so. Having observed more than 50 live cases in courts and police stations, the author draws this conclusion that linguistic parameters like semantic tools (meaning of verb), syntactic tools (mood of verb), discoursal tools (power relation)… can be effective to recontextualize the police interrogation
Rethinking Trust, Crime Policy and Social Theory
Full text linkThis article analyses the relationship of ‘trust’ to crime, power and criminal justice policy. The theoretical model employed to analyse this relationship draws from Owen’s (2009a), conceptually driven argument that is based on an ontologically-flexible critique of agency-structure, micro-macro and time-space. This relationship stands at the interface of competing pressures working to produce the increasing complexity of crime and criminal justice policy (Powell 2005). We then move the attention to the conceptual problems of ‘trust’ which is linked with uncertainty and complexity whilst law and order and crime policies rest on the specialist knowledge claimed by a range of professional “experts” and technologists that inhabit powerful spaces through which crime policy and practice is governed and articulated
The Influence of the Philosophy of Police Tactics on breaking down Social Barriers
Full text linkThis article seeks to analyze the influence of a philosophy of policing on the decomparmentalization of the society. Indeed, the police are in fact a mirror of the society in which they operate. They are therefore influenced by it, but also influence the latter. To do this, four philosophies (‘zero tolerance policing’, ‘compstat policing’, ‘hotspots policing’, and ‘community policing’) are systematically reviewed in order to show how these police tactics compartmentalize or not the society. If many publications try to explain the tendency of society to withdraw into itself owing to factors such as insecurity, individualism and social and cultural diversity, none of those shows how specific police philosophies participate – or not – in the construction of an ‘exclusive society’ and in the building of symbolic boundaries between individuals and different social groupings like the police. This article is based on theoretical elements, a review of current and classic literature on the topic while providing innovative research avenues in the field
Towards an Integrative Theory of Crime and Delinquency: Re-conceptualizing the Farrington Theory
Full text linkThe Farrington Theory (2003) was developed to explain offending and anti-social behaviour by working class males. This theory alleges that stability in criminal behaviour resides in the individual rather than in the environment; the social problem of crime is largely medicalized, constituting a psychological model of anti-social behaviour rather than a theory of crime and delinquency. The argument proposed in this paper is threefold: First, I argue Farrington’s theory is problematic given that it constructs deviance in a narrow and largely stable manner; therefore, this theory is better conceptualized as a psychological model of anti-social behaviour not a theory of crime. Secondly, I argue that integrated theoretical perspectives offer more nuanced and dynamic explanations and understandings of crime over the life course. As such, I attempt to address the shortcomings of Farrington’s model by reframing it in terms of an integrative framework. Specifically, I use strain theory and control theory to elucidate the importance of structural and social processes leading to crime and delinquency, and to emphasize the potential for discontinuity as well as change in criminal propensities over the life course. I conclude the paper by illuminating the implications of Farrington’s psychological model in terms of broader policy initiatives