British Society of Criminology Brian Williams Prize Shortlist 2013

The Brian Williams Prize was established to honour the memory of Dr. Brian Williams, who was Professor of Community Justice and Victimology at De Montfort University, and who died tragically in 2007.  The prize reflects the desire of the British Society of Criminology to encourage and recognise the achievements of new members of the criminology profession, and is awarded to the author of a criminological article, who is a “new” scholar, published in a refereed academic journal.

Here is the short list.

Ana Aliverti ‘Making people criminal: The role of the criminal law in immigration enforcement’ Theoretical Criminology16(4) 417– 434

This article analyses the recent expansion of immigration offences in Britain. Drawing on criminal law scholarship, it considers the reasons for relying on the criminal law in immigration enforcement. On the one hand, criminal law is used symbolically. In this view, the creation of criminal offences may be read as an attempt to appease a sector of the electorate, the media and the Opposition about the ‘immigration problem.’ By introducing these offences, the government sent a message that the situation is under control. On the other hand, the criminal law serves regulatory functions, offering the UK Border Agency a range of options for dealing with unwanted immigrants. In practice, most immigration offences are rarely enforced. Instead, the criminal law often seems to primarily work as a threat, relied on to enforce compliance with immigration rules. A criminal prosecution is reserved for those foreigners for whom the primary sanction

–expulsion- cannot be carried out. In these cases, a criminal prosecution and conviction facilitate administrative proceedings leading to removal. Given that the criminalization of immigration breaches is in stark contrast with a number of criminal law principles, this paper argues that the normative justification of criminal law in immigration matters is

weak and it should have no role to play in the enforcement of immigration rules.

Ron Dudai ‘INFORMERS AND THE TRANSITION IN NORTHERN IRELAND’ BRIT. J. CRIMINOL (2012) 52, 32–54

Though criminological literature has paid attention to the use of informers in ordinary law enforcement, there is a research gap regarding their usage in contexts of conflict and political violence. This article explores the social, political and security functions of IRA informers in the transition from conflict in Northern Ireland. Based on that experience, it develops four heuristic models regarding informers that the paper argues may be of direct relevance to other conflicted and transitional societies. These are the informer as folk devil, the informer as rumour, the informer as political manipulator, and the informer as celebrity. All these themes demonstrate the long-term effects of the use of informers during the Northern Ireland conflict—an important finding given the increasing prevalence of the use of informers in a political context.

D.J. McCarthy ‘Gendering ‘Soft’ policing: multi-agency working, female cops,and the fluidities of police culture/s’ Policing & Society 2012, 1:18

This article examines the role of female police officers within the context of developing ‘soft’ policing initiatives designed to divert young people away from crime. Within the police culture literature, a masculine model of policing associated with coercive crime fighting tasks is often contrasted with a more cooperative, problem-solving and compassionate mode of police work. The latter model is viewed as serving to create a more legitimate structure for female police officers to work within, involving increasing trust and cooperation in communities and engaging with community crime prevention strategies. The aim of this article is to assess the role of female police officers within recent changes under the auspices of community policing reform in England and Wales, highlighting the role of female officers in enacting ‘soft’ policing initiatives in collaboration with social work and other community agencies. This raises some limitations of the conventional police culture literature by illustrating the ways these operations have carved a niche for female officers, in addition to altering the style of policing across certain sections of the organisation more generally.

Alisa Stevens ‘I am the person now I was always meant to be’: Identity reconstruction and narrative reframing in therapeutic community prisons’ Criminology & Criminal Justice 12(5) 527–547

Drawing upon semi-ethnographic research, this article explores desistance in process among serious offenders residing in democratic therapeutic communities. It is argued that offender rehabilitation in therapeutic communities involves a process of purposive and agentic reconstruction of identity and narrative reframing, so that a ‘new’ and ‘better’ person emerges whose attitudes and behaviours cohere with long-term desistance from crime. This is possible because the prison-based therapeutic community, with its commitment to a radically ‘different’ culture and mode of rehabilitation, socially enables, produces and reinforces the emergence of someone ‘different’. The article therefore develops existing understandings of change in forensic therapeutic communities, and reaffirms theories of desistance which emphasize the importance of pro-social changes to the offender’s personal identity and self-narrative.

Trust me I’m a doctor. Who’s the criminologist? My ‘honours’ list.

In a recent edition of Celebrity Mastermind a celebrity was asked ‘In the field of criminology what does the term alibi mean?”.  I was so struck by this sudden appearance of my discipline in the Christmas schedules that I didn’t even get to hear whether the correct definition of an alibi was given, or the common erroneous presumption that it meant excuse.  I could not hear because some idiot was shouting at the screen, ‘In any field!’.  It was me.  Having calmed down - and looked online see even quite pukka sources claiming it has come to mean ‘excuse’ - I retreat to the complaint that the question mistakes the criminological for the legal, or vice versa.

So what is criminology?  Well, rather than taking you through an early lecture in my modules, let’s examine who is a criminologist.  This issue arises from time to time.  Sometimes students waste words and risk my ire by claiming that some writer or other is a criminologist, when what I want is an assessment of whether their argument has merit or not.  I take a fairly broad position in which any discussion of crime in any discipline (and none) might be considered criminological, from the blatherings of Peter Hitchens and many politicians to signed up members of the British Society of Criminology.  I do though argue that criminologists have too readily ceded ground to others such as police, think tanks, NGOs and tabloid media and need to engage more (Criminologists Say).

One group that has a particular right to speak are victims.  I believe everyone has something to say about crime as only the lucky will never have been a victim and only the saintly - yes Durkheim, I did say that - will never have offended.  But I am concerned about some who seek to speak for the victim but immediately turn to what they propose to do to the offender.

In the great criminological choir some get chosen for solo parts: thus by the accident of victimisation Helen Newlove becomes a Baroness and Victims Commissioner after her husband is kicked to death.  Sara Payne’s daughter, Sarah, dies at the hands of Roy Whiting and through the boost of the News Of The World’s campaigning zeal Sara becomes an honorary doctor of the Open University.  As this story shows Roy Whiting has been seriously victimised but don’t expect his name to feature in any politically astute honours list.

But back to honours and Dr Sara Payne.  She lends her name, and more controversially her title, to The Sun’s Justice Campaign.  A number of academics are concerned about this and as an OU graduate I am uneasy but probably because I’m opposed to honours systems in all areas of life.  Yes, I know my father, Brian, has an honorary degree from the Open University.

So far Sara Payne is not advertised or billed as a criminologist.  However, Mark Williams-Thomas is, and some in the criminological community are unhappy about this.  I welcome his voice and enthusiasm but am more concerned that his very policey/punitive approach is seen as representative of UK criminology.  A better example of this ‘who can be described as a criminologist debate’ though is Roger Graef.  I recall a colleague being very exercised that he was described as a criminologist.  But, enjoy the irony here, I’m happy to honour him with that title.  And similarly Richard Garside a very sage commentator on crime and criminal justice.  And famously Against Criminology and now sadly dead I honour Stan Cohen.