bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Truancy, Schooling and Juvenile Justice: “She Says She Hates School”
Authors: Carrington Kerry
Published: January 2011

In January 1988 truancy was removed as a welfare offence in the State of New South Wales. Although not yet proclaimed, truancy has just been reinstituted as an offence in New South Wales under P 5 of the Education Reform Act 1990. Thus arguments about the social effects of criminalising truancy are urgent and necessary. Using a case history methodology, this article maps the relations between female truants, school authorities and juvenile justice agencies which arise from the criminalisation of truancy. I then attempt to analyse the effects of such disciplinary processes, not only on the young people so affected, but also on their families and communities. I argue that court action for truancy has its most disproportionate and detrimental impact precisely on those students already most disadvantaged by the schooling system: namely on students from Aboriginal communities and housing commission areas.
Poverty, Power, White-Collar Crime and the Paradoxes of Criminological Theory
Authors: Braithwaite John
Published: January 2011

Sutherland's aspiration for a general theory of both white-collar and common crime can be pursued by focusing on inequality as an explanatory variable. Powerlessness and poverty increase the chances that needs are so little satisfied that crime is an irresistible temptation to actors alienated from the social order and that punishment is non-credible to actors who have nothing to lose. It may be theoretically fruitful to move away from a positivist conception of need to needs socially constructed as wants that can be satisfied (contrasted with greed — socially constructed as insatiable wants). When needs are satisfied, further power and wealth enables crime motivated by greed. New types of criminal opportunities and new paths to immunity from accountability are constituted by concentrations of wealth and power. Inequality thus worsens both crimes of poverty motivated by need for goods for use and crimes of wealth motivated by greed enabled by goods for exchange. Furthermore, much crime, particularly violent crime, is motivated by the humiliation of the offender and the offender's perceived right to humiliate the victim. Inegalitarian societies, it is argued, are more structurally humiliating. Dimensions of inequality relevant to the explanation of both white-collar and common crime are economic inequality, inequality in political power (slavery, totalitarianism), racism, ageism and patriarchy. Neither of these lines of explanation is advanced as the whole story on crimes of the powerless or crimes of the powerful; but they may be a theoretically interesting and politically important part of the whole story.
Women transported: Gendered images and realities
Authors: Oxley Deborah
Published: January 2011

For several decades historians have been criticising stereotyped depictions of female convicts as whores. Moving beyond such images, these historians have demonstrated that female transportees were active and resourceful in the colony. However, crumbling images and dynamic colonial roles have not yet been teamed with a thorough reassessment of the types of criminals the women were before being transported. Influential 19th century views regarding women offenders and female transportees dissuaded important historians from applying to women convicts the same analytic tools that they had used to study male convicts. Crimes took a back-seat to accusations of depravity. Studying the crimes for which the women were transported reveals, however, that most female convicts were not reprobates, but first-time offenders guilty of small-scale property crimes.
After the convicts: Towards a history of imprisonment in Australia
Authors: Finnane Mark
Published: January 2011

In contrast to the detailed histories of the convict penal system in Australia before 1867, it is argued that there is much less known about imprisonment in this country in the subsequent 100 years. Some important phenomena in that period are addressed, in order to emphasise the diversity of prison regimes and prisoner experience. The article concludes by commenting on a number of different documents of prison life, to suggest how texts about the prison are importantly related to the maintenance of a public political discourse and conflict over the purposes and effects of imprisonment.
‘A matter of life and death: The victorian executive and the decision to execute 1842–1967’
Authors: Douglas R , Laster K
Published: January 2011

Traditional arguments against capital punishment are based on an analysis of its efficacy (eg lack of deterrence effect) and on its moral justification (eg state-sanctioned killing). This historical study of the death penalty during the entire period of its use in Victoria looks at a third dimension: the evaluation of capital punishment as a sentencing option. The data demonstrates that the death ‘sentence’ involved a complex decision-making process in which the traditional roles of judge, jury and government were distorted and even obliterated. The resulting sentencing practices departed significantly from accepted standards of legal fairness and justice.
The Money or The Job: The Decision to Leave Policing
Authors: James Stephen , Hendry Bronwyn
Published: January 2011

The constituents of job satisfaction and morale amongst police workers have received some research attention overseas, but to date there has been relatively little work in this area in Australia. Recent controversy has been generated in Victoria concerning the issue of police morale amidst the introduction of a new superannuation scheme which has seen a dramatic increase in voluntary departures from the Victoria Police since 1987. This article reports the findings of a survey of departed and serving members of that organisation, conducted to identify the reason for departure and to gauge the importance of work-related attitudes in the decision to leave. The findings suggest that work dissatisfaction was strongly implicated in the decision to leave, particularly for those departures who resigned before 50 years of age. A comparable degree of work dissatisfaction was found amongst a sample of serving police workers, who expressed significantly more negative attitudes towards police work than those who retired early after reaching 50 years. The most prominent sources of dissatisfaction appeared to derive from the organisation and management of the Victoria Police, rather than from the nature of police work itself or factors external to the police organisation.
Escapes from new south wales gaols: placing the risk in perspective
Authors: Gorta Angela , Sillavant Tony
Published: January 2011

This article seeks to place the risk posed by escapees in perspective by presenting information on escapees from NSW gaols, based on a detailed record study of the 812 prisoners who escaped during the 6 year period, July 1983 to June 1989.

Escapes from NSW gaols are a relatively rare occurrence. The majority of escapes (68.4%) occurred from within minimum security institutions. A further 12.3% of escapes refer to prisoners who fall to return on time from an unescorted temporary absence from the gaol, such as day/weekend leave, attendance at technical college or university, etc. Escapees tended to be younger, more likely to be serving sentences for property offences, more likely to be held in minimum security, more likely to have lower security classifications and less likely to be held on remand than prisoners in general. There is no particular point in their sentence when escapees are more likely to escape. While there are variations in patterns of escape or characteristics of escapees from year to year, there are no clear trends over time.

The characteristics of escapees determined in this study suggest that reasons exist for escaping other than the presentation of the opportunity.

More than one-quarter (28.6%) of the escapees were recaptured on either the day they escaped or the following day. Half (50%) of the escapees were recaptured within 8 days of their escape. The majority of escapees (74.2%) were not convicted of committing any offences whilst at large. Of those who were convicted, offences committed whilst at large are most commonly property offences (74.9%) such as break, enter and steal or larceny of a motor vehicle
Taxation law compliance and the role of professional tax advisers
Authors: Tomasic Roman , Pentony Brendan
Published: January 2011

Tax practitioners play a pivotal role in the Australian taxation system. Not only do they act as intermediaries between the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the majority of taxpayers, especially business taxpayers, but they also influence the ethical climate and level of compliance with taxation laws. This article discusses this role by reference to data derived from an empirical study of tax practitioners and tax officials from around Australia. The study sheds light on the nature of the compliance problem and the factors which affect the administration of Australian taxation law generally.
Criminal Confiscation, Profit and Liberty
Authors: Freiberg Arie
Published: January 2011

Criminal confiscation legislation has been hailed as a major new weapon against crime. While not questioning the basic need for anti-proceeds of crime measures, this article argues that governments have expected too much from the legislation and that these drastic laws have the potential to undermine some of the important foundations of the criminal justice system.
Punishment and the Lessons from History
Authors: Pratt John
Published: January 2011

This article examines the range of social forces which constitute the collection of legal sanctions which make up modem punishment systems. While not disputing the importance of the social control capacities which have been influential in the process, it argues that we also have to take into account changing cultural sensitivities and the still prevailing remnants of 19th Century political economy if we are to effectively understand the nature of punishment today. It draws primarily, although not exclusively, on historical research undertaken in New Zealand.
The Net-Widening Effect of AID Panels and Screening Panels in the South Australian Juvenile Justice System
Authors: Wundersitz Joy
Published: January 2011

Motivated by growing doubts about the juvenile court's ability to deal effectively with young offenders, countries such as the United States and Australia have established informal treatment programs ostensibly designed to divert youths from formal court prosecution. Such programs, however, have been criticised on the grounds that, rather than fulfilling a diversionary function, they have widened the net of social control. By focusing on the two-tiered Panel system currently in operation in South Australia, this article presents inferential evidence that net-widening did occur after the introduction firstly, of Aid Panels in 1972 and secondly, of Screening Panels in 1979. However, in both instances, this net-widening was restricted to a relatively short time period, after which the numbers of youths selected for processing by the juvenile justice system stabilised.
The Legal Response to Work-Related Fatalities in NSW in 1984
Authors: Hopkins Andrew , Easson Helen , Harrison James
Published: January 2011

This article is a study of the response of the legal/regulatory system to all 129 work-related fatalities which occurred in NSW in 1984. Previous research on the response of the legal system has utilised the case study approach. This is the first time to our knowledge that the response to all work-related fatalities in one jurisdiction has been investigated. The pattern which emerges is one of great variation in the way coroners deal with such cases and fragmentation in the response of the various regulatory agencies with an interest in occupational health and safety. Indeed, more than half the fatalities under consideration were not investigated by any such agency. In not one case did the coroner suggest that there was evidence of criminal negligence by anyone concerned. The 129 cases resulted in 13 prosecutions of companies for violations of safety regulations. The study also examines the views of coroners and inspectors on factors which contributed to the fatalities.
Homicide Between Adult Sexual Intimates: A Research Agenda
Authors: Easteal Patricia Weiser
Published: January 2011

Although overseas research on homicide between intimates has been substantial, application of the findings to Australia may be problematic for two reasons. First, critical evaluation of their methods indicates possible difficulties in generalisability due to definitional, semantic, and theoretical variation. Secondly, the findings of the few studies in Australia do not necessarily conform to the patterns and experiences of this homicide type overseas. Australian analysis also provides insight into concerns which may be unique to this country and merit further investigation at a national level. These include a disproportionately high rate among Aboriginals, a similar high rate among immigrant groups, and frequency of victim precipitation in killings of husbands.
Juvenile Justice in New Zealand: a New Paradigm
Authors: Morris Allison , Maxwell Gabrielle M
Published: January 2011

This study describes the system of juvenile justice adopted in New Zealand under the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1989. The Act sets out objectives and principles which stress a number of innovative features including the integration of a western and an indigenous approach; the empowerment of families and young people; the involvement of victims; and group consensus decision-making. The principal mechanism for achieving these objectives is the Family Group Conference which replaces or supplements the Youth Court as the principal decision-making forum in most of the more serious cases. Police involvement in decision-making is also increased by a greater emphasis on diversion and by their role in reaching agreements in the Family Group Conference. Research data are presented which enable an evaluation of the extent to which the Act is meeting its objectives. The tensions in the system are discussed: particularly the issue of victim involvement versus an offender focus and the conflict between accountability and welfare.
Improving Crime Statistics by “Correcting” for System Characteristics: A Methodological Note
Authors: Hackler Jim , Dagger Dianne
Published: January 2011

Crime rates are influenced by the way various agencies screen out cases at different stages of the recording procedures. This leads to lack of comparability of statistics from one jurisdiction to another. However, the degree to which the police screen cases can be estimated, if one accepts certain assumptions. This can yield a “recording index” which could be used as a means of “correcting” the statistics from various police departments. Such a procedure might make crime statistics more comparable.
Ethnicity and Bias in Police Contact Statistics
Authors: Fergusson D M , Horwood L J , Lynskey M T
Published: January 2011

The relationships between ethnicity, self/parentally reported offending and rates of police contact were examined in a birth cohort of Christchurch (New Zealand) born children studied to the age of 15 years. This analysis suggested that whilst children of Maori/Pacific Island descent offended at a significantly higher rate than European (Pakeha) children, there were clear differences in the magnitude of ethnic differentials in offending depending on the way in which offending was measured. On the basis of self/parentally reported offending, children of Maori/Pacific Island descent offended at about 1.7 times the rate of Pakeha children. However, on the basis of police contact statistics these children were 2.9 times more likely to come to police attention than Pakeha children. These differences between self/parentally reported offending rates and rates of police contact could not be explained by the fact that Maori/Pacific Island children offended more often or committed different types of offences than Pakeha children. Logistic modelling of the data suggested that children of Maori/Pacific Island descent were in the region of 2.4 times more likely to come to official police attention than Pakeha children with an identical self/parental reported history of offending. These results are generally consistent with the hypothesis that official police contact statistics contain a bias which exaggerates the differences in the rate of offending by children of Maori/Pacific Island descent and Pakeha children.
Alcohol Use and Incarceration in a Police Lockup among Aboriginals in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia
Authors: Hall Wayne , Hunter Ernest , Spargo Randolph
Published: January 2011

Data from a general population survey of a stratified random sample of 516 Aboriginal men and women over the age of 15 years in the Kimberley region of Western Australia were used to estimate patterns of incarceration in police lockups and their relationship to self-reported alcohol consumption. Participants in the survey were asked about their lifetime experience of incarceration in police cells, and about their frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption. Estimates of the population risk of incarceration indicated that 81% of Kimberley Aboriginal men, and 37% of Kimberley Aboriginal women have been locked up in police cells. Alcohol use was strongly related to the risk of being locked up in police cells, and the risk was higher among current drinkers who were of full rather than mixed Aboriginal descent. Urgent action is required to reduce rates of incarceration in police cells among Kimberley Aboriginals. In addition to the decriminalisation of public drunkenness, action needs to be taken to reduce the prevalence of heavy alcohol use, and to improve the social and economic conditions in which Kimberley Aboriginals live.
The Emerging Police Complex: Hoogenboom and Australian Inter Agency Cooperation†
Authors: Fairchild Peter
Published: January 2011

Explanations of cooperation between law enforcement agencies have primarily relied upon Old Boy Network' arguments. These are insufficient in an era which continues to juggle the conflicting pressures of traditional rights with the intrusive capabilities of Information Technology. This article draws expressly on Bob Hoogenboom's concept of ‘grey policing’ and constructs a structural understanding of Australian agency cooperation. In so doing it analyses the inherent tensions associated with the investigative need for in-depth and timely information, legal protection and agency organisational goals. Recognition is also given to the influence of contemporary political initiatives relating to organised crime and privacy. By highlighting the contemporary moves to increased data-matching it is argued that the trend towards intensive cooperation between police and other agencies has been established. — The trend towards what Hoogenboom refers to as the ‘police complex’. These findings draw attention to the merits and social harms associated with greater agency cooperation.
The ‘Big Four’: Privileges and Indemnities†
Authors: Corns Chris
Published: January 2011

From at least the seventeenth century, English law has recognised the right of any person not to provide evidence which may incriminate him or her in the commission of a crime (the privilege against self-incrimination). The exercise of this right would appear to represent a significant obstacle to the effective investigation of criminal activities, and in particular, organised crime. However, through the use of indemnification procedures, the National Crime Authority, the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption, and the Criminal Justice Commission (Qld) are able to circumvent the traditional protection provided by the privilege against self-incrimination. This paper examines the use of indemnities by such bodies and considers a number of issues relating to adequate accountability and the problem of demonstrating efficacy.
Lawyers, Police and The National Crime Authority: A Rejoinder to Dr Corns*
Authors: Lenihan Denis
Published: January 2011

As against views recently put forward by Dr Corns, the article argues that inter-disciplinary difficulties between police and lawyers in the National Crime Authority have been largely due to personal differences rather than the ‘competing ideologies’; of the two groups; that the results achieved by the authority and like organisations which have lawyerAed teams do not support claims of ‘structural’ or ‘inherent’ tension between ‘competing ideologies’: and that, despite assertions to the contrary, most police find working at the authority a professionally rewarding experience.
Your Money and Your Life: Cash Transaction Reporting Legislation, Neo-Liberal Philosophy and the Governance of the Self
Authors: McQueenf Rob
Published: January 2011

Opponents of enactments such as the Financial Transactions Reports Act 1988 (Cth) and Proceeds of Crime Act 1987 (Cth) have principally based their opposition on the basis that such legislation and the regimes which it supports represent a fundamental attack on traditional domains of ‘privacy’. This paper questions the validity of such small T critiques and suggests that such analyses may play into the hands of ‘New Right’ agendas, rather than acting contrary to them.

The assumptions lying behind the introduction of financial transaction reporting (FTR) are examined in the context of a variety of ‘New Right’ analytical frameworks. In particular the paper examines FTR in light of the assumption that commercial actors should be ‘free’ of government intervention to pursue their entrepreneurial activities. In this and other respects it is asserted that FTR acts contrary to, rather than as component of, a New Right agenda.

The paper also explores the applicability of the Foucauldian notion of ‘governmentality’ in respect to recent developments in financial reporting and monitoring. The manner in which FTR legislation has influenced the ‘conduct’ of commercial actors is examined in some depth. So too is the question of the potential limits (if any) to the encroachment by the state into the previously ‘private’ conduct of both those who operate and those who use the banking and financial system.
Rape Trials in Victoria: Gender, Socio-cultural Factors and Justice*
Authors: Edwards Anne , Heenan Melanie
Published: January 2011

The criminal law with respect to rape continues to be a major focus of academic, feminist and community attention. Since the 1970s a number of reforms have been introduced into the statutes and procedures relating to the definition of rape and the conduct of rape cases in the courts. This paper reports on the results of a 1990 Melbourne study, involving first-hand observation and systematic written recording of the entire court proceedings in six rape trials. The intention was to examine the role extra-legal socio-cultural factors play in the presentation and interpretation of accounts given in court and the influence they have on the outcomes. The analysis explores in detail the influence of the following: use of physical force and resistance; alcohol; the victim's social, moral and particularly sexual character, and her relationship with the accused.
‘This Sort of Thing Isn't Helpful’: The Dilemmas of the Australian Institute of Criminology*
Authors: Geis Gilbert
Published: January 2011

The Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) has had a rocky journey since its founding in 1971 and, at the moment, is undergoing a drastic cut in its funding. The article examines the structural stresses that reside in the location of a putatively autonomous agency within a political framework. Tensions arise when AIC findings and interpretations cause distress to federal or state officials. Difficulties also inhere in the question of who establishes the AlC's research agenda, and how that agenda is carried out. The article provides details of the AlC's origins and some of its history, and it reviews two recent reports which have come down heavily on the work of the Institute. It also considers the relationship between the AIC and the media and, in conclusion, suggests what its future might be.
Targeting Intervention Strategies to Reduce Juvenile Recidivism
Authors: Coumarelos Christine , Weatherburn Don
Published: January 2011

Under the influence of labelling theory, juvenile justice policy has tended to emphasise the importance of diverting young offenders away from court. This emphasis has been reinforced by recent claims that community-based restorative sanctions, such as Community Aid Panels (CAPs) and Family Group Conferences (FGCs), are more effective in reducing juvenile recidivism than sending young offenders to court. This article critically reviews the labelling theory thesis that formal processing of juvenile offenders is inherently criminogenic. Having concluded that the thesis lacks empirical support, it then goes on to argue that strategies designed to reduce juvenile recidivism are more appropriately targeted at repeat offenders rather than those with no or little prior criminal record.
Theoretical Note: Gun Control and Homicide
Authors: Weatherburn Don
Published: January 2011

A Japanese tourist in the US was recently shot dead by a gun owner who mistakenly thought he was being attacked by a tourist. The circumstances surrounding the episode suggest the possibility that the risk of a fatal gun attack by a gun owner may not be independent of the general level of gun ownership. The possible consequences of this are explored using New South Wales data on homicide and gun ownership rates.
Community-Based Strategies in Aboriginal Criminal Justice: The Northern Territory Experience
Authors: Tyler William
Published: January 2011

Recent attempts to involve the remote and small town communities of Northern Australia in their own policing and correctional services have often been held up as a model for developing Aboriginal criminal justice policies. Such a proposal raises important questions as to both the construction of the post-colonial ‘community’ in remote and settled Australia and the sociological principles by which these criminal justice schemes (eg night patrols, community wardens, community corrections) have been constituted. The paper explores the constructions of the Aboriginal community over the past two decades (ethnographic, politico-administrative and postmodernist) as a background to the development and implementation of community-based criminal justice schemes in the Northern Territory. A typology of post-colonial criminal justice strategies is developed which identifies four ‘ideal types’ in which the initiatives may be positioned. These are the mediative (community wardens, night patrols), the educative (community justice programs), the neo-colonialist (new forms of imposed European laws and policing) and the incorporative (pervasive and totalising forms of control). The possibility of transposing these Northern Territory schemes to other Aboriginal situations is then critically evaluated in the light of differing socio-political constructions of ‘community’.
The Invisible Sanction: Suspended Sentences in Victoria 1985–1991
Authors: Tait David
Published: January 2011

Do suspended prison sentences keep down the prison population? This objective lay behind the introduction of this measure to Victoria in 1985. British literature on suspended sentences suggests that this objective is unrealistic, and that precisely the opposite happened in Britain: a (lagged) blow-out in the prison population when suspended sentences became activated. The initial and longer-term impact of suspended sentences is tested with available data from magistrates courts, higher courts and prison censuses. The evidence from these sources confirms that a decline in the use of immediate imprisonment coincided with a growth in the use of suspended sentences. Some of this decline was temporary, as orders were breached and prison sentences activated. However, the net effect was a drop in the use of imprisonment. The avoidance of a lagged increase in the prison population was achieved by a combination of factors: short operational periods, a low breach rate, and extensive use of discretion in re-sentencing. Despite the apparent success of this sanction, it is largely invisible from the public debate and its place in the range of sentencing options is largely unacknowledged.
Co-Regulation of Fraud — Detection and Reporting by Auditors in Australia: Criminology's Lessons for Non-Compliance
Authors: Kapardis M , Kapardis A
Published: January 2011

All companies (other than exempt proprietary ones) are required by the Corporations Law to have their books audited. For about 150 years there has been a controversy surrounding the auditors' role — whether they should be functioning as a ‘watchdog’ or a ‘bloodhound’. In recent years the auditing profession in Australia has been experiencing a credibility crisis. A spate of much publicised corporate collapses in the late 1980s at a time of economic recession has been instrumental in: (i) the Australian Securities Commission (ASC) adopting more heavy-handed ways of policing auditing standards; (ii) rocketing audit fees; and (iii) the accounting bodies redefining their role and revising auditing standards. This paper focuses on current approaches to regulating the auditing profession, and discusses their effectiveness, drawing on the criminological literature relevant to professional advisers, white collar illegality, and deterrence.
Equal Employment Opportunity and Policewomen in Australia*
Authors: Prenzler Tim
Published: January 2011

Limited statistics make for difficulties in producing a clear picture of the impact of equal employment opportunity policies in Australian police services. Available figures indicate that pre-entry physical ability tests are a significant source of attrition of aspiring policewomen. Women also appear to be disproportionately more likely to separate as a result of maternal obligations, and report higher incidents of sexual harassment and sex discrimination in promotion and deployment. Considering the historical marginalisation of women in policing, Australian police services have made large steps forward in reducing discrimination in a relatively short period of time. Improvements can nonetheless be made in making policing a more viable career option for women, and recruiting appears to be the main area where proactive measures are needed.
Psychological Explanations in Sentencing Women in Tasmania*
Authors: Henning Terese
Published: January 2011

This paper presents the findings of a study which investigated the extent to which female lawbreaking was attributed to psychological disturbance in written comments made by Tasmanian Criminal Court judges in passing sentence and in pre-sentence reports prepared for the Tasmanian Criminal Court. It was found that female deviance was viewed predominantly as a function of psychological disturbance and that while other factors were also relied upon to explain women's criminal conduct those factors tended to be discounted or subsumed into psychological explanations. It was also found that the evidence in support of psychological dysfunction in the cases examined was often weak or questionable. The implications of these findings are considered, in particular, the possibility that other significant aspects of the case may be ignored and that over-emphasis upon psychodynamic explanatory factors may produce a distorted view of the offenders and their behaviour.
Child Abuse and Juvenile Deliquency: A Prospective Study
Authors: Kakar Suman
Published: January 2011

Child abuse has emerged as a central theme in efforts to understand a wide variety of problems, including delinquency. This study utilises the computerised records of substantiated abuse in the Florida Protective Services System's Department of Children, Youth, and Families to examine the effects of child abuse on earty onset of delinquency. A control group matched on racial group, gender, age, and socioeconomic status is used to compare the delinquency rates among the abused and non-abused. The abused children had a higher delinquency referral rate than the control group children and the relationship between abuse and delinquency was found to be statistically significant at.038 level. Age was found to be significant at.091 level. Abused children were found being referred more for personal and status offences.
Blue Murder: Press Coverage of Fatal Police Shootings in Victoria
Authors: McCulloch Jude
Published: January 2011

This article explores the way two Melbourne daily newspapers reported the fatal police shooting of Graeme Jensen on 11 October 1988. In particular, the article examines how the newspapers dealt with reporting police suspicions about Graeme Jensen's involvement in criminal activities and the immediate circumstances of the shooting. It argues that information passed to the press by police was designed to present the shooting as the lawful and necessary killing of a dangerous criminal and thus maintain a positive police image. The newspapers assisted this process by uncritically reporting the police version of events and allegations about Graeme Jensen's involvement in crimes even when such information was contradicted by available evidence.
Alternatives to Youth Imprisonment: Evaluating the Victorian Youth Attendance Order
Authors: Walters Reece
Published: January 2011

On 22 June 1988 the then Minister for Community Services Victoria, Race Matthews, officially launched the Youth Attendance Order (YAO), a high tariff alternative for young offenders aged between 15 and 18 years who were facing a term of detention. Throughout the order's gestation, much debate occurred about the impact it would have on rates of juvenile incarceration as well as about the potential ‘net widening’ effect it could have on less serious offenders. In May 1994 the National Centre For Socio-Legal Studies at La Trobe University submitted its report evaluating the Victorian Youth Attendance Order. This article presents some of the major findings of that report and examines the future options for this high tariff order in juvenile justice.
Masculine Obsessions: An Examination of Criminology, Criminality and Gender
Authors: Ogilvie Emma
Published: January 2011

There is some confusion within criminological theory regarding the gendering of criminality and the consequences of the different treatment of female and male juveniles within the criminal justice system. This confusion leads to inadequate explanations of female criminal activity and promotes a misleading emphasis on the masculinity of crime. If we wish to develop useful social policy aimed at crime prevention, we need to use broader sources of data which avoid sex role stereotypes and better acknowledge female and male criminal practices and motivations. This paper argues that the reliance only upon official statistics, or self report studies, or qualitative interviews is counterproductive. What is required is a three pronged approach which recognises the strengths and weaknesses of each data source and uses each as appropriate. In short we need to rethink the methodologies we adopt if we are to improve our theorising of gender and criminality.
Socio-Legal Research and Insider Trading in Australia
Authors: Dempsey Gillian
Published: January 2011

Insider trading was the subject of extensive political debate from 1989 through to 1991, culminating in substantial amendments to the Corporations Law. The political climate for this legislative action was influenced by a high profile empirical study by Tomasic and Pentony asserting that insider trading was both widespread and harmful. This study is critically appraised with respect to a number of methodological issues and in particular, questions are raised as to whether the inferences drawn from the evidence are justifiable. Alternative methods for empirical research into the insider trading phenomenon are noted.
The ‘Correction’ of Community Crime Control: A Legal-Pluralist Interpretation
Authors: Tie Warwick
Published: January 2011

The New Zealand Corrections Division has historically used the voluntary social work sector as a means of regulating criminality ‘at a distance’. Shifts in the modes through which the Division has related to the voluntary sector are analyzed here using Santos' form of legal-pluralist theory. That theory suggests that innovative forms of legal regulation are created when divergent modes of law interpenetrate one another. These new modes of legal power then attempt to regulate sociality by constructing the subjectivity of those with which they interact. This article suggests that the Corrections Division is itself characterised by dual forms of subjectivity, namely communitarian and proceduralist. The tension between these has become evident as the Division has sought to inculcate a proceduralist subjectivity within the voluntary sector, so as to construct voluntary sector agencies as self-regulating subjects. The tension exists between the Division's need to use the voluntary sector as a means by which it can regulate criminality, and to construct and respect that sector as an autonomous entity. Moreover, the imposition of a proceduralist subjectivity, because it is an imposition, has the potential to diminish the ability of those agencies to control crime and/or to critique its social construction.
The Effect of Police Education, Training and Socialisation on Conservative Attitudes
Authors: Christie Gayre , Petrie Simon , Timmins Perri
Published: January 2011

A longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the effects of education and training and early role socialisation upon police recruit attitudes. Attitude dimensions of conservatism were assessed during a preservice university semester, at the end of police academy training and following nine and 24 months police service. Multiple regression and analyses of variance revealed that the university education program had a minor effect on attitudes but subsequent exposure to the police academy and the job of policing has a more substantial and deliberalising effect. In particular, attitudes towards gays, the treatment of sex offenders and attitudes towards youth discipline and punishment became more conservative as a result of socialisation at the police academy and on the job. Results indicate a general move towards moreconservative attitudes as a result of socialisation.
Evaluating the ‘New Policing’: Attacking the Money Trail of Organized Crime
Authors: Levi Michael
Published: January 2011

After examining the growth of concern about organized crime, the article critically reviews the arguments advanced for focusing on the money trail as a strategy for combating it, suggesting that the amount of money laundered may be considerably less than that commonly assumed. It goes on to contrast the powerful imagery of ‘the new policing’ with the modesty of the impact of these measures on convictions and confiscated assets in Britain and Australia, and attempts to account for the low yield there compared with the US in terms of greater American concentration on financial and professional intermediaries and more draconian legislation. After discussing the debate over the involvement of the UK Security Service (MI5) in the ‘war against organized crime’ and technological developments in laundering detection, the article examines the tensions, (a) between high level policing on the one hand, and devolved police budgeting and community orientation on the other; and (b) in the attempt to regulate the social conscience of finance capital without making it impossible for them to make a profit.
Rape Trial Studies: Handle with Care
Authors: Gans Jeremy
Published: January 2011

The notion that the issue of the accused's honest belief about consent has little effect on the outcome of most rape trials has gained considerable acceptance amongst some rape law reformers. The acceptance of this claim can be partly traced to the Law Reform Commission of Victoria's study of rape prosecutions in 1991. However, properly considered, the study provides no support for this assertion. This is because of two limitations to the study: the merely cursory analysis of pre-trial decision making and the lack of plausible assessment of the jury's approach to its fact-finding task. Properly understood, the study's findings suggest a reform of the trial judge's direction to the jury, a possibility ignored in the Law Reform Commission's report. This paper argues that law reformers should pay more attention to such limitations when considering empirical research into rape prosecutions.
Police-Public Relations — A Chinese View
Authors: Jinfeng Du
Published: January 2011

Since the 1950s, police departments have been concerned with police public relations. In order to improve these relations, the Ministry of Public Security did a lot of work. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the relations were more harmonious. Since the 1980s, the relationship has got worse. The main reasons are: (1) The serious social security order situation has forced police departments to distance themselves from the public; (2) Police are forced to do non-police work; (3) Social changes also serve to further distance police from the public; (4) Police departments cannot adjust themselves to the needs of the current situation; (5) Police misconduct is the most important factor to harm the relations in China. In response to these problems police departments have taken the following measures: (1) Strengthened education and training; (2) Improved regulations and discipline to control police conduct; (3) Reinforced inspection and supervision of police; (4) Persistently launched anti-corruption campaigns; (5) Delivered good services to residents.
Clothing the Emperor: Towards a Jurisprudence of Sentencing
Authors: Smith Jeff
Published: January 2011

This paper initially set out to analyse sentencing decisions for drug offences in order to distil a set of principles or jurisprudential values in a core area of criminality. Instead, it found that the cases favour a negation of principle; what is called an anti–jurisprudential jurisprudence. This jurisprudential void — it is argued — owes much to the pervasiveness of liberal ideology. Moreover, it is suggested that the flexibility of liberal ideology helps to explain the lack of a consistent moral framework within which sentencing decisions can be placed. The final part of the article thus takes seriously the idea that the search for an overarching theory of punishment is futile. Rather, it is argued there is a need to focus on discrete forms of criminal conduct as a foundation for generating discrete moral theories of punishment. Put another way, the article suggests that we need to think about jurisprudences of sentencing.
Concession and Containment: The Establishment of Women in the Queensland Police, 1931–1965
Authors: Premier Tim
Published: January 2011

From the consolidation of the Queensland Police in 1864 until 1931 there were no women in the force, despite the appointment of policewomen in all other Australian states during World War One. The election of a woman MP gave leverage to the action taken by women's groups, and two policewomen were eventually appointed in the face of union opposition and a resistant police administration. Social upheaval in Brisbane during World War Two allowed for an increase in numbers and formal organisation into a Police Women Section. Full powers were achieved in 1965, although women remained in an extremely restricted role. In terms of the aspirations of the women police movement, the establishment of women in the Queensland Police was a pyrrhic victory. Their limited numbers and separate establishment confirmed their marginal and inferior status. This study highlights the contradictory effects of the employment of women police, including the problematic nature of the use of women to police their own gender. At the policy level, the study demonstrates the need for strong anti-discrimination legislation to curb the destructive effects of discretionary decision making in employment, particularly in male dominated fields such as policing. It also confirms dominant themes identified in the development of women police in other countries. Dogged resistance forced women to resort to a variety of adaptive strategies, and made for a slow and complex process of infiltration of police ranks.
Inter-Racial Offending Models: A Response to Reidpath and Diamond
Authors: Morgan Frank , Ferrante Anna , Broadhurst Rod , Loh Nini
Published: January 2011

We present a critique of a paper on inter-racial offending by Reidpath and Diamond (1998). That paper draws upon, but misrepresents, three publications by researchers at the Crime Research Centre, University of Western Australia. Our critique provides a necessary clarification of the contents of the original research and includes a brief discussion of its context and purposes. While we point out a number of conceptual and numerical errors in the Reidpath and Diamond paper, we are more interested in advancing ideas on the role of modelling in criminology. Modelling exercises need to be closely linked to substantive explanation and theory if they are to avoid sterility.
Telling Stories of Crime in South Australia
Authors: Israel Mark
Published: January 2011

Using a South Australian example, and based on interviews with journalists and their sources, this paper examines how the media and their sources negotiate the reporting of fear in a community. It sketches the process by which a particular story was created, the features that were highlighted, and considers the part that different organisations play in shaping the construction of news about crime.
Testing the Reliability of Observational Measures of Reintegrative Shaming at Community Accountability Conferences and at Court
Authors: Harris Nathan , Burton Jamie B
Published: January 2011

The inter-rater reliability of reintegrative shaming (Braithwaite 1989) concepts was tested at Community Accountability Conferences and at court using two observation methods. This paper presents data collected from 45 cases: 15 violence or property-related conferences; 15 drink-drive conferences; and a mix of 15 drink-drive, property-related, and violence-related court cases. The results, which are a synthesis of those presented in a more extensive report (Harris & Burton 1997), show that components of reintegrative shaming theory can be observed reliably using systematic observation and global rating observation methods.
Economy, Efficiency and Impartiality: Police Centralisation in Nineteenth Century Tasmania
Authors: Petrow Stefan
Published: January 2011

In late nineteenth century Australia, Tasmania was the only colony with a decentralised policing system. Despite its uniqueness, few Australian scholars have analysed how this policing system operated in practice or fully explained why centralisation was introduced in 1899. After briefly examining the reasons why decentralisation was introduced in 1858, this paper considers the numerous criticisms of the system. These included the failure of municipal police forces to impartially and uniformly enforce the laws passed by parliament, the lack of co-operation between forces, and, with each of the 21 forces being headed by a superintendent, the excessive cost of separate forces: A select committee of 1886 confirmed weaknesses in the system and thereafter successive ministries, seeking more efficient and rational government, campaigned for police centralisation. Municipal opposition was only overcome when the Braddon government bribed the municipalities with substantial financial relief and persuaded them that municipal government would be strengthened by relinquishing the burden of controlling the police.