News

The International Master’s Program in “Criminal Justice, Governance and Police Science” has been developed by the Department of Criminology, Criminal Policy and Police Science (Faculty of Law) of Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany, in collaboration with colleagues from the Research Group on 'Governing and Policing Security' (GaPS) at the University College Ghent in Belgium.  

More: http://vmrz0183.vm.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/macrimgov/

 Stan Cohen, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at LSE, passed away on the morning of Monday 7 January 2013 after a long illness.

Stan had a long and distinguished career.

A leading writer on Criminology and Sociology, Cohen is credited with coining the term moral panic in his 1972 study (Folk Devils and Moral Panics) of the popular UK media and social reaction to the Mods and Rockers phenomenon of the 1960s. This book is widely regarded by British criminologists as the most influential work in the field in the last forty years. The work applied the concepts of labelling, societal reaction and the Deviancy Amplification Spiral and helped in widening the scope of Criminology to include the sociology of crime and Social Control. Cohen suggests the media overreact to an aspect of behaviour which may be seen as a challenge to existing social norms. However, the media response and representation of that behaviour actually helps to define it, communicate it and portrays it as a model for outsiders to observe and adopt. So the moral panic by society represented in the media arguably fuels further socially unacceptable behaviour 

http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/condolences/2013/01/08/stancohen/

The 2nd GESIS Summer School in Survey Methodology will take place
at GESIS Cologne from August 08 to 30, 2013.

19 courses, three and a half weeks, summer time, right in the center of Cologne, at GESIS: The 2nd GESIS Summer School in Survey Methodology. Registration will open in mid February.

Short courses:

• Course A: Survey Design
• Course B: Qualitative Methods
• Course C: Statistical Data Analysis Using R
• Course D: Introduction to Research Data Management for Social Scientists

One- and two-week courses:

• Course 1: Introduction to Survey Design
• Course 2: Unit Nonresponse
• Course 3: Mixed Methods
• Course 4: Introduction to the Structural Equation Modeling Framework
• Course 5: Item Nonresponse and Multiple Imputation
• Course 6: Cross-National Research: Data Collection and Analysis
• Course 7: Understanding and Modelling Measurement Error in Social Surveys
• Course 8: Sampling and Estimation for Complex Surveys
• Course 9: Questionnaire Translation in Cross-cultural Surveys
• Course 10: Experimental Techniques in Survey Research
• Course 11: Questionnaire Design
• Course 12: Factorial Survey Designs
• Course 13: Design and Implementation of Longitudinal Surveys
• Course 14: Data Collection: Interviewer Training and Fieldwork Monitoring
•  Course 15: Web Surveys

http://www.gesis.org/veranstaltungen/gesis-summer-school/

 FY2013 Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program Grant Application Assistance Webinar

Date: February 19, 2013
Time: 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET

Hosted by the Criminal Justice/Mental Health Consensus Project

On January 24, 2013, the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) released Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program (JMHCP) grant applications. On February 19, 2013, the Council of State Governments Justice Center (CSG Justice Center) will host a webinar to assist grant applicants with the application process. In this webinar, BJA representatives will provide an overview of this year’s JMHCP grants, discuss eligibility and application materials, and lead a question-and-answer session.

Peter Keenan
ISSN 1836-9111
Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, February 2013

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) investigates and prosecutes certain strict liability criminal offences by directors before local and Magistrates’ courts across Australia. In this paper, an analysis of the raw information in ASIC conviction reports for the five calendar years 2006 to 2010 is presented to provide statistical data on convictions and fines obtained by ASIC under its court-based enforcement activities, with an emphasis on insolvency offences against ss 475, 530 and 1314 of the Act. 

download: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/rip/21-40/rip30.html 

Research in practice no. 31

ISSN 1836-9111
Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, February 2013

While a statistically rare event, the murder/manslaughter of an international visitor in Australia can have significant implications for Australian international relations. In particular, questions about international visitor safety that follow the devastating news of murder can have far-reaching consequences for a range of important economic sectors, such as tourism and international student education.

This is an AIC analysis of the homicide of overseas visitors to Australia from 1994-1995 to 2009-2010. 

download: http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/rip/21-40/rip31.html

"First published in 1987, this book discusses white-collar or commercial crime which has grown to be a major issue in our society today. Looking at research from North America and Britain, the book explores the way fraudsters are treated. It draws on various disciplines including Economics, Law, Politics, and Sociology in order to show the frequency and impact of different types of fraud. In this book, Dr. Levi introduces the reader to the key areas of debate: What pressures influence the law on fraud? How do state agencies, self-regulatory bodies, or other professionals police fraud? To what extent are money-laundering and international organized crime breaking down the distinction between policing of the underworld and the upperworld? Dr. Levi concludes with an analysis of national and international policy trends in relation to fraud."

By Michael Levi

January 2013 / 386 pages

HB: 978-0-415-82650-1 / $145. 

By Michael Levi

January 2013 / 386 pages

HB: 978-0-415-82650-1 / $145. 

http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415826501/ 

"The Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso (1835 – 1909) is the single-most important figure in the founding of criminology and the study of aberrant conduct in the human sciences.

The Cesare Lombroso Handbook brings together essays by leading Lombroso scholars and is divided into four main parts, each focusing on a major theme. Part one examines the range and scope of Lombroso’s thinking; the mimetic quality of Lombroso; his texts and their interpretation. The second part explores why his ideas, such as born criminology and atavistic criminals, had such broad appeal. Developing this, the third section considers the manners in which Lombroso’s ideas spread across borders; cultural, linguistic, political and disciplinary, by including essays on the science and literature of opera, ‘La donna delinquente’ and ‘Jewish criminality’. The final part investigates examples of where, and when, his influence extended and explores the reception of Lombroso in the UK, USA, France, China, Spain and the Philippines."

Edited by Paul Knepper and Per Jørgen Ystehede

November 2012 / 372 pages

HB: 978-0-415-50977-0 / $220.

http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415509770/

National Crime Prevention Centre

"On February 11, 2013, the Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, announcedthe next call for proposals for the Communities at Risk: Security Infrastructure Program (SIP) has been launched. This program is designed to help communities at risk of hate-motivated crime improve their security infrastructure, which will help make Canada safer for all Canadians."

http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/prg/cp/sip/index-eng.aspx 

By Tim Newburn

December 2012 / 1,082 pages

PB: 978-0-415-62894-5 

"Criminologyoffers an authoritative introduction to classic and contemporary criminological themes and debates. It is clearly written, accessible and replete with good examples. This textbook will be an indispensable guide to students through the ins and outs of criminology."  —Katya Franko Aas, University of Oslo, Norway

11 February 2013 - UNODC is working with businesses to encourage the development of anti-corruption policies that are aligned with the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) and that strengthen transparency and accountability. As part of these efforts, a certificate programme of the interactive 'The Fight Against Corruption' e-learning tool was recently launched. 

read more: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/frontpage/2013/February/un-and-the-private-sector-tackling-corruption-togetherssador.html

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government has released the  AIC’s Evaluation of the ACT Sexual Assault Reform Program (SARP): Final report, Technical and Background paper 51
By Jessica Anderson, Kelly Richards and Katie Willis

In 2005, the ACT Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) produced the report Responding to sexual assault: The challenge of change (DPP & AFP 2005), which made 105 recommendations for reforming the way sexual offence cases are handled by the ACT’s criminal justice system.

The Sexual Assault Reform Program (SARP) is one key initiative developed in response to these recommendations and is managed by the ACT Government’s Justice and Community Safety Directorate (JACS). The reforms were funded in 2007.

This evaluation of the ACT SARP reforms show that they have provided a useful foundation on which to continue improving services and support for victims/survivors of sexual offences in the ACT. 

The National Reentry Resource Center is hosting a webinar to assist organizations with their 2013 grant applications for the Second Chance Act/Adult Mentoring and Transitional Services for Successful Reentry Program. 

Under this U.S. Department of Justice/Bureau of Justice Assistance grant program, nonprofit organizations and federally recognized Indian tribes are invited to apply to receive up to $300,000 over a two-year period to provide mentoring and transition services to individuals returning from prison or jail. Awards will be made in two categories: general mentoring programs for adult offenders and mentoring programs that focus on adult offenders who are parents, particularly non-custodial parents. Applicants may apply under either category but not both. 

Date: Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET



 

Technical and Background Paper 54; Author: Lubica Forsythe

This report describes and discusses the process and challenges inherent in measuring mental health concerns among alleged offenders in police custody. This report is, in part, informed by the author’s experience as the Site Manager responsible for DUMA data collection in New South Wales from 1999–2010. Her role included evaluating and improving the mental health information collected as part of the DUMA program. 

http://www.aic.gov.au/

UCL SECReT is the £17m international centre for PhD training in security and crime science at University College London, the first centre of its kind in Europe. They offer the most comprehensive integrated PhD programme for students wishing to pursue multidisciplinary security or crime-related research degrees. They recruit  their doctoral students from a range of scientific backgrounds to pursue research in crime or security domains across the engineering and social sciences.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/secret/secret-open/2013-open-evening

Technical and background paper series no.55

Kiah McGregor, Lauren Renshaw, Hannah Andrevski
ISBN 978 1 922009 33 3ISSN 1836-2052
Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, February 2013 

This report presents the findings of a project funded by Victim Support ACT and ACT Policing to examine the experiences of victims referred by police to support services and the operation of the referral process in the ACT. Since the completion of the report in 2009, Victim Support ACT and ACT Policing have used it to facilitate better access to support services for people affected by crime. Following the establishment of the Victims Advisory Board in 2011, the Victims of Crime Commissioner sought the support of the Board to progress matters that had been raised in the report.

The Commissioner was of the view that the Board, having a function to develop and maintain protocols and procedures for the treatment of victims by agencies involved in the administration of justice, was well placed to assist Victim Support ACT and ACT Policing to progress these issues. To assist the Board to perform this function, the report is now being published to allow public access to the information.