Bad apples, bad barrel: Exploring institutional responses to child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in Australia

This paper considers constructions of institutional culture and power in the cover-up of child sexual abuse (CSA) by clergy in the Roman Catholic Church of Australia. The issue of cover-up has previously been considered in international inquiries as an institutional failing that has caused significant harm to victims of CSA by Catholic Clergy. Evidence given by select representatives of the Catholic Church in two government inquiries into institutional abuse carried out in Australia is considered here. This evidence suggests that, where cover-up has occurred, it has been reliant on the abuse of institutional power and resulted in direct emotional, psychological and spiritual harm to victims of abuse. Despite international recognition of cover-up as institutional abuse, evidence presented by Roman Catholic Representatives to the Victorian Inquiry denied there was an institutionalised cover-up. Responding to this evidence, this paper queries whether the primary foundation of cover-up conforms to the ‘bad apple theory’ in that it relates only to a few individuals, or the ‘bad barrel theory’ of institutional structure and culture.

Tactics of antifeminist backlash against the U. S. battered women's movement

Opposition to men’s violence against women who are their intimate partners has become politically popular in the United States. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has enjoyed broad-based support for over 15 years. VAWA has been refined and expanded with each reauthorization. Resistance to the battered women’s movement is often overlooked in this political context. However, woman abuse and state responses to it are mired in cultural tensions about crime, law, gender, economics, scholarship, and the family. Based on interviews with 35 advocates in the United States, this paper outlines key tactics of antifeminist backlash against the battered women’s movement.

Criminological research and institutional ethics protocols : empowering the indigenous other or the academy?

Indigenous commentators have long critiqued the way in which government agencies and member of academic institutions carry out research in their social context. Recently, these commentators have turned their critical gaze upon activities of Research Ethics Boards(REBs). Informed by the reflections on research processes and by Indigenous Canadian and New Zealand research participants, as well as the extant literature, this paper critiques the processes employed by New Zealand REBs to assess Indigenous‐focused or Indigenous‐led research in the criminological realm.

The rurality of sex : community resistance and objection to prostitution in rural and regional areas throughout Queensland

Queensland legislation currently defines two legally recognised forms of prostitution: sex work conducted in a licensed brothel; or, sex work conducted privately by a sole operator.Despite prostitution’s legality in these contexts, it continues to be heavily controlled and restricted by authorities, while also being rejected by surrounding communities. Such resistance towards prostitution is demonstrated in Queensland where over 200 towns with populations of less than 25,000 have been successful in applying for exemption from the development of licensed brothels in those jurisdictions (Prostitution Licensing Authority 2012). Queensland’s legislative acknowledgement of prostitution as a legal act, while simultaneously allowing small communities to reject such activity, seems somewhat contradictory. This paper will provide a theoretical examination of common community objections to prostitution in modern society, determining whether such attitudes are applicable to communities in rural and regional Queensland towns. Additionally, this paper will incorporate an analysis of rural and urban areas via the ‘gemeinschaft‐gesellschaft’ dichotomy to understand the potential justification for opposing areas being subject to differential treatment under the law.

A cisgender girl in a transgender world : The methodological challenges of researching in the transgender community

The available research literature on intimate partner violence is often centred around a heteronormative understanding of gender, relationships and violence. When it comes to intimate partner violence in the transgender community, the research is limited or nonexistent due in part to the methodological issues of visibility and access by those outside this community. Drawing from Renzetti (1992, 1995), McClennen (2003), and the feminist participatory research model, this paper examines the techniques for overcoming the methodological barriers as a cisgender or 'normatively gendered' woman in a transgender community. Throughout the research with the transgender community, five strategies for overcoming methodological barriers were developed: Cultural Immersion, Commitment and Visibility, Sensitivity and Acceptance, Honesty, and Communication. This paper explores how utilising these strategies enabled access to the transgender community in order to conduct effective research.

Australian Aboriginal English and cultural conceptions : can they affect policing?

It is well established that there are inherent difficulties involved in communicating across cultural boundaries. When these difficulties are encountered within the justice system the innocent can be convicted and witnesses undermined. A large amount of research has been undertaken regarding the implications of miscommunication within the courtroom but far less has been carried out on language and interactions between police and Indigenous Australians. It is necessary that officers of the law be made aware of linguistic issues to ensure they conduct their investigations in a fair, effective and therefore ethical manner. This paper draws on Cultural Schema Theory to illustrate how this could be achieved. The justice system is reliant upon the skills and knowledge of the police, therefore, this paper highlights the need for research to focus on the linguistic and non‐verbal differences between Australian Aboriginal English and Australian Standard English in order to develop techniques to facilitate effective communication.

Brighter lights on Capital Hill? Speculations upon federal framing and policy analysis of Indigenous issues

Postwar Australian social policy has occurred within neoliberal, social-conservative and social democratic ideational frameworks. Recent perceptions vary from concern about high levels of public spending, through disquiet about cultural change, to fear that government inaction is ignoring community needs and creating fractious and unhealthy social conditions. this paper examines these alternate ideological influences as they could affect Indigenous Australians with a focus on the values and approaches that might lead logically to desirable outcomes. effective policy requires clarity and compatibility between government thinking and the social values of Indigenous people. At issue is how the objectives of policy for Indigenous citizens might be determined.

Domestic violence and family law : criminological concerns

The battered women’s movement in the United States contributed to a sweeping change in the recognition of men’s violence against female intimate partners. Naming the problem and arguing in favor if its identification as a serious problem meriting a collective response were key aspects of this effort. Criminal and civil laws have been written and revised in an effort to answer calls to take such violence seriously. Scholars have devoted significant attention to the consequences of this reframing of violence, especially around the unintended outcomes of the incorporation of domestic violence into criminal justice regimes. Family law, however, has remained largely unexamined by criminologists. This paper calls for criminological attention to family law responses to domestic violence and provides directions for future research.

Speaking too soon : the sabotage of bail reform in New South Wales

Within just over one month of coming into operation in May 2014, the new Bail Act 2013 (NSW), a product of long-term law reform consideration, was reviewed and then amended after talk-back radio ‘shock jock’ and tabloid newspaper outcry over three cases. This article examines the media triggers, the main arguments of the review conducted by former New South Wales (NSW) Attorney General John Hatzistergos, and the amendments, with our analysis of the judicial interpretation of the Act thus far providing relevant background. We argue that the amendments are premature, unnecessary, create complexity and confusion, and, quite possibly, will have unintended consequences: in short, they are a mess. The whole process of reversal is an example of law and order politics driven by the shock jocks and tabloid media, the views of which, are based on fundamental misconceptions of the purpose of bail and its place in the criminal process, resulting in a conflation of accusation, guilt and punishment. Other consequences of the review and amendments process recognised in this article include the denigration of judicial expertise and lack of concern with evidence and process; the disproportionate influence of the shock jocks, tabloids and Police Association of NSW on policy formation; the practice of using retired politicians to produce ‘quick fix’ reviews; and the political failure to understand and defend fundamental legal principles that benefit us all and are central to the maintenance of a democratic society and the rule of law. The article concludes with some discussion of ways in which media and political debate might be conducted to produce more balanced outcomes.

‘Only a pawn in their game’ : crime, risk and politics in the case of Robert Fardon

In 2003 Robert Fardon was the first prisoner to be detained under the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003 (Qld), the first of the new generation preventive detention laws enacted in Australia and directed at keeping sex offenders in prison or under supervision beyond the expiry of their sentences where a court decides, on the basis of psychiatric assessments, that unconditional release would create an unacceptable risk to the community. A careful examination of Fardon’s case shows the extent to which the administration of the regime was from the outset governed by politics and political calculation rather than the logic of risk management and community protection. In 2003 Robert Fardon was the first person detained under the Dangerous Prisoners (Sexual Offenders) Act 2003 (Qld) (hereafter DPSOA), a newly enacted Queensland law aimed at the preventive detention of sex offenders. It was the first of a new generation of such laws introduced in Australia, now also in force in NSW, Western Australia and Victoria. The laws have been widely criticized by lawyers, academics and others (Keyzer and McSherry 2009; Edgely 2007). In this article I want to focus on the details of how the Queensland law was administered in Fardon’s case, he being perhaps the most well-known prisoner detained under such laws and certainly the longest held. It will show, I hope, that seemingly abstract rule of law principles invoked by other critics are not simply abstract: they afford a crucial practical safeguard against the corruption of criminal justice in which the ends both of community protection and of justice give way to opportunistic exploitation of ‘the mythic resonance of crime and punishment for electoral purposes’ (Scheingold 1998: 888).

Towards equalisation of the impact of the penal fine : why the wealth of the offender was taken into account

Important changes in the legal regulation of the fine culminated in the implementation of the day‐fine system in many European countries during the twentieth century. These changes resulted from various late nineteenth century rationalities that considered the fine a justifiable punishment. Therefore, they supported extending its application by making it affordable for people on low incomes, which meant imprisonment for fine default could mostly be avoided without undermining the end of punishment. In this paper I investigate the historical development of the penal fine as well as the changing forms of this penalty in Western European criminal systems from the end of the eighteenth century until the late nineteenth century.

Green criminology : reflections, connections, horizons

This paper traces aspects of the development of a ‘green’ criminology. It starts with personal reflections and then describes the emergence of explicit statements of a green criminological perspective. Initially these statements were independently voiced, in different parts of the world but they reflected shared concerns. These works have found unification as a ‘green’, ‘eco-global’ or ‘conservation’ criminology. The paper reviews the classifications available when talking about not only legally-defined crimes but also legally perpetrated harms, as well as typologies of such harms and crimes. It then looks at the integration of ‘green’ and ‘traditional’ criminological thinking before briefly exploring four dimensions of concern for today and the future.

Claire Renzetti (2013) Feminist Criminology. London, UK:Routledge

Feminist Criminology, a recent addition to the suite of slimline Key Ideas in Criminology Series (Routledge), captures and retrospectively unpacks the complexity, diversity and essence of feminist criminology. Claire Renzetti provides a rich, engaging and thought‐provoking account, taking the reader on a journey encompassing the historical, legal, sociological and psychological dimensions that examine the context, synergies and disjunctions among past, present and future feminist criminologies. Her unique approach considers the micro and macro dimensions of, and impact within, the discipline, academy, criminal justice system and society more broadly. Emphasising the fluidity underpinning feminist perspectives, Renzetti contends that ‘there is no single unitary perspective in criminology’, with feminist criminology offering ‘a diverse collection of theoretical perspectives and methods’ (p. 99). Opting for the path less travelled and rejecting the marginalising of feminist criminology with the notional ‘add and stir’ approach, Renzetti advocates moving beyond a tolerance approach to one that embeds analyses of gender, ‘race’ and class within mainstream criminological research paradigms. Charting the development of feminist criminology from the 1970s to the present, Renzetti offers ‘an assessment of criminology’s potential for shaping the future of our discipline’ and the practice of criminal justice (p. 1). Feminist Criminology is organised into five chapters, each progressing concise summaries of feminist approaches, contributions to criminological practice, and shifting academic landscapes; the text concludes with an appraisal of future directions for feminist criminology.

What is racism? Othering, prejudice and hate-motivated violence

The paper’s concern is the current difficulty, in journalism, the academy and politics, of discussing questions to do with race, ethnicity, difference and immigration because of the fear of being called a racist. It starts with an analysis of biographical interview data drawn from fifteen people who had variously acquired the label racist and who were part of a small-scale study into racism in the Midlands city of Stoke-on-Trent, UK conducted between 2003 and 2005. The interviews used the free association narrative interview method. This analysis revealed that most people do not consider themselves racist and that having a conviction for a racially aggravated offence or being a member of a far right organisation was not able to differentiate racists from non-racists. It also revealed a spectrum of attitudes towards immigrants or particular ethnic groups: strong expressions of hatred at one end of the spectrum; strong prejudicial feelings in the middle; and a feeling that ‘outsider’ groups should not benefit at the expense of ‘insiders’ (called ‘othering’) at the other end. The turn to theory for assistance revealed that, although hatred, prejudice and ‘othering’ are not the same thing, and do not have the same origins, they have become elided. This is primarily because cognitive psychology’s hostility to psychoanalysis marginalised hatred whilst its exclusive preoccupation with prejudice came effectively to define racism at the individual level. Progress in thinking about racism might consist of abolishing the term and returning to thinking about hatred, prejudice and ‘othering’ separately.

Critical criminological understandings of adult pornography and woman abuse: New progressive directions in research and theory

There is a small, but growing, social scientific literature on the racist and violent nature of contemporary adult pornography. However, considerably more empirical and theoretical work needs to be done to advance a critical criminological understanding of how such hurtful sexual media contribute to various forms of woman abuse in intimate relationships. The main objective of this article is to briefly review the relevant literature and to suggest a few new progressive empirical and theoretical directions.