Carceral Experiences of White-Collar Offenders: Qualitative Research Design Utilising the Offender-Based Definition and Pierre Bourdieu ’s Capital Theory
This study attempts to advance the current state of research by utilising Bourdieu ’s capital theory in the description and explanation of the prison experience of a sample of 13 politicians, businesspersons, and lawyers serving prison terms for corruption and embezzlement in Poland. Deductive analysis of semi-structured interviews reveals how participants used social, cultural, and symbolic capital to secure an advantageous position whilst in prison. Due to varied assets such as their non-criminal identity, interpersonal skills and legal knowledge, the incarcerated elites studied were able to curry favour with guards, w...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - June 15, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
Exploring the social implications of buying and selling cyber security
AbstractGovernments, businesses, private citizens and even organised crime are increasingly investing in cyber security, with the cyber security industry growing in size and relevance. This paper demonstrates that markets for the buying and selling of cyber security should be subject to many of the same critical inquiries typically targeted at the private security industry. Using a number of illustrative examples of emerging trends in the commodification of cyber security it will be highlighted how these markets create significant social impacts and present similar dilemmas of democracy, justice, sovereignty, and deleterio...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - June 10, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
Institutional corruption in the criminal justice system: The case of Ferguson
This article argues that criminal justice scholars should import the theory of institutional corruption from political science to make sense of a distinct set of problems in the criminal justice system. To make this argument, this article examines the case of Ferguson, Missouri. In Ferguson, the city ’s mandate to maximize revenue generation had a corrosive effect on the day-to-day policies and practices of both the Ferguson Police Department and the municipal court, leading to aggressive policing, excessive fines, and a number of unfair and unconstitutional practices. Framed as a problem of i nstitutional corruption, th...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - June 1, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
Are women less corrupt than men? Evidence from Ghana
This study aims to answer two key questions: (1) are women more or less likely than men to engage in bribery? And (2) are women more or less likely than men to believe that one can report corruption without reta liation? Our results show that, compared to men, women are less likely to offer bribes, and they are also less likely to believe that one can report corruption without retaliation. Since women are less likely to engage in bribery, it is recommended that women’s representation in positions of power be increased. (Source: Crime, Law and Social Change)
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - May 30, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
The Holocaust and Disciplinary Myopia in Criminology and Sociology: Social injury as a response to the challenges of legal formalism
AbstractCriminological and sociological discourse recognizes the impact of structure on crime, but generally eschews the consideration of structural damage and human suffering emanating from malevolent social movements (e.g., the Holocaust). Legal formalism presents conceptual challenges that has hindered analysis of harmful macroscopic phenomena, as it created jurisprudential impediments to be surmounted by the architects of the Nuremberg Tribunals. In considering these issues, a new ‘dark figure’ is identified that is compatible with phenomena examined from the social harm perspective, and to remediate disciplinary m...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - May 27, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
A color-blind Lens: public perceptions of systemic racism in the criminal justice system
AbstractExtensive research has explored public confidence in the criminal justice system and opinions about punishment, but less research has explored attitudes about criminal justice errors, including error related to race and racism. Drawing on the theory of colorblind racism, the current study examines attitudes about whether systemic racism exists in the criminal justice system and, if so, how the issue can best be addressed. Specifically, we examine the rhetoric respondents use to describe the role of systemic racism in the criminal justice system, paying particular attention to the presence of colorblind rhetorical f...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - May 14, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
Tax evasion and illicit cigarettes in California: prevalence and demand-side correlates
This study examines survey data from adult cigarette smokers in California at a time when prices and taxes had been fairly stable for many years. Even with no recent price shocks in the market, the results indicate that one-third of cigarette packs may lack a valid tax stamp and that between 18 and 25% of smokers avoided taxes by bringing cigarettes into the state from elsewhere in the past month (36% in the past year). Over 10% of packs were purchased for a suspiciously low price and 24 –32% of smokers think they might have bought untaxed cigarettes in the past month. Furthermore, 20% think they may have consumed counte...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - May 13, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
“You’re a product of your environment for sure”: Correctional educators on their perceptions of and contributions to prison social climate
AbstractMost criminal justice research pertaining to social climate in U.S. prisons has focused on the experiences of incarcerated people and correctional officers, with no studies to our knowledge that explore correctional educators ’ significant contributions to prison social climate. Utilizing results from semi-structured interviews and participant observation with correctional educators in institutions managed by eight different state prison administrations, the present study fills this knowledge gap by examining two quest ions. First, how do correctional educators characterize the life experiences and motivations of...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - May 1, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
Beyond assumptive deterrence: understanding the socio-environmental dynamics in crimes by Christian clerics and its implications for crime control
AbstractEmerging reports are increasingly implicating Christian clerics in array of unlawful and criminal behaviours, thus questioning the deterrence efficacy of Christianity as a religious body in contemporary times. Nevertheless, criminological debates on religion-crime nexus, aside terrorism, continue to be founded on deterrence assumption – the premises that religion promotes morally responsive citizens. We argued that this assumption neglects the role of socio-environmental dynamics in molding religion-crime outcomes from a strain perspective. Anchored on General Strain theory, this study acknowledged the paradox of...
Source: Crime, Law and Social Change - May 1, 2022 Category: Criminology Source Type: research
