Journal of Criminology (formerly Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology)

Publisher:: Sage Publications, Inc.
Publication date:: 2021-08-12

ISBN:: 0004-8658

Issue Number

No. 57-2, June 2024

Latest documents

Integrating standard and network psychometrics to assess the quality of prison life in Serbia
In the present research, we analysed the properties of the Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) survey in Serbia; it assesses five dimensions of prisoners’ well-being (harmony, professionalism, security, conditions and family contact, and well-being and development) composed of 21 narrow scales. The participants were 650 prisoners serving sentences in five prisons. Reliabilities (measured by both Cronbach's alphas and test–retest correlations) were high for most narrow scales and excellent for global scales. Confirmatory factor analysis showed a satisfactory fit of the model although the MQPL dimensions showed high intercorrelations (indicating elevated informational redundancy). The validity of the scales was established by detecting positive correlations with the WHOQOL-BREF quality of life scale and by capturing the differences between the five prisons in which the data were collected. We used network analysis to detect the most central nodes in MQPL: analysis on the dimension level revealed that harmony, professionalism, and well-being and development had high centrality. Estimating the network on the level of narrow scales demonstrated that prisoners’ well-being, organisation and consistency in prison activities, and help and assistance from prison staff were central aspects of their quality of life. Therefore, the present findings show that MQPL scales have high reliability and validity, the model fits the empirical data, and the central aspects of prisoners’ quality of life are identified; at the same time, we also analysed the limitations of MQPL. In general, the results suggest that MQPL is a valuable tool for assessing the quality of life and social climate in prisons.
Book Review: Public sector criminological research: The Australian Institute of Criminology, 1972–2002 by Russell Smith
Intimate partner homicide in New Zealand, 2004–2019. Risk markers, demographic patterns, and prevalence
Intimate partner homicide (IPH) is a worldwide scourge and a topic of great interest in New Zealand, but its patterns and prevalence have not been quantified and compared to those in other comparable countries such as Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Using a data set of the 187 IPH cases known to have occurred in New Zealand over 16 years, 174 of which involved current or former marriage (including de facto marriage) partners, we present analyses demonstrating the following. As in other comparable countries, a large majority of IPH victims are women, and the wife's youth, spousal age disparity, and de facto marriage are all associated with elevated risk. New Zealand is also unexceptional with respect to gross IPH rates, a very high incidence of recent marital separation as a trigger for male violence, a substantial incidence of offender suicide when the perpetrators are men but not when they are women and an overrepresentation of stepfamilies among the spousal cases. Despite frequent claims that New Zealand is exceptional in the magnitude of its intimate partner violence problem, the true picture is strikingly similar to that in other comparable countries.
“Living with life”: Experiences of families of people serving a life sentence in Western Australia
This paper contributes to the growing body of scholarship related to the impact of imprisonment on families, from the particular perspective of parents, siblings and other close relatives of people serving a life sentence. We argue that those family members are often overlooked in research and service provision, while bearing the burden of the association with the offender. This is particularly problematic for relatives of life sentenced prisoners, having to cope with the seriousness of the offence, and the uncertainty of the perspectives of release. Based on 17 interviews conducted in Western Australia, we discuss family members’ confrontation with and experiences throughout the criminal justice system. We report on how they manage to “live with life” and which coping mechanisms they developed. Our findings call for more investment into the matter, to generate a scholarship for a better understanding of and supporting initiatives for those close relatives.
Foreign national prisoners, discrimination and race relations in Irish prisons
Recent reports have highlighted the discriminatory treatment endured by foreign national prisoners (FNPs) in particular Irish prisons, but one key voice has been relatively absent from the discourse to date – the perspectives of the prisoners themselves. This article aims to complement these “top-down” perspectives with a comprehensive “bottom-up” analysis rooted in the experiences of 82 FNPs and explore the extent to which they were subject to racism, discrimination and differential treatment by prison staff and fellow inmates across eight Irish prisons. The article begins by outlining the methodology of the qualitative study. It then presents our findings in two parts. The first part focuses on FNPs’ personal views of their relationships with staff in Irish prisons. The second part explores the extent to which these FNPs interact with Irish prisoners and prisoners from other jurisdictions. The article reveals that forming relationships with staff and fellow inmates is challenging for certain FNPs due to racial prejudice, language barriers and segregation based on nationality.
Lived experiences at the intersection: Understanding the overlap of family violence and mental health for victim-survivors and consumers in Victoria, Australia
Family violence and mental health are pervasive and wicked problems, and the state of Victoria (Australia) has emphasised these areas of focus through two dedicated Royal Commissions. Despite the increased prioritisation of mental health and family violence and recognition of existing systems and policy failures, research into the overlap of these two areas remains limited. This article examines the unique and elevated risk factors of mental health consumers experiencing coercive control and poor system experiences/intervention outcomes as victim-survivors. Utilising lived experience accounts from the Royal Commission into Family Violence and the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System, this study qualitatively analyses 60 submissions and draws compelling parallels between consumer and victim-survivor experiences, and examines how they intersect at critical junctures to exacerbate risk. The findings suggest that mental health consumers have existing experiences and identity aspects that put them at high risk of being targeted by coercive control and experiencing unique tactics of abuse related to their mental health diagnoses. This article highlights that lived experience expertise is essential for bridging the gap in policy and practice.
The contribution of domestic and family violence death reviews in Australia: From recommendations to reform?
A key aim of domestic violence death reviews (DVDRs) is to recommend improvements to domestic violence service responses, thereby preventing future domestic violence-related deaths. However, there is little scholarship examining the implementation of DVDR recommendations. This study analyses all recommendations made by two Australian DVDR bodies, from the time of each body's establishment until September 2023, alongside government responses and implementation information. Our findings show that despite high levels of initial government acceptance of DVDR recommendations there remains a considerable implementation gap. We consider implementation barriers, suggest improvements to recommendation monitoring and identify areas for future research.
The case for small-scale, community-integrated, therapeutic facilities: Utility and feasibility for policy transfer to the Victorian youth justice system
Several jurisdictions around the world have recognised that meaningful youth justice reform is more likely to be achieved when moving away from the reliance on large-scale conventional youth justice detention institutions. Small-scale, community-integrated, therapeutic facilities (referred to as “community-integrated facilities”) are more likely to provide an opportunity to facilitate systemic reforms that are necessary to improve outcomes for justice-involved young people, reduce institutional violence, and ultimately improve public safety. Based on recent reforms in the Netherlands, this article aims to describe the potential benefits and feasibility of implementing community-integrated facilities with a specific focus on Victoria, Australia. We will do so by considering the key operational elements and facilitators to implementation as identified previously in an evaluation of the Dutch reforms. While this article involves a single specific context, as a case study it may nevertheless illuminate implications for other jurisdictions considering similar policy transfer activities.
Task persistence as a competency capable of reducing delinquency in early to mid-adolescence
In an effort to understand the segment of the juvenile population that seemingly ceases engaging in delinquency during adolescence, the relationship between a performance competency (task persistence) and offending was explored in 3,928 youth (2,005 boys and 1,923 girls) from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Three waves of data, with adjacent time periods separated by two years, were used to test the hypothesis that a change in task persistence would correlate with a change in future delinquency. Given that the two dependent variables in this study (delinquency at Time 2 and delinquency at Time 3) followed a negative binomial distribution, negative binomial regression and binomial logistic regression analyses were performed. Results from both analyses confirmed the hypothesis that a rise in task persistence from Time 1 to Time 2 would predict a decrease in delinquency from Time 1 to Time 2 to Time 3 and that a static measure of task persistence at Time 1 would predict a change in delinquency from Time 1 to Time 2. These results suggest that task persistence may be a competency capable of suppressing delinquency during a developmental period in which delinquency ordinarily rises.
Public views of sexual assault, and its prevention, in residential aged care facilities