Editorial
| Pages | 1-2 |
| Published date | 13 March 2017 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRPP-12-2016-0032 |
| Date | 13 March 2017 |
| Author | Jane L. Ireland,Philip Birch |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology |
Jane L. Ireland and Philip Birch
We commence this issue with an academically timely paper considering sexual harassment
against women and girls on public transport. The location of such harassment is surprisingly
under-researched. The authors address the topic by adopting a thorough and very well handled
rapid evidence assessment that revealed some rather stark findings; these include estimates of
such harassment as high as 95 per cent in some studies and differences across locations.
Their reflectionon the latter is a particularlyhelpful one since it capturesthe concept of public space
being male dominated in some cultures and relates it to more structured forms of segregations
(e.g. the development of Ghettos). Indeed, this is a helpful aspect of this review sincethe authors
do not aim to simply present the descriptive findings but also highlight why these findings may
occur. As with mostnovel reviews it leaves more unansweredquestions than answered and this is
a positive element since it can serve only to drive future research. Questions for future research
should focus on whetheror not men are likely to experiencesuch harassment; whether the aging
population are more at risk; and what prevents victims from reporting.
Continuing with victimisation, the edition then moves to domestic violence victims and the belief
systems held by them. The contribution of this paper lies in the focus on subjective experiences
and in doing so recognises the importance of the victim in this process of abuse. The victim is
essentially provided with a voice that allows them to contribute to the process of understanding
how such aggression occurs and is maintained, without serving to victim-blame. This is an
important area to capture and one that is being recognised more widely in the risk assessment
literature where risk assessments are no longer done “to”victims but with them in recognition of
what their unique treatment and support needs may be. One particularly interesting belief that
emerged from this research was negative attitudes towards police and other agencies and how
this often has a basis in early negative experiences as children and adolescents; resolving such
attitudes are vital if we wantto protect and support victims. Perhaps an interesting next step with
such research,and an issue carrying over from the previous paper,is how to capturemale victims
in this research. Thefocus in the current paper is on women and we continueto know little about
the male victims of such aggression and how best to support them.
Following this contribution is one on the association between crime and economic influence in
India, a paper that perhaps serves as a showcase for the wide range of methodologies that
JCRPP publishes on. Using econometric tools and capturing a database exceeding 30 years,
the paper argues for an association between offending and economic affluence in India, most
notably for violent crime across the long term. Perhaps the most interesting element of this paper
is the value in utilising data sets from such extended periods of time, with the authors able to
demonstrate a noted relationship across the long-term but not the short-term. The paper also
makes very good use of theory, particularly strain and control theory, to demonstrate notonly the
existence of an association but also to offer some tentative explanation as to why it occurs.
The need to expand the study to other countries is clear, most notably by capturing long term as
opposed to short term or mid-term data sets.
The edition then progresses to more discrete topics, with deception the focus of the next paper,
specifically the validation of the Paulhus Deception Scales and its association with personality.
This is very much an evolving field of study and those familiar with the deception scales will
recognise its predecessor to be social desirability. However, social desirability is at a
disadvantage as a concept alongside deception as it sounds less interesting. The current study
is undoubtedly of value and more as a result of its focus on a general population since there can
be a tendency to focus on forensic samples, which are not normally distributed when considering
deception. The study also uses advanced analyses (SEM –exploratory) to consider the structure
DOI 10.1108/JCRPP-12-2016-0032 VOL. 3 NO. 1 2017, pp.1-2, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2056-3841
j
JOURNAL OF CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH, POLICY AND PRACTICE
j
PAGE 1
Editorial
To continue reading
Request your trial