Reflections on a long career in criminology
| Author | David Biles |
| DOI | 10.1177/0004865815585394 |
| Published date | 01 December 2015 |
| Date | 01 December 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Australian & New Zealand
Journal of Criminology
2015, Vol. 48(4) 449–462
!The Author(s) 2015
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DOI: 10.1177/0004865815585394
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Article
Reflections on a long career
in criminology
David Biles
Semi-retired Consultant Criminologist, Canberra, Australia
Abstract
On the occasion of receiving the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology
Distinguished Criminologist Award, David Biles reflects on his long career in criminology
and a number of criminal justice agencies. He reviews the establishment of the ANZSOC in
1967, suggesting that it was both premature and serendipitous. He notes particularly the
central role of Allen Bartholomew at that time and for the next 13 years. He comments on
the changing nature of the membership of ANZSOC and regrets the intellectual separation of
academic criminologists and criminal justice professionals that has (perhaps unavoidably)
developed. He offers some comments on the membership of the Society and its journal,
and suggests a number of issues that he believes deserve more attention and research.
Keywords
Allen Bartholomew, ANZSOC, Australia and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, crimin-
ology, international links, public attitudes, research
Introduction
Criminology, as a subject taught in universities, was a relatively late starter in Australia
with only small numbers of students attending classes in both Sydney and Melbourne,
and perhaps even smaller numbers in Brisbane, when in October 1967 the Australian and
New Zealand Society was created at a meeting in the Japanese Room of the Architecture
Building of the University of Melbourne. The meeting was chaired by the Honourable
Sir John Barry, Senior Judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria. He was then also the
Chairman of the Adult Parole Board of Victoria (the first in Australia) and Chair of
the Board of Studies in Criminology at the university.
1
The factors that led to this
meeting are of some interest, as it must have been obvious to any independent observer
that the creation of a new society was extremely premature, even though, as far as I am
aware, no one expressed this view at that time. Criminology then had only a very small
place in two universities and yet it was seriously suggested that a scholarly society and
journal were needed.
Corresponding author:
David Biles, 25 Kidston Crescent, Curtin, Canberra, ACT 2605, Australia.
Email: biles@netspeed.com.au
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