Doctors outwith borders: Reflections on academic activism and influence

This is a subjective, reflexive piece on academic activism and influence. It harnesses personal reflections to identify issues and opportunities involved in engaging with others in pursuit of change. In some but not all cases, our work as criminologists and sociologists and, indeed, our lives can be enriched by participatory public engagement, including in social movements. Excellence in published criminology and sociology can be nourished and reciprocally influenced by a calibre of public criminology and sociology, knowing and being known by diverse citizens, publics and parliaments, working to build better futures and more just and civil societies, together. Yet, sometimes our moral and political convictions and participation in social movements may or may not have direct links with our research, academic CV, institutional affiliation, or disciplinary field. Sometimes they amalgamate facets of our lives and intellectual commitments in hyphenated or hybridised ways. Ethical and, indeed, effectual academic activism and influence is prudently anchored in academic citizenship and service, in a civic commitment to justice and human flourishing. For criminologists, this means a commitment that may transcend a narrow focus on criminal justice. Academic citizenship is an important opportunity to listen, learn and lead. Meaningful influence rarely abides in esoteric echo chambers. Insularity, indifference or inaction are not desirable outworkings of sociological and criminological imaginations, nor are they noble uses of academic freedom, time, voice, capital or power. For me, citizenship and a civic commitment to justice looks like something.&nbsp

Expert working group report on electronic monitoring in Scotland

First paragraph: Since its inception in Scotland in 2002, the uses of electronic monitoring (EM) have been relatively simple, standardized and stable, with only one type of technology – radio frequency tagging – used in combination with curfews. Importantly, nearly all uses of EM in Scotland have been stand-alone, meaning no offender supervision requirements for those on EM court orders or on early release from prison with a Home Detention Curfew. Criminal justice social workers (the Scottish equivalent of probation officers) and third sector services have had little involvement with supporting monitored people to date. This is set to change

Apps, Tags, Tracks: Ten Questions about Uses of Technology in Probation

This is an article by Dr. Hannah Graham, Senior Lecturer in Criminology in the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR), Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Stirling, Scotland. In this article, Dr. Hannah Graham explores some of the issues and questions she raised in her plenary presentation at the Confederation of European Probation (CEP) European Electronic Monitoring conference in Zagreb, Croatia in April 2018. At the conference, Hannah presented and co-led a workshop alongside Deborah Thompson from the Dutch Probation Service on innovative uses of apps and electronic monitoring technologies in probation. Technology, especially electronic monitoring (EM) technology, has been used in some probation and community justice settings for decades. Yet with the advent of more options and emerging potential to integrate different functions, a myriad of questions arise. These questions are not so much about practicalities such as battery life or losing internet and satellite signal in rural areas, but are more focused on the ‘who?’, ‘what?’ and ‘why?’ questions of using technology in probation

Seasons, Senses, Spaces: Discerning the Social Choreography of the Penal Field

Considering the penal field, including its practices and cultures, creates space for simultaneous (self) reflection on ourselves as criminological actors (and our respective disciplinary allegiances, cultures and ‘habitus’ as Bourdieu would say, as ‘seers’ and ‘knowers’ of the penal field). The leitmotif of this COST Action network is its culture. It encompasses a remarkable and rare combination of productivity, creativity, empirical integrity, and epistemological humility. I affirm Prof Stef’ Decoene's observation that a palpable sense of joy and camaraderie exists among COST network researchers, creating a special atmosphere infrequently observed in other academic forums of the same size. In the following sub-sections, I summarise some of the network’s compelling characteristics and contributions across three inter-related spheres, using the metaphors of ‘seasons’, ‘senses’ and ‘spaces’. Interwoven within this is a reflexive critique of what I see as some of the wider issues affecting criminology and criminal justice research, demarcating why the work of this COST Action network is distinctive

Evaluation of Stem-Loop Reverse Transcription and Poly-A Tail Extension in MicroRNA Analysis of Body Fluids

MicroRNA has been demonstrated to be a viable tool for body fluid identification purposes in forensic casework. Stem-loop reverse transcription (slRT) is regularly used for cDNA synthesis from mature miRNA, along with poly-A tail extension. Both have been used in a forensic context, but no direct comparison has been carried out. It has also not been shown whether poly-A tail extension can be used upon DNA extracts, as previously shown with slRT. Blood and saliva samples were collected and underwent DNA extraction with or without on-column DNA digestion. All samples were then aliquoted and underwent slRT and poly-A tail extension separately. qPCR was then conducted targeting microRNA markers hsa-miR-451 and hsa-miR-205. It was shown that the DNA digestion step did not affect the ability to differentiate between blood and saliva. It was also shown that this differentiation was possible using poly-A tail extension, and that poly-A tail extension exhibited more amplification than slRT. So whilst the choice of slRT and poly-A tail extension for the purpose of forensic body fluid identification is not critical, it may be best to use poly-A tail extension, particularly where there are low traces of sample

Dr Hannah Graham on Australian leadership: Integrity, relational leadership and tenacious courage of conviction

Hannah Graham talks to Victor Perton about Australian Leadership. Criminologist, author and university lecturer Dr Hannah Graham was born in Tasmania and studied and worked at the University of Tasmania, before moving to Scotland to work in the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research at the University of Stirling. Hannah has worked on justice and health-related projects with the EU, the Scottish Government, the Australian Government and Tasmanian Government, and she does ongoing research and writing on innovation and justice. Connect to Hannah on Twitter: @DrHannahGraham and @Innovative_Jus

From the periphery to a priority: changing uses of electronic monitoring in Australia

First paragraph: Dynamics in criminal justice are changing in Australia, with electronic monitoring in the national spotlight after decades of low-profile use on the periphery. This is partly compelled by domestic abuse as a highly visible political priority and a 12 year National Plan to reduce violence against women and children

Pyrrhic Liturgy (Poem)

A poem about the enculturated rhetoric, rituals and degradation ceremonies within tabloid news cycles and consumption, and the costliness of their collateral consequences

Innovation and Criminal Justice: Editorial Introduction to the Special Issue on 'Innovation', December 2017

This Special Issue of the European Journal of Probation considers examples and influences of innovation within criminal justice and community contexts. It offers some timely and insightful contributions from different countries to broader discussions of innovation in this field, a multi-faceted topic which piques significant interest but has perhaps not yet received the level of sustained critical analytical engagement it warrants. This editorial introduction critically reflects on a series of questions and problematisations of innovation and criminal justice. Questions about the forms and functions (‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘how’) of innovation in criminal justice should not be divorced from questions about its architects and beneficiaries, including their intentions and ideologies (‘who’ and ‘why’). Following this, a brief overview of the Special Issue is provided. There is much more yet to be done, as well as celebrated in this area