Exploring the criminology curriculum

There are calls across Higher Education to address deep structural inequalities withspecific concerns that the marginalisation of certain voices (female, colonised, nonwestern and LGBTQ+) has influenced and distorted the production of knowledge inrelation to key criminological topics and issues (Agozino, 2003; Cunneen and Rowe,2015; Connell, 2007).This article presents initial findings from a pilot study exploring the curriculum of anew criminology Bachelor of Arts degree programme at a post-92 English University.It provides a timely starting point, given the proliferation of HE criminology courses inthe UK, and suggests there is both increasing pressures to develop course materialand over-familiarisation and acceptance of dominant narratives in criminology. Thispaper serves as a call to action to critically engage with the sources used: in sodoing we put forward a simple ‘inclusivity matrix’ that can be used both whendesigning curricula and for teaching critical information literacy

Police understandings of restorative justice—the impact of rank and role

The issue of a disparity between restorative justice theory and restorative practices has been widely examined. Daly argues gaps are to be expected because there is a lack of understanding around what restorative justice is. This research uses qualitative data from four focus groups and ten interviews (n = 41) to examine police officers’ understandings of what restorative justice is, and equally as important, what it is not. Overall findings suggest a continuum of understanding exists across a police force, with higher-ranking officers expressing more nuanced understanding of the theoretical concepts, key values, and fundamental beliefs of restorative justice than frontline practitioners who were more concerned with the practical aspects of how to ‘do it’. This paper will argue that the role of police culture cannot be ignored and that gaps between theory and practice will continue unless the practical considerations in relation to restorative justice are addressed

The implementation of restorative justice policy: a case study of one police force in England and Wales

The implementation and subsequent embedding of restorative justice across a police force is fraught with difficulties, including cultural barriers to reform, structural barriers including management and hierarchy, and practical barriers for those officers tasked with ‘doing’ restorative justice within the confines of traditional criminal justice processes. There is also a lack of consistent understanding across a police force in relation to what restorative justice entails, and as to the key values and principles that underpin it. This thesis analyses the implementation process of restorative justice across one police force in England and Wales. The study sought to understand the key opportunities, constraints and limitations with regards to the implementation of restorative justice policy. It further explored understandings of restorative justice across the force. The force was observed over an eighteen month period from July 2012 to December 2013; access was given to documents, crime recording systems, and other relevant data. Four focus groups were conducted with thirty one participants representing frontline officers from different commands across all four force localities. A further ten interviews were conducted, eight with managers who were members of the restorative justice steering group, one with the Chief Constable and one with the newly-elected Police and Crime Commissioner. The research found evidence of a ‘continuum of understanding’ demonstrating the subtle differences in the ways in which different ranking officers conceptualise restorative justice. The research also identifies some of the key barriers to successful implementation. These factors included a top down implementation process which neglected the role of the community, and failed to empower officers or offer them meaningful involvement in the implementation prompting resistance both from frontline workers and middle management. It also found a great deal of confusion due to mixed messages, and a lack of concrete details which left many officers unable to fully understand and utilise restorative processes. Certain factors were also identified which helped to propel the implementation process. These included strong leadership and a small but significant culture shift across the organisation. The findings of this research are relevant beyond the police force that was the subject of the research and contain important lessons in terms of the roll out of new policy initiatives

BC public libraries take a collaborative step forward in support of service excellence

June Stockdale, Chief Librarian at the Nelson Public Library and Barbara Kelly, Project Manager on behalf of the BC Libraries Cooperative for the Digital Learning Objects Repository, invite everyone to be part of the growing conversation about a new service that will make the sharing of program and training ideas, templates, outlines, and scripts easy and effectiv

Whose voices are prioritised in criminology, and why does it matter?

This paper presents in-depth research into the reading lists used by a new criminology Bachelor of Arts degree programme at a post-92 English University. Previous research into structural inequalities in relation to race, ethnicity, and gender that exist within academia in relation to scholarly outlets, and that have focussed on scholarly influence, have charted the most cited or most significant texts in the field or explored gender and race discrepancies within elements of the publication process. In this paper we explore how scholarly work is included in our teaching practice and the impact reading lists have on the student experience of criminology. We highlight a distinct lack of representation and diversity within the authorship of texts in the context of both core and recommended reading for students. We found reading lists to be overwhelmingly white and male. Work by women and people of colour only tended to feature on distinct modules which focussed on gender or ethnicity, race, and crime. Voices from the global majority are excluded from fundamental concepts and criminological theory modules. This paper will discuss our research findings in depth, highlighting where Black and female voices are neglected, marginalised, and excluded in the criminology curriculum

Using student focus groups and curators to diversify reading lists at Northumbria University

This short paper details interim findings from two small research projects funded by the Education Quality Enhancement Fund (EQEF) at Northumbria University during the academic year 2020/21. The first project used a series of online focus groups with students from ‘Computer and Information Science’ and ‘Criminology’ Departments and worked with them as co-creators reflecting on the diversity of their reading lists, and collaboratively identifying readings that better reflected marginalised voices within their modules. Examining the differences between the subject areas was also an important feature of this research, as was using an ‘Inclusivity Matrix’ (Stockdale & Sweeney, 2019) to facilitate discussion within focus groups. The second project employed a student curator from the participating departments, working with academic staff and the University Library to develop student-led resources including additional reading list and publisher materials, library displays, and the creation of virtual materials such as podcasts and videos in relation to the project, thereby enhancing the development of critical information literacy skills. Interim findings from these 2 projects will be shared, particularly regarding the challenges of researching in a Covid environment, the key outcomes from these projects, and the differences that exist between Arts and STEM departments regarding inclusivity and diversity of curricula and associated reading lists. This research will be of most interest to those working in an academic library sector, but also may appeal to those who are wanting to undertake research using focus groups in an electronic environment or wishing to use a tool such as the ‘Inclusivity Matrix’ to challenge reader viewpoints and enable discussion and debate surrounding the diversity and inclusivity of reading in general

Diversifying the curriculum: Understanding students’ approaches to reading lists and developing student curator roles

This article reports on findings of two small projects aimed at decolonising reading lists and the wider curriculum at Northumbria University. The projects were funded by an internal Educational Quality Enhancement Fund (EQEF) and involved the collaboration of Criminology, and Computer and Information Sciences (CIS) departments, running concurrently. They assumed that reading lists are a fundamental part of the curriculum, and therefore a crucial tool for helping to ensure a diversity of voices in the literature that we share with our students. The first project focused on decolonising the CIS and Criminology curriculum by working with students to understand how they view their readings lists. Online focus groups with students were run, utilising Stockdale and Sweeney’s (2019) intersectionality matrix as a tool to help generate discussion and facilitate student perspectives on the diversity of their reading. The second project recruited two student curators from the CIS and Criminology departments to strengthen and develop areas of the curriculum where marginalised voices were less well represented. These projects were not withoutchallenges, particularly during the time of a global pandemic. There were somecommon themes and also interesting differences between the two subject areas which we consider. This article will share our research findings, discuss challenges faced, and talk through some of the practical steps taken which we hope will be of benefit for those working to decolonise their curriculum

Full thickness epidermal burn from a heating pad on a cesarean incision with silver dressing: a case report

We present a case of a full thickness epidermal burn resulting from an all-natural clay-based heating pad over a cesarean incision silver dressing to bring awareness to the risks associated with nonpharmacologic management of post cesarean pain. There is limited guidance on nonpharmacological management of post cesarean pain. It is important that providers are able to advise their patients about their options, including to be wary of using heating pads on post-cesarean dressings, especially with pain in the early post-partum period