Representing the riots: the (mis)use of statistics to sustain ideological explanation

This paper analyses the way that figures were used to support two kinds of accounts of the riots of August 2011 prevalent in media coverage and in pronouncements by government ministers. The first of these accounts suggested that the rioters were typically characterised by uncivilized predispositions. The second kind of account suggested that damage to property was typically irrational or indiscriminate. These accounts echo discredited ‘convergence’ and ‘submergence’ explanations in early crowd psychology. We show that the ‘convergence’ explanation – that the rioters were typically ‘career criminals’ or gang-members – was based on arrest figures, treating as unproblematic the circular way that such data was produced (with those already known to the police most likely to be identified and arrested). The ‘submergence account – the suggestion that violence was typically indiscriminate or irrational – was based in part on grouping together attacks on properties in different districts; those areas where 'anyone and anything' was attacked were affluent districts where the target was the rich district itself. Like their academic counterparts, the two types of accounts of the riots of August 2011 are profoundly ideological, for they serve to render the riots marginal and meaningless rather than indicative of wider problems in society

Spatial analysis of IRAS observations of nearby spirals

The unbiased survey of the infrared sky carried out by the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) satellite has greatly accelerated advances in understanding the dust component of our own and external galaxies. However, most extragalactic studies to date have been based on the IRAS Point Source Catalog (PSC), which has two serious limitations. First, in sources where a significant fraction of the flux is extended, significant errors may result from using PSC fluxes in comparative studies, and these errors could be systematic if the tendency to be non-pointlike depends on physical properties of the galaxy. Additionally, use of PSC fluxes rules out any direct investigation of the spatial distribution of the IRAS emission from disks in external galaxies. Since work on the Galactic IRAS results has shown that very different physical processes can make varying contributions to the observed flux, it is important to look at a wide sample of galaxies with some spatial resolution to study the relative dominance of these processes under a variety of conditions. Here, researchers report on work they are doing to carry out this program for many nearby spirals, using an analysis package that was developed for this purpose. Researchers carried out analysis for a sample of 121 nearby spirals. The fraction of the flux contained in a point source varies from 0 to 1 across the sample, all of which are well resolved at their nominal optical diameters. There is no evidence that the galaxies of smaller angular size are less likely to be resolved by IRAS at this level. The program gives results which are quite repeatable from scan to scan; the fraction f (point source flux over total flux) at 60 microns has typical errors of 0.03 when different scans are combined. Approximately two-thirds of the sample have more flux in the extended than in the nuclear component. There is a tendency for earlier-type spirals to be less centrally concentrated, but this effect is slight and the degree of variation is large for all types. Barred spirals are also found across the spectrum of f, but are much more likely to have little or no nuclear emission

Violent urban disturbance in England 1980-81

This study addresses violent urban disturbances which occurred in England in the early 1980s with particular reference to the Bristol ‘riots’ of April 1980 and the numerous disorders which followed in July 1981. Revisiting two concepts traditionally utilised to explain the spread of collective violence, namely ‘diffusion’ and ‘contagion,’ it argues that the latter offers a more useful model for understanding the above-mentioned events. Diffusion used in this context implies that such disturbances are independent of each other and occur randomly. It is associated with the concept of ‘copycat riots’, which were commonly invoked by the national media as a way of explaining the spread of urban disturbances in July 1981. Contagion by contrast holds that urban disturbances are related to one another and involve a variety of communication processes and rational collective decision-making. This implies that such events can only be fully understood if they are studied in terms of their local dynamics.Providing the first comprehensive macro-historical analysis of the disturbances of July 1981, this thesis utilises a range of quantitative techniques to argue that the temporal and spatial spread of the unrest exhibited patterns of contagion. These mini-waves of disorder located in several conurbations were precipitated by major disturbances in inner-city multi-ethnic areas. This contradicts more conventional explanations which credit the national media as the sole driver of riotous behaviour.The thesis then proceeds to offer a micro analysis of disturbances in Bristol in April 1980, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Exploiting previously unexplored primary sources and recently collected oral histories from participants, it establishes detailed narratives of three related disturbances in the city. The anatomy of the individual incidents and local contagious effects are examined using spatial mapping, social network and ethnographic analyses. The results suggest that previously ignored educational, sub-cultural and ethnographic intra- and inter-community linkages were important factors in the spread of the disorders in Bristol.The case studies of the Bristol disorders are then used to illuminate our understanding of the processes at work during the July 1981 disturbances. It is argued that the latter events were essentially characterised by anti-police and anti-racist collective violence, which marked a momentary recomposition of working-class youth across ethnic divides

Direct Imaging At 12 Microns Of The Star-Forming Region W51 IRS-2

Astronom

Ohio Usury Laws and The Real Estate Mortgage Lending Market - A Savings Association Viewpoint

Although the concept of usury was unknown at common law, it is of ancient statutory origin. Irrespective of its economic utility to society, usury has become firmly entrenched as an accepted fact of economic life. The concept of usury is easily understandable and lends itself to simple definition. It is, in essence, a prohibition against the taking of an amount for the use of money which is greater than that permitted by law. While the concept itself is simple to grasp, methods of implementing that concept have varied widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Moreover, within many jurisdictions, including Ohio, legislative efforts to manage this simple concept have resulted in the development of convoluted, complex statutory schemes which present many hidden problems for the unwary. With this in mind, it is the primary purpose of this article to trace the origins of the Ohio usury laws and to focus upon those laws as they presently impact upon the savings and loan industry\u27s participation in the Ohio real estate mortgage lending market

Violent urban disturbance in England 1980-81

This study addresses violent urban disturbances which occurred in England in the early 1980s with particular reference to the Bristol ‘riots’ of April 1980 and the numerous disorders which followed in July 1981. Revisiting two concepts traditionally utilised to explain the spread of collective violence, namely ‘diffusion’ and ‘contagion,’ it argues that the latter offers a more useful model for understanding the above-mentioned events. Diffusion used in this context implies that such disturbances are independent of each other and occur randomly. It is associated with the concept of ‘copycat riots’, which were commonly invoked by the national media as a way of explaining the spread of urban disturbances in July 1981. Contagion by contrast holds that urban disturbances are related to one another and involve a variety of communication processes and rational collective decision-making. This implies that such events can only be fully understood if they are studied in terms of their local dynamics. Providing the first comprehensive macro-historical analysis of the disturbances of July 1981, this thesis utilises a range of quantitative techniques to argue that the temporal and spatial spread of the unrest exhibited patterns of contagion. These mini-waves of disorder located in several conurbations were precipitated by major disturbances in inner-city multi-ethnic areas. This contradicts more conventional explanations which credit the national media as the sole driver of riotous behaviour. The thesis then proceeds to offer a micro analysis of disturbances in Bristol in April 1980, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Exploiting previously unexplored primary sources and recently collected oral histories from participants, it establishes detailed narratives of three related disturbances in the city. The anatomy of the individual incidents and local contagious effects are examined using spatial mapping, social network and ethnographic analyses. The results suggest that previously ignored educational, sub-cultural and ethnographic intra- and inter-community linkages were important factors in the spread of the disorders in Bristol. The case studies of the Bristol disorders are then used to illuminate our understanding of the processes at work during the July 1981 disturbances. It is argued that the latter events were essentially characterised by anti-police and anti-racist collective violence, which marked a momentary recomposition of working-class youth across ethnic divides.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Re-reading the 2011 riots: ESRC beyond contagion interim report

Background to the 2011 riots • While an extraordinary amount has been written and said about the 2011 English riots, very little has been based on systematic evidence. The present interim report summarizes findings so far from a research programme based on a comprehensive data-set, which seeks to develop a new way of talking and thinking about the process by which riots spread from location to location. • Some of the dominant accounts of the riots - as mindless destruction or ‘criminality pure and simple’1 - obscure understanding and feed into flawed policy responses. • This study drew upon multiple archive sources, interviews with rioters (gathered as part of the Guardian/LSE Reading the Riots project), contextual information about riot locations, and police crime data. We used these data to construct histories of some of the most significant riots in August 2011, to test predictive models, and to analyse participants’ experiences. Myths of the riots • The idea that those who participated were overwhelmingly convicted criminals or that their actions were typically indiscriminate are not supported by the Home Office’s data. • Like many other riots, the rioting in Tottenham happened after a drawn-out process rather than a single ‘spark’. In each location, conflict with the police and power-reversal in a local deprived estate was often the point at which smaller skirmishes became a mass event. Motives for the riots • There were significant differences between London boroughs that saw rioting and those that did not. Immediately prior to the riots, the former had significantly more deprivation, many more police ‘stop and searches’, and more negative attitudes to the police. • We found that anti-police sentiment among participants was a significant factor in who joined in and what they did. One reason given for this hostility was experiences of ‘stop and search’ in the community. • Shared anti-police sentiment formed the basis of a common identity, superseding ‘postcode rivalries’, and enabling coordinated action against police targets. • In addition, many people saw themselves in opposition to a societal system they perceived as unjust and illegitimate; this made looting acceptable to many of them. Understanding the spread of the riots • To explain waves of riots, in place of the concept of ‘contagion’ - the notion that people simply copied others in a mindless and automatic way - we propose a new model of riot spread as identity-based collective empowerment. • Rioting spread in various different ways. The first spread - from Tottenham High Road to Tottenham Hale and Wood Green - occurred as police dispersed rioters yet were unable to prevent their actions. • Here and elsewhere, there was a pattern whereby community or anti-police rioting was the basis of subsequent commodity rioting (involving looting) as well as attacks on wealth. • Close examination of the spread of rioting from North to South London suggests that Brixton participants often identified with Tottenham, and were influenced to riot out of anger and a sense of injustice at the killing of Mark Duggan. This would explain why Brixton was the first place to riot in South London. • Many more of those in Croydon and Clapham, however, were more influenced by the perception of police vulnerability across London. The impact of police vulnerability in providing ‘vicarious’ empowerment for those who identified as anti-police may have been a general process, explaining riot spread across England. • In all the locations we looked at, local identities and networks mediated the impact of rioting in other locations: most people interviewed were influenced by what they thought relevant others locally were prepared to do. • Some police tactics seem to have inadvertently facilitated spread to different locations. These tactics included clearing town centres of shoppers and using proactive methods in those locations they feared would riot

The Howard League and liberal colonial penality in mid‐20th‐century Britain: The death penalty in Palestine and the Kenya Emergency

This article analyses the Howard League's campaigning against the death penalty in mid‐20th‐century British colonies. It examines two case studies: the Howard League's campaign to limit the death penalty in the Palestine Mandate in the 1930s and their silence on mass executions during the Kenya Emergency in the 1950s. Drawing on Ben‐Natan's (2021) concept of the dual penal regime, we argue the Howard League concentrated its intervention in ordinary penal regimes and demarcated emergency penal regimes as outside its sphere of interest and influence. Consequently, it was silent on the penal excess of colonial authorities during periods of counter‐insurgency. Criminology as a discipline largely shares this demarcation of the penal measures associated with colonial wars, militarism and states of emergency as beyond its purview. Inclusion of these aspects of colonial penality into the criminological narrative highlights the significance of colonialism and colonial ways of thinking to penal liberalism