The death of Jill Meagher: crime and punishment on social media

This paper aims to identify and analyse several predominant issues and discourses as they relate to the burgeoning interrelationship between social media, crime and victim. Abstract In this paper we analyse the kidnapping, rape and murder of Jill Meagher as a case study to highlight a range of issues that emerge in relation to criminalisation, crime prevention and policing strategies on social media - issues that, in our opinion, require immediate and thorough theoretical engagement. An in-depth analysis of Jill Meagher’s case and its newsworthiness in terrestrial media is a challenging task that is beyond the scope of this paper; rather, the focus for this particular paper is on the process of agenda-building, particularly via social media, and the impact of the social environment and the capacity of ‘ordinary’ citizens to influence the agenda-defining process. In addition, we outline other issues that emerged in the aftermath of this case, such as the depth of the target audience on social media, the threat of a ‘trial by social media’ and the place of social media in the context of pre-crime and surveillance debates. Through the analysis of research data we establish some preliminary findings and call for more audacious and critical engagement by criminologists and social scientists in addressing the challenges posed by new technologies

Tweeting the News: Criminal Justice Agencies and their Use of Social Networking Sites

In recent times we have seen an increase in the willingness of criminal justice agencies to engage with new media technologies and social networking sites, not only as a tool for the investigation of criminal activity, but also as a new way of communicating with the public. Sites such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook are experiencing a growth in their use as communication tools for criminal justice agencies. What is interesting, however, is that different criminal justice agencies are employing these sites in very diverse ways and with distinctive agendas. This paper aims to explore some of the ways in which local and international criminal justice agencies are engaging with new media technologies and social networking sites.Sydney Institute of Criminology; School of Social Sciences at the University of Western Sydne

Tweeting the News: Criminal Justice Agencies and their Use of Social Networking Sites

In recent times we have seen an increase in the willingness of criminal justice agencies to engage with new media technologies and social networking sites, not only as a tool for the investigation of criminal activity, but also as a new way of communicating with the public. Sites such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook are experiencing a growth in their use as communication tools for criminal justice agencies. What is interesting, however, is that different criminal justice agencies are employing these sites in very diverse ways and with distinctive agendas. This paper aims to explore some of the ways in which local and international criminal justice agencies are engaging with new media technologies and social networking sites.Sydney Institute of Criminology; School of Social Sciences at the University of Western Sydne

Visible Mending, Street Stitching, and Embroidered Handkerchiefs: How Craftivism is Being Used to Challenge the Fashion Industry

The contemporary practice of ‘craftivism’—which uses crafts such as knitting, sewing and embroidery to draw attention to ‘issues of social, political and environmental justice’ (Fitzpatrick 2018: 3)—has its origins in centuries of radical craft work where women and marginalised peoples, in particular, have employed crafts to protest, take a stand or comment on issues that concern them. Recently, craftivist actions have targeted the fashion and textile industry in an effort to highlight and address some of the social and environmental impacts of the global fashion industry, from the throwaway culture of fast fashion through to the unethical pay and working conditions of ready-made garment workers. Drawing on examples of both individual and collective forms of craftivism, this paper explores the ways that craftivism is being deployed not only as a means by which to mobilise the ethical use, consumption and production of fashion and textiles across the globe but also to hold the fashion industry to account against key concerns highlighted by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In canvassing these examples, the paper considers the utility of craftivism as a model for challenging the fashion industry to effect change

Anita Lam (2014) Making Crime Television: Producing Entertaining Representations of Crime for Television Broadcast. Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge.

Book revie

Beyond Cybercrime: New Perspectives on Crime, Harm and Digital Technologies

This special issue comprises 10 journal articles and one book review. Collectively, the contributions broaden our theoretical and conceptual understandings of the technology–harm nexus and provide criminologists with new ways of moving beyond cybercrime. The issue consists of two parts. The first part of the issue, entitled ‘Digital (in)Justices’, contains five manuscripts, each examining a particular intersection between digital technology and criminal justice agencies. The second part of the special issue—‘Rethinking the Technology–Harm Nexus’—includes five manuscripts that engage with a range of techno-social harms. The authors provide novel theoretical contributions that explore how the intersection of technology and harm can be problematised and reconceptualised.

The New South Wales Police Media Unit : a history of risk communications

In recent times sociologists and criminologists alike have looked to extend upon Beck’s (1992) ‘risk society’ thesis in an attempt to characterise the state of modern Western society. One institutional arena which has seen a growth in the impact ‘risk society’ approaches have had on its operations are policing organisations. Police are seen as one of many institutions concerned with the detection and management of risk, which has shifted the traditional police focus on crime control to one of risk management. This paper will focus on the growth of the New South Wales Police Media Unit and outline the ways in which police risk communications have developed across the history of this professionalised Unit within New South Wales Police. By tracing the history of the New South Wales Police Media Unit, we will be able to see how the communication of risks has become one, of a number, of important exchanges the police make with the media and public