Victims in the criminal justice process
The responses of the criminal justice system to victimisation and in particular the operation of the criminal trial retain an enormously symbolic position in the public’s consciousness around criminal victimisation (Kirchengast, Victims and the Criminal Trial. London: Palgrave, 2016). From a cultural perspective then the criminal justice process has enormous significance. The trial itself is the most publicised component of the criminal justice process, and we know the majority of people still base much of their opinion of the justice system on knowledge obtained though media portrayals of it: both fictional and non-fictional accounts (Dowler, Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 10:109–126, 2003). This chapter will turn its attention to the criminal justice process itself, offering an evaluation of substantive changes made to that system since the coming to power of the 2010 coalition government. In so doing, the chapter will highlight the extent to which reforms made in the criminal justice process might reflect the cultural and political contexts outlined in Chaps. 1, 2 and 3.
Punishment, Justice, and Emotions
This essay discusses the relation among emotions, punishment, and justice. It reviews theoretical scholarship on the role of punishment in society and sociological research on emotions, including the “emotive turn” in criminal justice and scholarship on the painful experience of incarceration. It argues that although punishment has been justified as a rational response to the problem of crime, there are emotional dimensions to its practice and function that go beyond crime. The authors suggest that the phenomenon of punishment is inherently affective, and propose that scholars of criminal justice should pursue a more rigorous study of how emotions, subjectivity, and self-identities contribute to the existence and framework of punishment in late-modern societies, in order to properly examine its role and limitations.
Police perceptions of spouse abuse: A comparison of male and female officers
The purpose of this article is to compare policewomen with policemen regarding their attitudes toward handling family fights, specifically, toward handling spouse abuse. Sixty-two policewomen responded to a questionnaire measuring their involvement, or professional concern about family fights. As hypothesized, policewomen scored significantly higher on this variable (rpb = + .43). Although sample differences in education and other demographic variables accounted in part for this finding, police-officer gender correlated with involvement even when all other variables were controlled for. There was some evidence that identification with a feminist point-of-view and concern for the battered women were significant intervening variables that explained why policewomen scored higher on involvement. It was also found that policewomen and policemen differed in their perceptions of how policewomen handle family fights. Policemen tended to view policewomen as lacking assertiveness, while policewomen viewed themselves as more patient and understanding, and as less likely to escalate a conflict. The results of this study support the findings of an earlier study in which women in shelter homes described policewomen as more likely than male officers to be informative, to take time to listen, and to provide helpful information. It is suggested that the results of the current study could provide a basis for discussion among mixed groups of police officers concerning various approaches to handling family fights.