Bill Hebenton

Handbook of Asian criminology

The Handbook of Asian Criminology aims to be a key reference for international scholars with an interest in the broad theme of international criminology in general, and the Asian region in particular. Contextualization is a key theme in this book. The role of context is often underemphasized in international criminology, so the Handbook of Asian Criminologys premise that crime and the responses to it are best understood as deeply embedded in the cultural specificity of the environment which produces them will play a key role throughout the work. Attention will be given to country- and region specific attitudes towards crime and punishment.

Criminology in and of China: Discipline and Power

This sociohistorical study of the development of criminology in the People’s Republic of China not only considers available primary and secondary sources but also directly draws upon fieldwork interviews conducted with prominent scholars in China in 2007. Crime has been a silent partner in Chinese modernization, and law and order have been as central to the Chinese ruling elite’s priorities as the promise of prosperity and economic growth. Criminology as a field of study with recognized scholars and research publications has been established in China, and our article critically examines the development, focus and scope, direction and trends, and underpinning theories.

Dilemmas and consequences of prior criminal record: a criminological perspective from England and Wales

This article considers the contemporary architecture of criminal record usage in England and Wales. We focus upon impact on ‘employment status’, partly because work is often now seen as key to good health and other self-esteem indicators in the modern world. First, we examine in the context of England and Wales, (a) the development of the contemporary criminal record system and extent of availability of prior record information in terms of employment (and other licensing purposes) and (b) the factors that helped shape the current architecture. Second, this article outlines what is known from the British criminological literature on employment and conviction records and what more is needed in terms of criminological research. Finally, we consider how convictions become ‘spent’ – in particular the English approach to ‘expungement’/sealing of the criminal record according to the 1974 Rehabilitation of Offenders legislation.

Taiwan's criminological “footprint” – a review and analysis of English-language publication trends for Taiwan and selected Asian comparators(2000–2010)

This article provides findings from a review of the published English-language literature of criminological research in and on Taiwan – over the period 2000–2010, and sets the findings against other Asian comparators. The article identifies tropes and trends in purpose, method, theory, and collaborative networks of criminological research on Taiwan. The findings and analysis, hold, as it were, a mirror up to the criminological communities in both Taiwan and other parts of the English-speaking world. We conclude with a consideration of these issues in the broader context of the “internationalization” of criminology.

Offences involving indecent photographs and pseudo-photographs of children: An analysis of sentencing guidelines

Abstract Guideline judgements in English sentencing have been subjected to little scrutiny by non-lawyers. In this paper, the writers examine one guideline judgement, R v. Oliver and Others, which concerns the sentencing of offences involving indecent photographs and pseudo-photographs of children. Ten post-Oliver cases where a sentence was appealed are analysed and the results reported. The writers find the guidelines internal logic wanting, with shortcomings reflected in the patchy and non-obvious inferences made in appellate judgements of cases of the kind covered in Oliver. The writers propose flowcharting as a heuristic device in the development of guideline judgements, and possibly as a form of representation of judgements parallel to text-based formulations.

Policing in Taiwan: from authoritarianism to democracy

Alongside John Crank (Nebraska), I provided a very positive endorsement of this book for the publisher; in the inside cover I note: big questions are asked by good scholarly books, and this book he...

Progress of Asian Criminology: Editors’ Introduction

It is traditional for editors to “talk up” the subject matter of their book; but in our case, arguably, the regional significance of the subject matter is self-evident. Within the Asian region, the People’s Republic of China has already overtaken Japan as the second largest economy in the world and is likely to take over the top spot by the end of this current decade (New York Times, 15 August 2010, “China passes Japan as second largest economy”). India is moving rapidly up the ladder and will soon become the third largest economy globally. The International Monetary Fund estimates that emerging Asia will be the main propellant of world economic growth in the coming decades. Europe, the USA, and Japan face serious recession. By contrast, the public financial system of Asian countries appears in relatively good shape, with debt ratios low, banking systems healthier, and corporate balance sheets less stressed. Furthermore, large foreign exchange reserves act as an insurance against unexpected “global” shocks (Tay 2010). Wages and incomes are rising and unemployment rates are not alarming. Regional trade is at an all-time high and the dependence on the USA and Europe for exports has declined. China now ships only 35 % of its exports to the USA and European Union countries (Kawai and Petri 2010).

Book Review: Crime, Punishment, and Policing in China

(p. 32). The dynamic between these common and state-specific interests has been evident on various occasions. Thus, the ICPC was resurrected soon after the Second World War on the basis that “international criminals” had done likewise. But the FBI subsequently withdrew, given its concerns that the ICPC was coming under the influence of communist regimes (chapter 8). An important question to emerge from this study, then, is whether those national cultures and traditions register any significant changes as a consequence of the establishment of structured means of cooperation or whether the “thickness” of these traits inevitably trumps the relatively “thin” relationships fostered within the sphere of international policing. The issues raised by Deflem’s analysis now feature prominently within criminology. Although he suggests that criminology’s efforts in this regard have largely shied away from addressing broader sociological questions of social control and have been correspondingly weakened by their greater attention to a narrower police agenda of technical problem solving, the literature is nevertheless increasingly attentive to issues of policy transfer, transnational policing, and the tension between the local and the global. In the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001, these issues have assumed an even greater relevance. Deflem suggests that one of the main impacts of those events has been to stymie police cooperation, given that—as occurred during the First and Second World Wars—“police institutions across the world have again drawn closer to the political centres of their respective states to follow the pattern of cooperation and conflict as determined by the international political scene” (p. 229). Nevertheless, he readily acknowledges that there exists considerable pressure for police forces to cooperate at a far higher level with a view of preventing additional attacks, albeit that greater police cooperation in turn necessitates a depoliticization of international crime. Overall, although the careful analysis presented in this stimulating book makes it an important account of police history, its wider implications ensure that it will also appeal to all those interested in the future of policing.

The closed World of Warner: A comment on “choosing with care”

Abstract The Warner Report at the end of 1992 proposed new means of recruiting and selecting people to work in residential child care. The aim was to minimise the risk of abuse to children looked after by local authorities following a series of high profile court cases. In attempting to identify more accurately the “right” sort of person to work in residential care the Warner Report lay heavy emphasis on pre-employment screening by means of a criminal record check. The article explains the administrative and ethical questions raised by checks and tries to locate the Warner Report in a wider theoretical context.