The Differential Association are fresh from
our excitement of presenting a workshop at the
recent North South Criminology Conference on the topic of Irish criminology,
what it is, what it can offer, and where we are:
- Is criminology still the
‘absentee discipline’ in Ireland?
- Has Ireland
demonstrated a distinctive criminal justice landscape?
- If so, can it offer insights to
wider criminological scholarship?
- What are the barriers to
criminology in Ireland – anti-intellectualism, political apathy, statistical vacuum?
Since the inception of The Differential
Association over 18 months ago, we have been intrigued and delighted to read a
diverse variety of criminological texts, from classics such as David Garland’s “The
Culture of Control” to the emerging theories such as Robert Agnew’s conception
of environmental change and its potential impact on crime. In all our
discussions we seek to consistently pose certain questions of the texts, namely;
can this be applied to the Irish context? The more we asked this question, the
more purchase it gained, which ultimately led to the bright idea to discuss
this with a wider group in a workshop.
Additionally, we wanted to evaluate the
current state of the Irish criminological enterprise. The name of the workshop
was a loose play on the recent Loader and Sparks book, Public Criminology? (2011). Our criminological
neighbours in Britain often seem to reflect on their discipline – asking what role does
criminology have? How can a more influential and productive discipline be
encouraged? What is the value of criminology? Contrastingly, in Ireland,
when we undertake a similar type of scan it tends to result in lamenting about
criminology being Ireland’s ‘absentee discipline’.
We had a genuinely insightful discussion,
and were honoured to be joined by such luminaries as Prof. Ian O’Donnell of
UCD, Prof. Richard Wright
of University of Missouri-St.Louis, Prof. Shadd Maruna of Queen’s University
Belfast, Dr. Claire Hamilton, Senator Ivana Bacik and our own stellar DA
members and supporters.
In light of the myriad fascinating comments
made at the workshop, we decided we would share some of the key issues which
cropped up:
Throughout the two-day conference various
issues were echoed by a large number of speakers, several of which had
previously arisen at DA meet-ups, and seemed to be recurring issues. For
example, the lack of statistical data, rendering policy formation something of
a grope in the dark.
The feature of localism and the specific
social context of a highly integrated society also emerged. With strong rural networks, Dr. KirstyHudson elaborated the consultation processes to date along with the possible
ramifications of sex offender registration and notification in Northern Ireland. Kirsty emphasised the
necessarily differential application of such a scheme to Northern Ireland, changing the template somewhat from that applied in England
and Wales. It was urged that this high
degree of connectivity in the community should be utilised to implement a
culturally specific and appropriate procedure which played localism as a
strength.
On the same panel, Geraldine O’Hare of the
Probation Board of Northern Ireland again addressed a recurring issue within
Irish criminology, namely the lack of statistical data. Speaking about the risk assessment of sex
offenders, Geraldine informed us that in previous years Ireland
and Northern Ireland had lacked their own statistical information on sex offender
recidivism rates and comparisons with risk assessment outcomes. However the implementation of an Ireland-wide
‘stable and acute’ assessment framework is now reducing a reliance on figures
from other, often non-comparable jurisdictions, and providing a sound empirical
knowledge base from which to plan interventions and responses. In his own
presentation, The Differential Association member Martin Quigley, also
emphasised the almost whole-sale policy transfer of the Sex Offenders Act 2001
from England and Wales, articulating yet another influencing factor in the Irish criminal
justice policy making process.
Turning to culturally specific contexts and
how political styles emerge from within, Ian O’Donnell spoke at the launch of his
new work with Eoin O’Sullivan, CoerciveConfinement in Ireland, of the impact of ruralism in Ireland, which may
have enabled the confinement of the many men, women and children who were
deemed of little use to the practical agricultural industry of Ireland
historically. Taking this forward, does
this ruralism contribute to a certain and noticeable anti-intellectualism
within Irish politics and reflected in society generally?
As has been noted, there is a very
short-term focus on pragmatism within policy-making in Ireland,
as evidenced in economic decisions for the economic times with no reference to
wider ideology. Does such pragmatism
spring from a society concerned with practical problems and eschewing more
lofty matters?
Historical context and ripples from it
could also be found in the formation of the Irish state and the effect of this
on our current criminal justice landscape, such as whether the Irish focus was
generally on a front-end conception of the system. As a state formed with an eye to security
issues and which was forced to confront these throughout much of its history,
the strengthened powers of the police and the courts were often the key
considerations as opposed to back-end issues such as prisons. What exactly is to be done with security
threats once they have been processed through the various organs, found guilty
and incarcerated?
Throughout much of the general DA
discussion on policy-making too we have repeatedly spoken of the importance of
local actors, and of the quicksilver effect that one person with vision or
momentum can have, notable examples including the influence of Charles Haughey
on the Department of Justice during his time there in the 1960s and the equally
driven and energetic work of Michael McDowell during his time in the Department
in the 2000s. We often ask ourselves is
it a case of Irish exceptionalism to be particularly susceptible to policy
entrepreneurship – and if so why? We
feel this focus on the personalities of policy-creation is a lens which can
illuminate much that would otherwise appear, perhaps, natural and explicable
through reference to grand international trends.
Working with such questions in mind, Mary
Rogan’s new book Prison Policy in Ireland not only
illuminates the political, historical and social forces behind Irish prison
policy, it is also an insightful contribution to broader penological
scholarship and points to new methods of analysing penal change in other jurisdictions.
Another question which arose during the
workshop was the power of the lobby and how this directed matters of criminal
justice law-making. Are the various industrial
groups another impetus of policy in Ireland,
taking into consideration the influence of such groups as the Garda Officers’
Associations and the Prison Officers’ Association.
Other matters of note that were raised at
The Differential Association workshop was the distinction of the European
tradition versus the US tradition of the location of criminology within
universities, which led to the question how does criminological character
differ whether criminology as a field is located under the umbrella of law
versus sociology, reflecting European and US traditions respectively.
The positive manoeuvrings in Irish criminal
justice at the moment were warmly acknowledged, and bright lights, such as the
excellent and sustained work of the Irish Penal Reform Trust. Turning a possible negative into a definite
positive, the point was raised that while Irish criminology may still be
underdeveloped, we have at least avoided certain pitfalls by virtue of our nascent
character, such as being thrall to administrative concerns and answering only
questions posed by Government, as well as the danger of making itself irrelevant.
Criminology may no longer be absentee in Ireland –
the regular meetings of the DA, new publications and journals concerned with Irish
criminal justice matters, along with the annual Irish Criminology Conference
all point to the range and scale of criminological activity. More practically however, the lack of
positions for newly qualified criminology students, and the traditional path of
Irish emigration were highlighted as a major concern. Overall the tone was positive and optimistic,
though. Irish criminology is out of the
tracks and is developing in an interesting and possibly distinct way; Irish
criminal justice patterns and events – both contemporary and historical – are
still in need of much excavation and analysis. Under these conditions the one thing we are
certain of is that Irish criminology can only continue to expand.
This
blog was written by Lynsey Black, Louise Brangan and Martin Quigley.
The
views expressed are the authors’ alone.
