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Meet ...Maurice
Punch |
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Most of my life has been spent in educational institutions and I
have no exotic or hidden past. I haven’t worked on deep-sea
trawlers, was never in military service and did not compete in the
Hawaii Iron Man Triathlon. Given that academics can be childish and
groups in a classroom regress to the infantile, I feel as if I`ve
never been out in the real world. Perhaps that was what attracted me
to policing: it was about something real and – in between the
routine and boredom – occasionally dramatic. In the early 1970s,
however, access to the police in the UK was difficult and in
exasperation I took up a two year appointment at Utrecht University.
My wife is Dutch and I intended to learn Dutch properly and then
return to the UK. But I`m still there.
I approached the Amsterdam Police and conducted field-work in the
inner-city. I was about to finish when I discovered I was witnessing
a corruption scandal and was able to stay on to study the scandal`s
impact. That began my interest in “organizational deviance” and
extending that to corporate crime. After Utrecht I was offered a
chair at Nyenrode University (a business school in a 13th century
castle in Breukelen - “Brooklyn” in Manhattan). I taught every level
from undergraduate to executive and focussed on crises and disasters
as camouflage for exploring corporate deviance. It was not a
particularly academic environment but I had a measure of freedom,
funds for travel and could mount a conference in 1980 with the
leading lights in policing (which Paul Rock and Robert Reiner
attended). Later in the early 1990s the institution faced a
financial crisis and reorganization which presented me with the
option of leaving with a “deal” which I took.
As an independent scholar without an institutional base was tough
going. But I was able to focus fully on my main interest around
abuse of power and evasion of accountability in policing and
corporations. Then I was asked to teach at Essex and Robert Reiner
asked me to give a Mannheim seminar in 1988. From then on I started
commuting to the UK to teach at Essex, LSE, King`s London and to
give seminars to police officers and oversight agencies. At the LSE
I initially found the buildings shabby, the facilities poor and the
teaching highly traditional. But moving from a Continental
university system to the British one was incredibly refreshing and
stimulating. In general the Dutch academic culture I encountered was
defensive, insular, derivative and lacking in high quality. There
are explanations for this and it is not so much a question of
individual quality but of system characteristics. In contrast the
colleagues at Essex, King`s and LSE were first-rate scholars who
were important in shaping my work; graduate students were often
excellent; and the LSE infrastructure was transformed. The emphasis
on quality and the intellectual openness of the Mannheim group, and
the network around Criminology at King`s, was exceptional. This
encouraged me to work on my “millennium trilogy” with books on
police corruption (2010), police use of firearms (2011) and state
violence in Northern Ireland (2012) . Alas sales have not yet
matched those of Sig Larsson.
Given this, and that I`m approaching the departure lounge of my
career, it`s distressing that Criminology in two leading centres in
London seems to be on the wane. I can only hope that the subject –
so vital to contemporary society and to life in the capital – will
soon be revived in all its glory.
Maurice Punch
Amstelveen
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International Centre for
Comparative Criminological Research by Louise Westmarland |
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Dr Louise Westmarland, Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the Open
University, has recently been appointed Director of the
International Centre for Comparative Criminological Research (ICCCR).
The Centre was originally set up by Professors John Muncie and Clive
Emsley in 2003 as a multi disciplinary and cross-faculty space for
collaboration between criminologists and historians and one of the
most important recent events is that in 2010 it was formally
partnered with the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS). We
have 16 members from various departments within the Faculty of
Social Sciences, ten partner members in CCJS and a further ten
affiliated members drawn from the other Faculties at the OU and the
wider international academic community.
What is ICCCR about?
ICCCR aims to draw upon expertise at the Open University from Social
Sciences (social policy & criminology, psychology and sociology) and
Health and Social Care (youth justice); and from the affiliated
International Centre for the History of crime, policing and justice,
based in the OU’s Faculty of Arts; and the affiliated Higher and
Distance Education in Prison research interest group, based in the
Institute of Educational Technology.
Centre members have strong research interests in contemporary and
emerging forms of governance and strategies of policing and
regulation. This includes the role of the criminal law in
identifying and investigating 'social harms', the shifting
boundaries between public and private agencies, the submersion of
social policy matters into law and order agendas, the role of the
media in constructing public notions of crime and punishment, crime
science, and changing forms of institutional regulation and
accountability. Their interests also centre on the experience of
victims and witnesses within the criminal justice process, and
procedural issues of how best to elicit identification evidence.
ICCCR unites contemporary practice-based research and critical
policy analysis in crime, policing and criminal justice with an
awareness of historical, psychological and social contexts and has
developed three substantive (but inter-related) areas of expertise:
policing; justice, rights and regulation, and prisons/penology.
Coherence between our different areas of interest these subject
areas is maintained through a shared interest in comparative
methodologies (historical and/or cross-cultural) and in a concern
for processes of governance and regulation. Our research is aimed at
academic, policy and practitioner audiences, and is disseminated via
regular conferences, seminars and publications.
What are ICCCR’s activities?
One of our activities is an annual conference, usually attended by
international speakers and delegates. This year we are hosting
‘Resisting the Eclipse: An International Symposium on Prison
Ethnography’ at our campus in Milton Keynes. The aim of this year’s
conference is to explore whether reports of the demise of prison
ethnography is exaggerated. This international gathering of prison
researchers, speakers, panels and workshops will explore what prison
ethnography has got to offer in an era of mass incarceration. At
this International Symposium, prison researchers from around the
world come together to resist the silencing and invisibilisation of
marginalised people that the relentless growth of imprisonment
attempts to accomplish.
How is ICCCR organised?
As mentioned above, the Centre draws its membership from a number of
departments, including Social Policy and Criminology, Psychology and
sociology. As such, its research expertise is widely distributed.
Therefore, as well as coming together as a large research centre,
members also meet and collaborate within smaller groupings
The Rethinking Criminology Group
The Rethinking Criminology Group is based in the Social Policy and
Criminology Department within the Faculty of Social Sciences.
Criminology at the Open University has an established reputation for
critical scholarship which is informed by a dynamic and thriving
research environment. Currently, our research is concentrated in
three general topic areas: policing, imprisonment/punishment, and
youth justice. Our research programmes in each of these areas
include a problematisation of 'taken-for-granted' assumptions about
'crime', 'the criminal', and/or 'justice'. In the area of policing,
our research has included studies of policing and gender and
occupational culture as well as violence and police brutality.
Current research projects in this area include studies of police
corruption, integrity and ethics, and an ethnographic consideration
of homicide detectives. With respect to imprisonment/punishment our
research ranges from empirical examinations of prison life (for men,
women and young people) to broad questions surrounding penal policy,
the use of punishment and the concept of justice. In youth justice
our key research strands consider children's rights and youth
justice policy, the governance of disengaged youth, and
considerations of the perspectives of youth justice practitioners
and young people during processes of youth justice reform.
The Forensic Cognition Research Group
The Forensic Cognition Research Group is based in the psychology
department in the Faculty of Social Sciences at The Open University.
The research undertaken by the group has looked at different
identification procedures and ways of minimising false
identifications, as well as at developments in facial composite
systems such as E-FIT. Current research is looking at how age and
individual differences might impact on identification of suspects
and memory for faces. As well as conducting laboratory-based
research, the group is conducting a number of surveys. The first is
designed to investigate public perceptions of crime science, and how
this might be influenced by programmes such as CSI, and a second
survey is focused on the experience of witnesses who have recently
participated in an identification procedure. The group has close
links with a range of policing organisations and much of their
research is aimed at policing policy, investigative procedures and
practice. Their research has informed revisions to the PACE Codes
and members have been involved in revising ACPO guidelines to
accompany new legislation and changes in technology. The group has
attracted substantial external funding from the Home Office, EPSRC
and the BPS.
Who are our partners?
The Centre's research is aimed at academic, policy and practitioner
audiences. Over the past few years valuable links have been
established with 'external' institutions at home and abroad. In 2010
we were delighted to have ICCCR formally partnered with the Centre
for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS), which is based in London and
operates as an independent public interest charity that engages with
the worlds of criminal justice research and policy, practice and
campaigning. The Centre's current mission is to inspire enduring
change by promoting understanding of social harm, the centrality of
social justice and the limits of criminal justice. Its vision is of
a society in which everyone benefits from equality, safety, social
and economic security.
CCJS was first established in July 1931 as the 'Association for the
Scientific Treatment of Criminals'. It was renamed the 'Institute
for the Scientific Treatment of Delinquency' in July 1932, and the
'Institute for the Study and Treatment of Delinquency' in 1951. It
adopted its current name - the 'Centre for Crime and Justice
Studies' - in 1999. The Centre produces an extensive range of
publications on different aspects of criminal justice, including
research reports, policy briefing papers, pamphlets, journal
articles, lecture presentations and speeches. The Centre also owns
the British Journal of Criminology and produces a quarterly
magazine, Criminal Justice Matters.
International networks have also been established with the EPSRC
funded International Centre for Advanced Research in Identification
Science and between 2006 and 2009 the ICCCR was part of the CRIMPREV
consortium of 31 universities and research institutes across the EU
working on a three-year project aimed at producing comparative
knowledge about perceptions of crime and deviance and crime
prevention strategies. The project was funded by the EU under FP 6.
The Open University hosted the conference that concluded the project
in the summer of 2009.
We are also affiliated with the Higher and Distance Education in
Prison group which is a (HDEP) research interest group within the
Computers and Learning Research Group (CaLRG) was established in
March 2001 and aims to provide a platform for researchers in the
cross-disciplinary field of higher and distance education in a
secure environment. The group is based in the Institute of
Educational Technology at The Open University. Psychology members
are also part of the South East Eyewitness Network which brings
together those researching eyewitness identification procedures.
Associated Centres
International Centre for the history of Crime, Policing and Justice
The International Centre for the history of Crime, Policing and
Justice is based in the Faculty of Arts (Department of History) and
was established in 1990. Directed by Dr Paul Lawrence, the Centre
aims to promote and facilitate research into the history and
practice of modern policing around the world (since c. 1750), and to
generate the exchange of ideas between academics and serving
policemen. This is achieved via seminars, conferences, publications
and the provision of specialist archive facilities. It also has
close connections with the Institut National des Hautes Etudes de
Sécurité (INHES) and the Arbeitsgruppe zur Polizeigeschichte. The
Centre has research specialisms in the history of crime and policing
in Europe and the history of colonial policing. Recent visiting
research staff have come from as far afield as America, New Zealand,
Australia and Brazil, and the permanent staff at the Centre are
always keen to hear of relevant research being conducted world-wide.
Recent archival acquisitions include the entire ACPO (Association of
Chief Police Officers) Archive.
The Centre has strong links with the Groupe Européen de Recherche
sur les Normativités (GERN) and close connections with the Institut
des Hautes Etudes de la Sécurité (IHESI) and the Arbeitsgruppe zur
Polizeigeschichte.
The Centre holds a substantial collection of international
police-related journals, newsletters and articles, but mainly it
contains documentation on the British police, for instance the
Metropolitan Police Force, Commissioners Reports, Policing on
Scottish Burghs, etc. It also keeps copies of Metropolitan Police
Orders dating from 1865 to the 1950s and Justice of the Peace dating
from 1863 to 1965.
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NEWS |
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Recent Publications
Ethical dilemmas in psychological research with vulnerable people in
Africa by Abeeb Salaam and Jennifer Brown
Ethics and Behaviour: tandfonline.com
DOI 10.1080/10508422-2012.728478
Blog
There have been a couple of postings on the Politics and Policy blog,
but this facility has not been widely used by members of Mannheim. You are encouraged to
post blogs if you have pieces you think will be of interest.
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/2012/07/09/police-women-abuse-brown/
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/2012/07/09/police-women-abuse-brown/
People
Jill Peay and Tim Newburn organised a celebration of the work of
Robert Reiner on 28th June. which include an exploration and launch
of "Policing: Politics, Culture; essays in Honour of Robert Reiner
published by Hart and edited by Jill and Tim.
This was a gathering of criminology's finest to pay tribute to
Robert's work. Ian Loader and Richard Sparks presented a paper
called "beyond lamentation; towards a democratic egalitarian
politics of crime and justice; P A J (Tank) Waddington talked about
cop culture; Ben Bowling, Correte Phillips and James Sheptycki
discussed their work on race, political economy and the coercive
state; Phone hacking, riots, looting, gangs and mediatised
police chief was the topic chosen by Chris Greer and Eugene
McLaughlin which focused on Sir Hugh Orde's trial by media; Francis
Heidensohn and Jennifer Brown showed some clips to illustrated their
paper called From Julie to Jane; women cops in tv cop shows, reality
,rank and careers; and Philip Stenning talked us through the
shifting boundaries of policing; globalisation and its
possibilities, a paper he co-wrote with Clifford Shearing. The
session were chaired by Martin Innes and Peter Manning.
 In
the reception that followed Robert was presented with a specially
bound copy of the book by Mike Levi and a valediction was given by
Lucia Zedner.
The seminar and reception were a tribute to the huge contribution
made by Robert to criminology specially in the area of policing and
the warmth, affection and admiration people feel for Robert
was palpable.
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Independent Police Commission |
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Jennifer Brown presented a paper at The Third Annual
Conference of the Higher Education Forum for Learning and
Development in Policing (POLCON 3) held at John Moores University,
Liverpool. She discussed issues pertaining to the
professionalisation of the police and was on a panel with Sir Peter
Fahy, chief Constable of Greater Manchester and Derek Barnett,
President of the Superintendents Association.
There will be
a workshop of the academic contributors to the Commission to be held
at LSE on 2nd October.
The
Commission has held a number of regional meetings and Lord John
Stevens was host on a radio phone in in Newcastle.
Jennifer is
also working on a major survey of police officers and police staff
Further
details of the work of the Commission can be found at:
http://independentpolicecommission.org.uk/ |
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Post-grad
Update |
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Daniel Bear and Johannes Reiken have been instrumental in getting
LSE post grads together with Oxford post grads to hold a seminar and
then a work shop.
The Mannheim Centre for Criminology at LSE & the Police and Policing
Research Discussion Group at the Centre for Criminology, University
of Oxford present: Translating across the divide: Considering the uses of scholarly
knowledge for police, and police knowledge for scholars
This is a collaboration to explore current issues in policing, contributing
both to academic work of young researchers and public discussion.
The first meeting will be comprised of a small group seminar led by
expert presenters followed by group discussion, and will be followed
a week later with a workshop where engaged research students will
present and challenge each other’s work in relation to the insights
of the expert-led seminar.
The Seminar will take place at the LSE on Friday, the 19th of
October, 10-13.
The workshop will take place in Oxford the following Friday, the
26th of October 11- 15:30.
Seminar, 19 October, LSE
This panel will include 2-3 speakers, including at least one leading
academic and one leading public figure, within a small group setting
of 10-15 engaged junior and student researchers. Speakers will be
asked to examine the triangle that is formed by the relationship of
the police, the government and academics and give their perspective
on the nature of this engagement in the UK today. Taking into
consideration the growing interest in the translation of research
into practice and the position of the evidence-based practice in
policing today we will explore questions such as: where does
learning take place? What does translational research mean for
current actors? Is knowledge transfer the way forward or a
misunderstanding of the nature of knowledge? Speakers will be asked
to specifically comment on how these questions relate to the new
Police College currently being established.
In our discussion following the speakers input, the group will try
to specifically touch upon the matrix created by the two distinct
perspectives - Sociology for the Police and Sociology of the Police
- as it is reflected in Police-Academia engagement across the world
and in our own work.
Workshop, 26 October, Oxford
Student participants from the 19 October seminar will be invited to
take part in a half-day workshop event on the following Friday, 26
October, at the University of Oxford. Those taking part in the
seminar will be asked to present an aspect of their current or
planned research project, focusing on the translation of their
research for an unintended audience. As such, those students whose
research is intended for a largely academic audience will be asked
to consider how their research might become useful to – or
appropriated by – police practitioners or policy audiences. Those
whose research is intended for practitioner or policy audiences will
be asked to consider how their work could be translated to a more
scholarly or civil society-oriented inquiry into police practice.
Participants will be asked to provide a brief summary of their
project and commentary on the possibilities of translating their
work to an unintended audience, totalling no more than 10 minutes in
length. They should also submit a one page outline of their
presentation to the group in advance of the workshop. Participants
should read others’ submissions in light of the 19 October seminar
discussion, and come prepared to engage and provide feedback on the
presentations.
Any PhD students interested in taking part should contact Daniel
Bear at D.Bear@lse.ac.uk for
more information.
Mannheim
Intern
 Isabell Schuster is working at the Mannheim Centre during
September and October as a research intern. Isabell is studying
Psychology (Diploma) at the University of Potsdam and Turkish
Studies (B.A.) at the Free University of Berlin Isabell says “ I
have chosen doing a work placement (which is part of my Psychology
studies) in order to improve my research skills and get in contact
with other areas of current investigation. In Germany I work as a
research assistant in Social Psychology In order to gain an insight
into Forensic Psychology and Criminology I applied to work at The
Mannheim. During my first month, I have attended different
meetings and, amongst other things, I have done some really
interesting qualitative analysis. So, I’m really glad being here,
not only because – thanks to Jennifer’s support- I am learning a lot
of new and interesting things, but also because I have the
opportunity to get to know very kind people”.
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Hermann Mannheim quote of the month |
 In
1946 Hermann Mannheim published “Criminal Justice and Social
Reconstruction. The book, he says, was in part inspired by the
incompleteness of his previous publications and also on being
invited to contribute to a series" International Library of
Sociology and Social Reconstruction. In his introduction, Mannheim
says” ..any attempt to reconstruct the criminal law has to face two
basic problem: 1) we have to make up our minds as to what we regard
as the most important values in a reconstructed world; 2) we have to
decide whether these values should be protected by means at the
disposal of the criminal law, or whether their protection should be
left to agencies of a different character. The first point involves
a reconsideration of our system of values ; the second makes
necessary a new demarcation of the scope of the criminal law...There
remains a third question...having come to the conclusion that
society should protect a certain good by means of the criminal law,
we still have to ask whether a solution of each and every single
problem that might arise from the policy should be the duty of the
criminal law and the criminal courts, or whether at least certain
aspects be better left to other agencies."
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From The Archives |
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Forthcoming Events |
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Independent
Police Commission Workshop 2nd October
1.30-5-30pm St Clements S221
This is a special meeting
bringing together the academics who have contributed position papers to
assist the Stevens work on the Independent Commission into the Future of
Policing
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Introduction |
1:50 – 1:55 |
J. Brown |
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Panel I: Purposes &
paradigms |
1:55 – 3:00 |
C. Emsley |
Purposes |
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M. Bacon |
Police culture |
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D. Wood/S. Tong/R. Bryant |
Training |
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B. Bradford/M. Hough |
Legitimacy |
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J. Fleming |
Police professionalism |
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Chair |
M. Shiner |
Questions & answers |
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3:00 – 3:05 |
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Short break |
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Panel II: Tasks &
delivery |
3:05 – 4:10 |
R. Armitage/P. Ekblom/A. Hirschfield |
Crime prevention |
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M. O’Neill |
Partnership |
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M. Silvestri |
Women officers |
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C. Stott |
Public Order |
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J. Grieve |
Terrorism |
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Chair |
T. Newburn |
Questions & answers |
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4:10 – 4:20 |
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Break |
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Panel III:
Governance & accountability |
4:20 – 5:25 |
N. Tilley |
Professional problem solvers |
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I. Loader |
Governance |
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K. Stenson |
Governance |
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M. Rowe |
Racism |
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M. Jones |
LGB Police Officers |
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Chair |
J. Peay |
Questions & answers |
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Close |
5:25 – 5:30 |
J. Brown |
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What if ...4th October
6.45 to 9pm, East Building (EAS E171)
The Howard League and the
Mannheim Centre at the London School of Economics would like to invite
you to the next in it’s What if…? series of challenging pamphlets
seminars. Andrew Ashworth, Vinerian Professor of English Law, All Souls
College, Oxford University will present the notion that property
offences should be non-imprisonable.
Keir Starmer, the Director
of Public Prosecutions and Lord Faukener, former Lord Chancellor are the discussants.
The seminar will be held at
the London School of Economics on Thursday 4th October between 6.45 and
9pm. Professor Jill Peay will Chair the event.
British Society of
Criminology South Branch and the Mannheim Centre for Criminology – LSE
2012/13
10 Oct Professor
Rosie Meek, University of Teesside: The role of sport in rehabilitation
and desistance from crime
LSE: New Academic Building,
Room 1.07
7 Nov Matthew
Bacon, University of Sheffield: Taking care of the drug business: A
study of police detectives, drug law enforcement and proactive
Investigation
LSE: Connaught House, Room
1.05
5 Dec Professor
Jon Silverman, University of Bedfordshire and former Home Affairs Editor
BBC: Crime policy and the media
LSE: New Academic Building,
Room 1.07
16 Jan Professor
Wayne Morrison, Queen Mary University of London Lessons for the study of
state crime from the Nazi era
LSE: New Academic Building,
Room 1.07
13 Feb David
Scott, University of Central Lancashire:Ghosts beyond our realm: prison
officer occupational culture and less eligibility
LSE: New Academic Building,
Room 1.07
13 Mar Ros
Burnett, University of Oxford:False allegations of abuse in positions of
trust
LSE: New Academic Building,
Room 1.07
15 May Professor
Mike Nash, University of Portsmouth:Co-operating or Coerced? The
'others' in public protection.
LSE: Connaught House, Room
1.05
12 Jun Professor
David Wilson Birmingham City University:What we can learn from the
history of British serial killing
LSE: Connaught House, Room
1.05
The seminars will begin at
6.30pm, with wine from 6.15pm, and we recommend arriving early to be
sure of a seat. We hope you will also be able to stay for drinks with
the speaker afterwards.
Post graduate student workshop
Translating across the divide: Considering the uses of scholarly
knowledge for police, and police knowledge for scholars
19th October CON 7.05 10-1pm (This event
is limited to PhD and MSc students) |
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To Do in London |
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