Suchergebnisse

The use of specialised prison units (SPUs) as a means of countering violent extremism and radicalisation is growing in popularity in many jurisdictions. Yet, little is known about their ability to prevent radicalisation in the long-term, limit the spread of violent extremism or promote de-radicalisation and disengagement. This paper begins to explore these issues by reflecting on the over 40 years of experience that Northern Ireland (NI) has had in this area. It is argued that the international community tends to have an incomplete understanding of: 1) why SPUs were created and installed in NI, 2) how their regime, conditions and underlying rationale changed over time and 3) the long-term consequences that SPUs have had on the spread of violent extremism, de-radicalisation and disengagement. This paper seeks to make an original contribution to this literature by highlighting the role psychological, situational, social and political factors played in shaping the effectiveness of SPUs in NI. By providing a more in-depth analysis of why SPUs in NI entrenched extremism rather than promoted disengagement or de-radicalisation, other jurisdictions will be encouraged to reflect on how these factors may affect the success of their own SPUs in countering violent extremism.

Countries with similar economies, cultures, languages and politics tend to have similar penal systems, albeit with some surprises and anomalies (Cavadino and Dignan, 2006). The purpose of this chapter is to explore the penal systems in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to see if they converge with other Western, developed, industrialised democracies and what lessons can be learnt from the anomalies that emerge. The chapter is divided into five sections. Imprisonment in pre-partition Ireland is reviewed before moving on to examine how the penal systems in the Republic and Northern Ireland developed after partition. Next, everyday prison life is explored to investigate how order and control is maintained as well as the extent to which prisoner needs and quality of life issues are addressed. Lastly, the suitability of the accountability mechanisms employed are reviewed to determine their ability to promote change and encourage ongoing improvements and reform in Irish and Northern Ireland prisons.

This dissertation is an examination of the entanglements between the people, objects, and practices that created an Early Classic (A.D. 250-500) communal mortuary space at Charco Redondo, in coastal Oaxaca, Mexico. The purpose of this project is two-fold: to provide a comprehensive analysis of Early Classic mortuary practices at Charco Redondo and to explore the role of identity within a changing political landscape. Using a practice-based, comparative approach, I show how mortuary ritual continued the Formative Period tradition of communal burial but created distinct notions of identity within that space and altered how political authority was constituted. Individuals were discretely interred in a variety of positions, with a range of offerings and displayed kin-relatedness as determined through an intracemetery biodistance analysis. This is in contrast to Formative Period supradomestic internment practices, characterized by highly concentrated, disturbed burials and limited individual offerings. Changes in Early Classic burial practice are suggestive of a move towards indelibly marking one's individual identity and position in the social hierarchy. Nonetheless, inhabitants continued to reference preexisting understandings of the world through collective burial. During the Formative Period, political authority was constituted through communal ritual practices; practices that often entailed the muting of social inequalities. After the disintegration of the region's tenuously centralized polity at the end of the Terminal Formative (AD 100-250), I argue that coastal elites engaged in trade relations, particularly with Teotihuacan, which led to new opportunities to enhance social status and express that identity in death. I consider how objects acquired through elite networks increased certain individuals' authority, while at the same time, the reallocation of these objects in communal ritual and caches aided in normalizing new definitions of identity. I conclude that changes in mortuary practice reflect ideological transformations in regards to identity, and that religious practice no longer constrained the expression of identity as it did in the previous Formative Period. This research contributes to discourses that view religious practice as crucial to political dynamics rather than epiphenomenal, as ritual is often a site through which power and identity are negotiated and contested at all levels of society.

Increasingly, research investigates how the imprisonment of those with child care responsibilities may affect children and their outcomes. However, this research is often conducted in high income, developed countries, with little known about its impact in low income, least developed countries. This study starts to address this gap by examining if the imprisonment of those with child care responsibilities in Uganda, a low income least developed country, may affect child poverty, wellbeing, health, diet and education. Drawing on 76 interviews conducted with 61 adults and 15 children, participants were asked to recount what affect, if any, imprisonment of the child's caregiver was believed to have on child poverty, health, wellbeing, diet and education. The findings reveal that imprisonment was believed to have a largely negative effect on these aspects of children's lives for most children, hindering government efforts to improve child outcomes and tackle key development challenges. Based on these findings, it is argued that our theoretical understanding of imprisonment and its effects may need to be broadened to include how differing socio-economic policy contexts may moderate the impact of imprisonment on child outcomes.

Purpose: It is now widely accepted that living with domestic abuse (DA) can significantly affect children, with the effects of DA continuing to be felt into adulthood. The common conceptualisation of children as passive 'witnesses' of DA and the failure to recognise them as direct 'victims' in their own right, separate from adult victims, can act as a major barrier for professionals responding to children within this context. The first professionals with whom many child victims of DA come into contact often are members of the police. Yet, little is still known about how children and police officers experience these encounters. Method: The aim of this paper is to conduct a narrative review of the existing literature on the police response to children at DA call outs through the lens of Emotional Intelligence (Goleman, 1996). Results: Reviewed studies state that a large number of police officers reported feelings of overwhelm and uncertainty at incidents of DA involving children. Children reported significant differences in empathy of officers, a key tenet of EI, which impacted their feelings of safety and visibility at incidents of DA. Conclusions: DA incidents are an emotionally challenging aspect of police work and most officers do not appear to have the skills to manage this effectively. The significance of speaking with children in these traumatic situations cannot be understated. EI appears to make an important contribution to the overall efficacy of officers at incidents of DA involving children.

Abstract:This article examines the meaning of respect in the interpersonal relationships within Her Majesty's Prison Service. It is argued that respect‐as‐esteem and respect‐as‐consideration are often confused and unequally emphasised in modern society. This confusion is especially evident within the prison context where, due to the prison service's 'decency agenda', the respectful treatment of inmates has become a topical issue. What does respect mean in prison? Why is it important? How can respectful relationships be established between staff and inmates? This article discusses these questions and proposes that there are different forms of respect possible between people. It is argued that there needs to be a recognition of the nuances of meaning when we use the word respect and that 'respect‐as‐consideration' may be the form of respect most consistently achievable, at the present time, within interpersonal relationships in English and Welsh prisons.

For decades, researchers have sought to understand the impact of imprisonment; yet we have a limited understanding of the lived experience of cell-sharing. To address this gap in knowledge, this paper draws on 37 semi-structured interviews with imprisoned adult men in Northern Ireland. While demonstrating that, for most, cell-sharing was a negative experience, imbued with discomfort, unease and distress, a new conceptual framework is presented that seeks to understand the tactics people use to manage cell-sharing, influences on their choice of tactics and the potential repercussions of these tactics. Potential implications for policy and practice are also discussed.

Prison gangs are a growing problem in prisons. In recent times, Skarbek's (2011, 2014) governance theory has become increasingly popular in explaining their emergence. Yet, this theory downplays the role that deprivation and importation theories can play in understanding the emergence and behaviour of these gangs. This chapter seeks to address this shortcoming by demonstrating how the inclusion of these theories, alongside the governance theory, can enhance our understanding of prison gang emergence and when gang fragmentation or consolidation may occur. Drawing on research conducted in the US and beyond, this chapter argues that a holistic understanding of prison gangs and their monopolisation of power requires a consideration of the importation and deprivation theories, together with Skarbek's (2011, 2014) governance theory. Special attention is paid to the wider role political and social processes may play in influencing whether monopoly power by prison gangs is supported and legitimised or not.