scholarly journals The Learning Model of Use-of-Force Reviews

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 755-786
Author(s):  
David Thacher

AbstractSince the 1970s, police departments have subjected the use of force by their officers to increasingly stringent oversight, but those efforts have struggled against the difficulty of codifying the complex and idiosyncratic judgments that police work requires. In response, some departments have developed new models of oversight that use routine incident reviews partly as a tool for learning in order to document the continually surprising circumstances that officers encounter in the field, to scrutinize existing responses, and to articulate alternatives. This article analyzes the logic of this emerging model through a case study of use-of-force reviews in the Portland Police Bureau. I argue that this emerging model relies on an approach to practical inquiry that has not been adequately understood in criminal justice scholarship and practice—one that uses the routine review of organizational experience to pursue normative progress as well as technical understanding and that makes it possible to adapt complex policing practices to the local environment in which they operate.

Author(s):  
Chrysanthi S. Leon ◽  
Corey S. Shdaimah

Expertise in multi-door criminal justice enables new forms of intervention within existing criminal justice systems. Expertise provides criminal justice personnel with the rationale and means to use their authority in order to carry out their existing roles for the purpose of doing (what they see as) good. In the first section, we outline theoretical frameworks derived from Gil Eyal’s sociology of expertise and Thomas Haskell’s evolution of moral sensibility. We use professional stakeholder interview data (N = 45) from our studies of three emerging and existing prostitution diversion programs as a case study to illustrate how criminal justice actors use what we define as primary, secondary, and tertiary expertise in multi-agency working groups. Actors make use of the tools at their disposal—in this case, the concept of trauma—to further personal and professional goals. As our case study demonstrates, professionals in specialized diversion programs recognize the inadequacy of criminal justice systems and believe that women who sell sex do so as a response to past harms and a lack of social, emotional, and material resources to cope with their trauma. Trauma shapes the kinds of interventions and expertise that are marshalled in response. Specialized programs create seepage that may reduce solely punitive responses and pave the way for better services. However empathetic, they do nothing to address the societal forces that are the root causes of harm and resultant trauma. This may have more to do with imagined capacities than with the objectively best approaches.


2021 ◽  
pp. 096466392110208
Author(s):  
Riikka Kotanen

In the context of home, violence remains more accepted when committed against children than adults. Normalisation of parental violence has been documented in attitudinal surveys, professional practices, and legal regulation. For example, in many countries violent disciplining of children is the only legal form of interpersonal violence. This study explores the societal invisibility and normalisation of parental violence as a crime by analysing legislation and control policies regulating the division of labour and involvement between social welfare and criminal justice authorities. An empirical case study from Finland, where all forms of parental violence were legally prohibited in 1983, is used to elucidate the divergence between (criminal) law and control policies. The analysis demonstrates how normalisation operates at the policy-level where, within the same system of control that criminalised these acts, structural hindrances are built to prevent criminal justice interventions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 205979912110085
Author(s):  
Jane Richardson ◽  
Barry Godfrey ◽  
Sandra Walklate

In March 2020, the UK Research and Innovation announced an emergency call for research to inform policy and practice responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. This call implicitly and explicitly required researchers to work rapidly, remotely and responsively. In this article, we briefly review how rapid response methods developed in health research can be used in other social science fields. After outlining the literature in this area, we use the early stages of our applied research into criminal justice responses to domestic abuse during COVID-19 as a case study to illustrate some of the practical challenges we faced in responding to this rapid funding call. We review our use of and experience with remote research methods and describe how we used and adapted these methods in our research, from data gathering through to transcription and analysis. We reflect on our experiences to date of what it means to be responsive in fast-changing research situations. Finally, we make some practical recommendations for conducting applied research in a ‘nimble’ way to meet the demands of working rapidly, remotely, responsively and, most importantly, responsibly.


Author(s):  
Mario S. Staller ◽  
Swen Koerner ◽  
Valentina Heil ◽  
Isabel Klemmer ◽  
Andrew Abraham ◽  
...  

AbstractThe current study aims to investigate the current structure and delivery of police recruit training. Using a case study approach, we systematically observed a semester of police training that consisted of 30 h with a specific focus on police use of force training. Field notes and time-on-task data was analysed using an inductive approach. The results revealed, first, a lack of constructive alignment of the training modules and learning tasks within the training settings. Second, an adherence to traditional linear approaches to training resulting in high amounts of augmented instruction and feedback and a one-size-fits all approach to technical and tactical behaviour. Third, a non-efficient use of available training time with low amounts of engagement in representatively designed tasks that stimulated problem-solving processes. Based on these results we suggest that there is a need: (a) for police trainers and curriculum designers to align the objectives, practice structure and delivery of police training with the needs of police officers in the field (e.g. conflict resolution); (b) for police trainers to employ more learner-centred pedagogical approaches that account for individual action capabilities and resources, and allow for high amounts of training time with representatively designed training tasks; and (c) for senior managers of overall police training decision-makers to provide the necessary trainer education, in order to furnish trainers with the knowledge and tools to appropriately plan, deliver and reflect upon their practice in keeping with concept of constructive alignment.


2021 ◽  
pp. 109861112110090
Author(s):  
Vanessa M. Diaz ◽  
Lidia E. Nuño

Law enforcement is still considered a male dominated occupation resulting in the underrepresentation of women in sworn personnel positions. While it is critical for police departments to have a more representative police force, there is a lack of research on the factors that affect the likelihood of women entering policing. Past studies suggest that men and women have similar reasons for joining policing. However, research on the factors that deter potential candidates from pursuing this career path is limited. This paper examines factors that may affect the likelihood of women pursuing a career in policing. We rely on data collected from a sample of undergraduate students enrolled in criminal justice courses (n = 421). Our results show that, relative to men, women are less likely to be interested in pursuing a career as a police officer. However, more than half of the women in our sample reported interest in pursuing a career in policing. We find that for men and women, the likelihood for pursuing a career in policing was affected by a number of personal characteristics and the current socio-political climate. While a notable limitation of our study is its limited generalizability, overall, our findings offer some promise for the potential of representative policing.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 4023
Author(s):  
Silvia Marcu

Using the case study of Romanians in Spain, this article highlights how the COVID-19 crisis presents both challenges and opportunities when it comes to human mobility and sustainability. Drawing on in-depth interviews with mobile people during the period of lockdown and circulation restrictions, and in accordance with the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the paper advances and contributes to the relevance of sustainability and its impact on people’s mobility in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. I argue that even in the midst of the crisis, sustainable ways may be found to promote and protect human mobility. The paper raises the way sustainability acts as a driver, gains relevance and influence, and contributes to the creation of new models of resilient mobility in times of crisis. The conclusions defend the respect for the SDGs regarding human mobility and emphasise the role of people on the move as sustainable actors learning to overcome distance and the barriers to their mobility during the pandemic.


2021 ◽  
pp. 174889582199160
Author(s):  
William Graham ◽  
Annette Robertson

Although there is growing interest in criminal justice policy transfer, a dearth of empirical research in this area has been acknowledged. This article addresses this gap by presenting the results of research conducted on a case of policy transfer of a criminal justice programme, focused on group/gang violence reduction, from America to Scotland. Policy transfer models were used to develop, frame and conduct the analysis of what was considered a ‘successful’ programme transfer; however, it was found that no single model could fully account conceptually for a key finding of the research, namely a policy transfer ‘backflow’. This article details the key processes, mechanisms and outcomes of the policy transfer and in doing so reflects on the usefulness of orthodox and non-orthodox/social-constructionist policy transfer approaches in understanding the outcomes of this case of criminal justice programme transfer.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026638212098473
Author(s):  
Jela Webb

Disruption is the by-word for 2020. Across the globe organisations have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns, which accelerated new ways of working and learning. In this article, I share my experience of transitioning from a face-to-face model of delivering post-graduate education to a remote learning model. I reflect on how the corporate sector might learn from my experience as it considers re-skilling and up-skilling the workforce to meet the demands faced by a changing jobs landscape.


2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peyi Soyinka-Airewele

AbstractThis paper explores the means by which social institutions located in African communities that are deeply and violently polarized along ethnic-related lines, navigate the institutional role and identity within such a local environment. Utilizing a case study of ethno-political conflict in the Ile-Ife and Modakeke communities of South Western Nigeria, the paper investigates how the local academy has sought to survive as a zone of diversities located in host cit(ies) with rigidly structured mythicohistories and conflicting geopolitical claims. Through this exploration of the paradox of the uneasy cohabitation of contested realities and the quest for postwar healing and rehabilitation, the paper unveils the unusual local interpretation, rejection and reconstruction of the concept of neutrality, and highlights the challenges, both philosophical and concrete, which confront the academy. The findings of the study suggest a need to cautiously, but decidedly, resituate the university as a civically engaged arena for the creative re-envisioning of diversity and cultural pluralism and ultimately for local and national conflict transformation in Nigeria.


2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 358-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Todak ◽  
Michael D. White ◽  
Lisa M. Dario ◽  
Andrea R. Borrego

Objective: To provide guidance to criminologists for conducting experiments in light of two common discouraging factors: the belief that they are overly time-consuming and the belief that they can compromise the ethical principles of human subjects’ research. Method: A case study approach is used, based on a large-scale randomized controlled trial experiment in which we exposed participants to a 5-s TASER shock, to describe how the authors overcame ethical, methodological, and logistical difficulties. Results: We derive four pieces of advice from our experiences carrying out this experimental trial: (1) know your limitations, (2) employ pilot testing, (3) remain flexible and patient, and (4) “hold the line” to maintain the integrity of the research and the safety of human subjects. Conclusions: Criminologists have an obligation to provide the best possible evidence regarding the impact and consequences of criminal justice practices and programs. Experiments, considered by many to be the gold standard of empirical research methodologies, should be used whenever possible in order to fulfill this obligation.


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