Criminology: Missing in action

Research output: Contribution to journalEditorial

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

One of the tasks of an editor of a journal such as this one is to attend criminology conferences in order to listen to papers by persons working in the field, in part to monitor what is going on research-wise but also to seek out interesting papers and persuade their authors to submit them to the journal. One of us (AG) has recently returned from the British Criminology Conference in Sheffield, UK, where many papers were offered across a range of areas over the three days of the event. Many of the papers were indeed interesting and well presented. As is customary, the papers were organised thematically and based upon the abstracts submitted by those accepted to present.

What was striking however about this and some other criminology conferences we have attended in recent years was that a reader of the conference program would have searched in vain for conference papers that connected in any obvious or useful way with issues that have been very much in the public eye in recent times and even, in a few instances, the past few years. It at times seems as if many criminological researchers never read the newspapers or listen to the news; that what they diligently research continues unabated and apparently impervious to issues going on around them and that are fuelling public concerns and political responses. The London Borough Market attack had occurred in the month prior to the Sheffield conference, the latest in a string of extremist attacks in England, yet one searched the program in vain for papers that might add insight into the activities or motivations of such attackers.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)471-472
Number of pages2
JournalAustralian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology
Volume50
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2017

Keywords

  • criminology conferences
  • radicalisation
  • terrorism
  • criminologists

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