Crisis Reform Repeat? Evaluating Change in Criminal Justice (call for papers)

Rust Cohle’s pessimistic view of the world draws upon Nietzsche’s doctrine of eternal recurrence – but are things really this bleak? This conference provides a forum for discussion on the nature of reform across all elements of the criminal justice system and beyond. Reform is often fuelled by an event or crisis, but to what extent are reforms successful? Do they bring about needed change? Or are we doomed to keep repeating the mistakes of the past regardless? 

The British Society of Criminology SW network and Culture and Heritage Exchange (CHEx) invite proposals for papers that engage with responses to crisis that relate to crime, justice, harm, or control in its many forms. This can include (but is not limited to) areas such as policing, probation, Prisons, the judiciary, sentencing, youth justice, corporate crime, drug/alcohol policy, environmental harm/crime and so on. Papers can be international in scope, contemporary or historical, focus on public or private agencies, celebrate successful reform, or critique its failure.

To submit a paper, please send a 200 word abstract to Iain Channing (iain.channing@plymouth.ac.uk) by Friday 3 May. If you have any questions, please contact Iain in the first instance.