This paper provides an argument for the abolition of child imprisonment in England and Wales. England and Wales is not Ireland, but the cultural and social similarities suggest that children face a great deal of the same pressures, difficulties, trials and tribulations regardless of which side of the Irish Sea they live on. Therefore, it may provide a useful analogy for Irish policy makers. The paper argues that the incarceration of children has a wide range of negative effects on children and is provided at an excessive cost to the exchequer. Restorative justice is put forward as a viable alternative which is highly cost effective and has yielded positive results in terms of recidivism.
{"title":"No Place for Children: A Case for the Abolition of Child Imprisonment in England and Wales","authors":"P. Gavin","doi":"10.21427/D7PX47","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7PX47","url":null,"abstract":"This paper provides an argument for the abolition of child imprisonment in England and Wales. England and Wales is not Ireland, but the cultural and social similarities suggest that children face a great deal of the same pressures, difficulties, trials and tribulations regardless of which side of the Irish Sea they live on. Therefore, it may provide a useful analogy for Irish policy makers. The paper argues that the incarceration of children has a wide range of negative effects on children and is provided at an excessive cost to the exchequer. Restorative justice is put forward as a viable alternative which is highly cost effective and has yielded positive results in terms of recidivism.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67747375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The low conviction rate for rape is often highlighted as a cause for concern. The typical response is to call for reform of Irish rape law. Although reform is necessary, this article argues that the low conviction rate for rape is caused not simply by ‘bad’ or inadequate laws but also by ‘bad’ or prejudicial attitudes about rape which persist in Irish society. These attitudes are at odds with the reality of rape and therefore create unrealistic expectations as to what, for example, constitutes a ‘real rape’ or a ‘real victim’. Jurors who are influenced by these attitudes are likely to be unduly sceptical about allegations which do not match their stereotypical perceptions of rape. These prejudicial attitudes are usually referred to as ‘rape myths’. In this article, the most common ‘rape myths’ will be outlined. The effect of rape myth acceptance (RMA) on juror deliberations will then be discussed. It is suggested that non-legal initiatives are necessary to ensure that in future jurors will not be influenced by RMA. The article concludes by recommending the introduction of model jury directions which would tackle the ill-effects of rape myths upon juror deliberations at trial, as well as wider public awareness initiatives to educate the public generally about the reality of rape.
{"title":"Bad laws or bad attitudes? Assessing the impact of societal attitudes upon the conviction rate for rape in Ireland","authors":"S. Leahy","doi":"10.21427/D7ZD9F","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7ZD9F","url":null,"abstract":"The low conviction rate for rape is often highlighted as a cause for concern. The typical response is to call for reform of Irish rape law. Although reform is necessary, this article argues that the low conviction rate for rape is caused not simply by ‘bad’ or inadequate laws but also by ‘bad’ or prejudicial attitudes about rape which persist in Irish society. These attitudes are at odds with the reality of rape and therefore create unrealistic expectations as to what, for example, constitutes a ‘real rape’ or a ‘real victim’. Jurors who are influenced by these attitudes are likely to be unduly sceptical about allegations which do not match their stereotypical perceptions of rape. These prejudicial attitudes are usually referred to as ‘rape myths’. In this article, the most common ‘rape myths’ will be outlined. The effect of rape myth acceptance (RMA) on juror deliberations will then be discussed. It is suggested that non-legal initiatives are necessary to ensure that in future jurors will not be influenced by RMA. The article concludes by recommending the introduction of model jury directions which would tackle the ill-effects of rape myths upon juror deliberations at trial, as well as wider public awareness initiatives to educate the public generally about the reality of rape.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67753245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The prison population experiences significant health inequality and social exclusion (Department of Health 2002). Once incarcerated, prisoners are at increased risk of mental illness and have higher exposure to communicable diseases (WHO 2008). Prisoners generally have poorer health because imprisonment negatively impacts upon the health of the individual (WHO 2008). However, the prison setting offers a unique opportunity to implement targeted health promotion initiatives with a population that may have had very limited experience of accessing health services prior to incarceration. The World Health Organisation recognises the need for health promotion in prisons. This is evidenced in the Health in Prisons Project (HIPP), the aim of which is to support member states in improving health and health care in prisons, and to facilitate the links between prison health and public health systems at both national and international levels. In practice however, implementation of the HIPP is complex. This paper examines the challenges in promoting health in prisons globally and in Irish prisons specifically, given that the prison setting is omitted from the Irish National Health Promotion Strategy. Based on a qualitative research design that incorporated semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of twelve leading figures in prison policy in Ireland, this paper discusses the need for health promotion interventions in Irish prisons. The paper also discusses the influence of organisational culture on attitudes of prison staff towards engaging in health promotion with prisoners and explores the problems posed by lack of national policy and funding for health promotion initiatives in the prison setting.
{"title":"Placing the promotion of health and well being on the Irish prison agenda - the complexity of health promotion in Irish prisons","authors":"C. MacNamara, P. Mannix-McNamara","doi":"10.21427/D7K430","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7K430","url":null,"abstract":"The prison population experiences significant health inequality and social exclusion (Department of Health 2002). Once incarcerated, prisoners are at increased risk of mental illness and have higher exposure to communicable diseases (WHO 2008). Prisoners generally have poorer health because imprisonment negatively impacts upon the health of the individual (WHO 2008). However, the prison setting offers a unique opportunity to implement targeted health promotion initiatives with a population that may have had very limited experience of accessing health services prior to incarceration. The World Health Organisation recognises the need for health promotion in prisons. This is evidenced in the Health in Prisons Project (HIPP), the aim of which is to support member states in improving health and health care in prisons, and to facilitate the links between prison health and public health systems at both national and international levels. In practice however, implementation of the HIPP is complex. This paper examines the challenges in promoting health in prisons globally and in Irish prisons specifically, given that the prison setting is omitted from the Irish National Health Promotion Strategy. Based on a qualitative research design that incorporated semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of twelve leading figures in prison policy in Ireland, this paper discusses the need for health promotion interventions in Irish prisons. The paper also discusses the influence of organisational culture on attitudes of prison staff towards engaging in health promotion with prisoners and explores the problems posed by lack of national policy and funding for health promotion initiatives in the prison setting.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67743991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: Hourigan, N. (Ed.) (2011). Understanding Limerick: Social Exclusion and Change","authors":"L. Leonard","doi":"10.21427/D79M7V","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D79M7V","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68646569","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Book Review: O’Sullivan, E. & O’Donnell, E. (2012). Coercive Confinement in Ireland. Patients, Prisoners and Penitents","authors":"M. Rogan","doi":"10.21427/D75X5Z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D75X5Z","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68644227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Established in 2006, the Garda Siochana Adult Caution Scheme provides a mechanism to divert adult offenders, aged 18 years and over, from the criminal justice system by way of a formal police caution in lieu of prosecution before the courts. Drawing on statistical data provided by the Central Statistics Office, this paper explores the use of the scheme over a five year period from 2006 to 2010. It identifies the types of offences for which cautions are most commonly administered, the age and gender profile of offenders involved, variability in the application of the scheme across the country, and the extent to which offenders come to the attention of An Garda Siochana post-caution. Overall, the paper analyses the role of adult cautioning in the Irish context and provides some observations on the potential for increased diversion, through expanding the remit of the scheme in future years.
{"title":"Increasing the Potential for Diversion in the Irish Criminal Justice System: The Role of the Garda Síochána Adult Cautioning Scheme","authors":"Graham Tolan, M. Seymour","doi":"10.21427/D7FD9S","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7FD9S","url":null,"abstract":"Established in 2006, the Garda Siochana Adult Caution Scheme provides a mechanism to divert adult offenders, aged 18 years and over, from the criminal justice system by way of a formal police caution in lieu of prosecution before the courts. Drawing on statistical data provided by the Central Statistics Office, this paper explores the use of the scheme over a five year period from 2006 to 2010. It identifies the types of offences for which cautions are most commonly administered, the age and gender profile of offenders involved, variability in the application of the scheme across the country, and the extent to which offenders come to the attention of An Garda Siochana post-caution. Overall, the paper analyses the role of adult cautioning in the Irish context and provides some observations on the potential for increased diversion, through expanding the remit of the scheme in future years.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68648148","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The idea that education can imbue the learner with the skills, values and attitudes necessary for active citizenship has come to permeate mainstream educational discourse. This paper examines the relevance of that discourse for prison education and considers what it may have to offer the prison learner? It suggests that it has much to offer because 'citizenship' is itself a learning process that instils developmental and transformative change. Thus, prison educators should not only think of learning as a key dimension of citizenship but citizenship as a key dimension of learning. Accordingly, 'civic competency' should be seen to be just one more 'literacy' prisoners need to master in order to lessen their educational, social and political marginalisation. The paper concludes with the argument that civic competency can be taught best within the paradigm of transformative learning because that ideology and approach is focused less on enabling prisoners to know their place in society and more on enabling them reconceptualise their place in society.
{"title":"Learning for liberation, teaching for transformation: Can education in prison prepare prisoners for active citizenship?","authors":"Anne Costelloe","doi":"10.21427/D7TM7H","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7TM7H","url":null,"abstract":"The idea that education can imbue the learner with the skills, values and attitudes necessary for active citizenship has come to permeate mainstream educational discourse. This paper examines the relevance of that discourse for prison education and considers what it may have to offer the prison learner? It suggests that it has much to offer because 'citizenship' is itself a learning process that instils developmental and transformative change. Thus, prison educators should not only think of learning as a key dimension of citizenship but citizenship as a key dimension of learning. Accordingly, 'civic competency' should be seen to be just one more 'literacy' prisoners need to master in order to lessen their educational, social and political marginalisation. The paper concludes with the argument that civic competency can be taught best within the paradigm of transformative learning because that ideology and approach is focused less on enabling prisoners to know their place in society and more on enabling them reconceptualise their place in society.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67749521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Recent reports depict regimes in Irish prisons as ‘inhumane’, and as ‘increasingly oppressive and destructive’. This deterioration in conditions is part of a larger ‘punitive turn’ that can be identified in the Irish prison system since the late 1990s, and that is also evident in a huge increase in the scale of incarceration and much greater demonisation of those held in prison. In 1985, the Whitaker Report set standards for ‘basic living conditions’ in prisons. The Whitaker standards mirror similar ones in the European Prison Rules. For example, both stipulate that an imprisoned person should normally have a single cell. When current regimes in Irish prisons are examined in the light of five key ‘basic living conditions’ set out in Whitaker, a picture of severe deterioration is evident. Nearly sixty per cent of all those in prisons must now share cells. Close to two-thirds are subject to highly inappropriate, undignified and often unhygienic sanitary arrangements. Lock-up times, deemed ‘excessive’ in Whitaker’s day, have, in fact, worsened significantly. Access to structured activity such as education or work is now far more problematic. And contact with family is unreasonably restrictive. These deteriorating conditions reinforce each other. Likewise, the multiple factors behind the regression – such as overcrowding, segregation, prisons that are too large, and an overemphasis on ‘security’ – also compound each other. Rescuing the Irish prison system from the morass it is now in, and bringing it towards the kind of system the Whitaker Committee envisioned, is an enormous task. An outline of some of the changes required is suggested. These include a radical reduction in the numbers imprisoned, much greater use of open prisons and a renewed focus on balancing ‘custody’ with ‘care’. Moreover, given the problems now endemic in Ireland’s large closed prisons, major long-term adjustments in the prison estate need to be planned, so that we have a system of much smaller prisons. In particular, the foolhardy Thornton Hall Project should be abandoned.
{"title":"Regimes in Irish prisons: 'Inhumane' and 'degrading': An analysis and the outline of a solution","authors":"Kevin S. Warner","doi":"10.21427/D7343N","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7343N","url":null,"abstract":"Recent reports depict regimes in Irish prisons as ‘inhumane’, and as ‘increasingly oppressive and destructive’. This deterioration in conditions is part of a larger ‘punitive turn’ that can be identified in the Irish prison system since the late 1990s, and that is also evident in a huge increase in the scale of incarceration and much greater demonisation of those held in prison. In 1985, the Whitaker Report set standards for ‘basic living conditions’ in prisons. The Whitaker standards mirror similar ones in the European Prison Rules. For example, both stipulate that an imprisoned person should normally have a single cell. When current regimes in Irish prisons are examined in the light of five key ‘basic living conditions’ set out in Whitaker, a picture of severe deterioration is evident. Nearly sixty per cent of all those in prisons must now share cells. Close to two-thirds are subject to highly inappropriate, undignified and often unhygienic sanitary arrangements. Lock-up times, deemed ‘excessive’ in Whitaker’s day, have, in fact, worsened significantly. Access to structured activity such as education or work is now far more problematic. And contact with family is unreasonably restrictive. These deteriorating conditions reinforce each other. Likewise, the multiple factors behind the regression – such as overcrowding, segregation, prisons that are too large, and an overemphasis on ‘security’ – also compound each other. Rescuing the Irish prison system from the morass it is now in, and bringing it towards the kind of system the Whitaker Committee envisioned, is an enormous task. An outline of some of the changes required is suggested. These include a radical reduction in the numbers imprisoned, much greater use of open prisons and a renewed focus on balancing ‘custody’ with ‘care’. Moreover, given the problems now endemic in Ireland’s large closed prisons, major long-term adjustments in the prison estate need to be planned, so that we have a system of much smaller prisons. In particular, the foolhardy Thornton Hall Project should be abandoned.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2014-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"68642860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article looks at peer dynamics in the mainstream classroom to explore the ways Russian-speaking children/adolescents in Ireland negotiate their cultural identities and their otherness outside the home. The article presents the analysis of semi-structured interviews with thirty parents and their children between 10 and 18 years of age from Russian-speaking families from Russia and Latvia. The participants dwell on how comfortable they feel at Irish schools and what factors impact their feeling of sameness/otherness. The interviews with both generations contribute to creating a multidimensional picture which reveals that the perspectives of the agents involved in this study are not always in keeping with each other. While many of the interviewed children/adolescents believe that it is possible to be different and, yet, feel the same as others at school, their parents are often of the opinion that otherness should preclude the feeling of comfort.
{"title":"The same but different. Negotiating cultural identities by migrant children in Irish mainstream classrooms","authors":"S. Eriksson","doi":"10.21427/D7J43P","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7J43P","url":null,"abstract":"This article looks at peer dynamics in the mainstream classroom to explore the ways Russian-speaking children/adolescents in Ireland negotiate their cultural identities and their otherness outside the home. The article presents the analysis of semi-structured interviews with thirty parents and their children between 10 and 18 years of age from Russian-speaking families from Russia and Latvia. The participants dwell on how comfortable they feel at Irish schools and what factors impact their feeling of sameness/otherness. The interviews with both generations contribute to creating a multidimensional picture which reveals that the perspectives of the agents involved in this study are not always in keeping with each other. While many of the interviewed children/adolescents believe that it is possible to be different and, yet, feel the same as others at school, their parents are often of the opinion that otherness should preclude the feeling of comfort.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67742949","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This article examines the development of youth work policy and practice in Ireland over the past decade. The paper emerged from a research project carried out by the author which sought to establish the main issues and themes which have characterised youth work in Ireland since the passing of the Youth Work Act in 2001. Themes such as the increased professional identity of youth work; greater unity within the sector; the impact of changing economic conditions; and a move towards outcomes led and evidence based work are explored. The paper also examines future challenges facing voluntary youth work organisations in Ireland.
{"title":"Youth Work in Ireland – A Decade On","authors":"Hilary Jenkinson","doi":"10.21427/D7XF02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21427/D7XF02","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines the development of youth work policy and practice in Ireland over the past decade. The paper emerged from a research project carried out by the author which sought to establish the main issues and themes which have characterised youth work in Ireland since the passing of the Youth Work Act in 2001. Themes such as the increased professional identity of youth work; greater unity within the sector; the impact of changing economic conditions; and a move towards outcomes led and evidence based work are explored. The paper also examines future challenges facing voluntary youth work organisations in Ireland.","PeriodicalId":30337,"journal":{"name":"Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2013-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"67751760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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