Monday, November 30, 2009

Theoretical Criminology 13(4)

Civilization, economic change, and trends in interpersonal violence in western societies
Dennis M. Mares
This article moves forward on recent studies on historical trends in violence. Whereas many studies agree that levels of interpersonal violence have subsided since the late Middle Ages, some have found periods of strong increases within this general decline. Building on Norbert Elias’s civilizing thesis, this article proposes to incorporate a greater degree of attention to economic processes. Using illustrative evidence from Western Europe and the USA, this article demonstrates how within the overall decline of violence, cycles of increasing and decreasing violence can be tied to the development of both state formation and the growth of a world economic system.
American 'pain-ology' in the war on terror: a critique of 'scientific' torture
Michael Welch
Questionable tactics in America’s war on terror continue to undergo scrutiny due to their threats to human rights, chief among them ‘enhanced’ interrogation and torture. Indeed, a growing chorus of criticism has been leveled at the political, legal, and ethical considerations of those policies and practices. Scholars, nonetheless, have neglected other important aspects of the controversy, for instance, the extent to which modern torture has been influenced by ‘scientific’ claims involving the effectiveness and appropriateness of certain procedures. Filling the void, this analysis explores the invention of modern torture as it draws on behavioral and psychological research in developing a new paradigm for pain. Delving into the assertions of ‘enhanced’ techniques, the critique focuses on a science studies perspective aimed at deciphering the allure of science in policing as well as in the war on terror. Such ‘scientification’, as discussed herein, reinforces the illusion that the state’s capacity to unveil the truth is infallible.
Darfur and the Crime of Genocide by John Hagan and Wenona Rymond-Richmond: a symposium: Introduction
Nicole Rafter
[Full text:] Slowly and belatedly, criminology is incorporating genocide as one of the crimes it can and must try to account for. Many criminologists are, in fact, anxious to include genocide in their theorizing and teaching, but they have lacked an example, a road map to guide them through this difficult terrain. Darfur and the Crime of Genocide offers that guide. To bring it to the attention of other criminologists, I invited four scholars to review the book and  assess  its  potential  for  the  evolving  criminology  of  genocide.  The reviews are followed by a response in which John Hagan and Wenona Rymond-Richmond react not only to the reviewers, but also to a challenge to the propriety of their attempt to intervene in African politics. In a number of ways, the following contributions mark a milestone in the development of criminological thought.
Genocide, criminology, and Darfur
Joachim J. Savelsberg

Mobilizing criminology: The boundaries of criminological science and the politics of genocide
Bruce Hoffman

Mass atrocity and criminology
Hadar Aviram

Toward a new criminology of genocide: theory, method, and politics
Ross L. Matsueda

Criminology confronts genocide: whose side are you on?
John Hagan and Wenona Rymond-Richmond

Theoretical Criminology, November 2009: Volume 13, Issue 4

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