By Australia Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services

This report examining financial abuse in Australia provides a comprehensive analysis of the issue, identifies key challenges within legislation, regulation, and financial institutions, and puts forward 61 recommendations to prevent and mitigate financial abuse.

The report highlights that financial abuse is a widespread issue with a direct cost to victims estimated at $5.7 billion—a figure higher than Australia's total scam losses in 2023.

It calls for legislative amendments, enhanced support services for victims, improved identification and response mechanisms within financial institutions, and greater collaboration between government agencies and stakeholders.

Key findings

Financial abuse is a prevalent issue in Australia, often occurring alongside other forms of domestic and family violence.

The financial toll on victims of financial abuse is estimated at $5.7 billion.

Current legislative and regulatory frameworks have significant gaps.

Financial institutions have made some progress in implementing measures to address financial abuse but require further action to provide comprehensive support for victims.

The rise of online financial platforms presents both opportunities and challenges in tackling financial abuse.

Vulnerable groups, including older Australians, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and those in regional and remote areas, face unique challenges and barriers in accessing support and protection from financial abuse.

Key recommendations

Establish a mechanism for co-design with victim-survivors of financial abuse in developing reforms to mitigate the prevalence and impact of financial abuse.

Amend the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 to recognise the unique threats posed by financial abuse and strengthen protections for victims.

Review the intersection between financial abuse and the superannuation system.

Implement a mandatory requirement for providers of financial services, products, and government agencies to include a "quick exit" button on webpages.

Co-design standard operating guidelines for the referral of reasonably suspected financial abuse to financial institutions.

Amend the Social Security Act 1991 to remove the requirement for victims to have left their home to qualify for crisis support payments, lengthen the application time frame for crisis payments, and ensure access to "special circumstances" waivers for victims subjected to perpetrator manipulation.

e Senate Printing Unit, Parliament House, Canberra, 2024, 230p.

By Nina Hudson, Rachel Moody, Heather McKay, Rae Kaspiew

The guide presents research-based insights that challenge common stereotypes, highlighting the diverse experiences of victims and survivors and offering practical examples and approaches for professionals to implement in their practice. It is intended for use by professionals within the Australian justice sector, specifically police, lawyers, and judicial officers.

This resource aims to support a more trauma-informed, victim-centred approach within the Australian justice system, ultimately fostering a greater understanding of the complexities of sexual assault. It was developed in response to calls for improvements in the justice system's handling of sexual assault cases and draws on research from over 100 Australian and international sources.

Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2024. 83p.

By The Texas Organized Retail Theft Task Force

Organized Retail Theft (ORT), the large-scale theft and reselling of merchandise, is a growing problem, according to Texas retailers. In 2023, the Texas Legislature created a special task force led by Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Glenn Hegar to analyze and develop strategies for combatting ORT. The ORT Task Force, which includes law enforcement, retailers and policy experts, conducted research, listened to expert testimony and conducted site visits as part of its study. The following report represents the findings of the Task Force and offers recommendations for further action. Summary of Findings and Recommendations As the Task Force listened to expert testimony and Comptroller staff visited retailer sites, ORT Task Force members noted three recurrent themes: a lack of ORT data, a need for coordination among ORT stakeholders and a need for consistency in the application of ORT laws. Finding 1 Statewide data relating specifically to ORT are not collected in Texas, which makes it difficult to quantify the extent and cost of ORT, pinpoint where crimes are happening and dedicate sufficient resources to combat ORT. Retailers are reluctant to share certain proprietary data with their competitors. Recommendations • Develop a statewide repository to collect ORT data that can be aggregated and analyzed. • Work with retailers to categorize and mask their confidential data in a manner that doesn’t expose proprietary information while still allowing analysts to estimate the cost of ORT and detect trends. • If ORT trends indicate a need, consider creating an organization to combat ORT modeled after or housed under the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center. Finding 2 Thefts conducted by perpetrators who target multiple types of merchandise or who operate in more than one law enforcement jurisdiction may be difficult to identify as ORT. Improved transparency, interaction and communication among all stakeholders—retailers, law enforcement and prosecutors—have yielded positive results in some cities. Recommendations • Continue support for the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Organized Retail Theft Prevention Unit and consider increasing the total number of FTEs for the unit. • Identify an existing state agency to serve as both an information clearinghouse and a facilitator to help local law enforcement departments develop and improve ORT coordination, cooperation and knowledge sharing with other jurisdictions so that potential links to related cases may be identified and shared. • San Antonio’s Businesses Against Theft Network (BAT-NET) program could serve as a model for other cities to improve communication, transparency and collaboration among stakeholders. • Establish a store walk-through program. Retailers can launch a store walk-through program inviting law enforcement agencies and prosecutors’ offices to get a better understanding of the ORT issue. This can also help foster a stronger relationship between retailers and law enforcement. • Incorporate training on ORT in new officer training classes and as part of a continuing education class for law enforcement. • One-hour presentation to new academy classes. • Quarterly and annual meeting/certification by Texas Organized Retail Crime Association (TXORCA) or similar association. Finding 3 Prosecuting ORT can be time and resource intensive, and prosecutors sometimes apply ORT charges inconsistently (e.g., charging an ORT crime as simple theft, which may take less time and be easier to prove). Prosecutors find the requirement to prove intentionality in ORT cases to be an obstacle in the pursuit of charges under the ORT statute. Other state laws may inadvertently make it difficult for ORT crimes to be prosecuted. Retailers, for example, are required by law to wait 10 days before reporting the theft of certain rental items. Although normally this provision likely would be in a consumer’s best interest, it is a barrier when the retailer becomes aware that the items are being resold before the retailer is allowed to report the theft. Recommendation • Form a committee of prosecutors to review the ORT statute’s requirements, including proof of intentionality, and other statutes that are barriers to ORT prosecution, such as the waiting period on reporting stolen rental items. The committee should seek input from retailers and law enforcement during its review. The committee will present its suggestions to the ORT Task Force before the next legislative session. • Develop training on ORT as a continuing education course, such as a one-hour presentation on the key steps for prosecuting an ORT case.

Austin: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts 2024. 24p.

Bennett, Phil; Cucos, Radu; Winch, Ryan

From the document: "The intersection of AI and transnational crime, particularly its application in human trafficking, represents an emerging and critically important area of study. This brief has been developed with a clear objective: to equip policymakers, law enforcement agencies, and the technology sector with the insights needed to anticipate and pre-emptively address the potential implications of AI on trafficking in persons. While we respond to the early instances of the use of AI by transnational criminal organisations, such as within Southeast Asia's cyber-scam centres, a more systemic approach is required. The potential for transnational criminal organisations to significantly expand their operations using AI technologies is considerable, and with it comes the risk of exponentially increasing harm to individuals and communities worldwide. It is imperative that we act now, before the most severe impacts of AI-enabled trafficking are realised. We have a unique time-limited opportunity--and indeed, a responsibility--to plan, train, and develop policies that can mitigate these emerging threats. This report aims to concretise this discussion by outlining specific scenarios where AI and trafficking could intersect, and to initiate a dialogue on how we can prepare and respond effectively. This document is not intended to be definitive, but rather to serve as a foundation for a broader, ongoing discussion. The ideas presented here are initial steps, and it will require innovative thinking, adequate resourcing, and sustained engagement from all sectors to build upon them effectively."

Organization For Security And Co-Operation In Europe. Office Of The Special Representative And Co-Ordinator For Combating Trafficking In Human Beings; Bali Process (Forum). Regional Support Office .NOV, 2024

By Ellen Jacobs, Ella Meyer, Helena Schwertheim, Melanie Döring and Terra Rolfe

The global gaming industry is now worth more than both the film and music industries combined, with an estimated 3.2 billion gamers worldwide. As such, greater attention has paid in recent years to the online safety risks associated with gaming. This includes both gaming-specific companies and the wider ecosystem of gaming-adjacent social media platforms, particularly in the context of online hate and misogyny, extremism and radicalisation, and child safety issues (such as grooming and cyberbullying). Significant progress has been made in understanding how online harms are perpetrated in online gaming spaces. Recognising these risks, policymakers have crafted new digital and online safety regulations such as the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and the UK’s Online Safety Act (UK OSA) to increasingly apply to gaming or gaming-adjacent companies. However, such regulations are still in the early stages of implementation and enforcement, and the extent to which gaming companies or services are within scope can be unclear. This policy brief provides a summary of the current evidence on the nature and extent of these risks and highlights remaining gaps and challenges to building out this evidence base. It also provides an overview of existing government approaches to enhancing online safety in gaming, including both regulatory and non-regulatory efforts, as well as industry and civil society initiatives. Special attention is given to existing regulatory frameworks in the EU (DSA, Terrorist Content Online Regulation), the UK (UK OSA) and Australia (Online Safety Act), to understand how and how far they may provide higher standards of online safety to gamers. Finally, the brief explores both existing and proposed mitigation strategies to enhance online safety in gaming. Throughout, the brief provides recommendations for governments, regulators, researchers and industry. The DPL supports collaboration through a multi-stakeholder approach to develop a better understanding of the risks posed in online gaming spaces and how best to mitigate them

Amman Berlin London Paris Washington DC: Institute for Strategic Dialogue (2024) 47p

By Drug Policy Alliance

We all want people living with addiction to get the help they need. At the Drug Policy Alliance, we believe that everyone should have access to the substance use disorder (SUD) supports that they choose to improve their physical and mental health — and that effective services should be available when and where people are ready for them, without hurdles like cost or preconditions to get help. In short, SUD support should be voluntary, effective, affordable, accessible, and appealing. Unfortunately, the United States has neither prioritized on-demand care nor ensured that available SUD supports are effective or beneficial. Having failed to provide even remotely sufficient access to the kinds of health-centered approaches that research shows are most effective (e.g., medications for opioid use disorder, or MOUD, and contingency management for stimulant use disorder, or CM), some ill-informed policymakers are advocating for expanding the power of courts to force people into existing SUD services, against their will and not of their choosing. This is not entirely new. Forced treatment has been a familiar practice in criminal courts for decades — where criminal defendants have had the “choice” to opt for court-ordered SUD services or face traditional sentencing, often including incarceration   

New York: Drug Policy Alliance, 2024. 32p.

By Becki R. Goggins, Dennis A. DeBacco

This report summarizes the results from the seventeenth survey of criminal history information systems conducted for BJS by SEARCH, The National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, since 1989; it presents data on the functions and status of state criminal history files as of December 31, 2022. This report is based on the results from a survey conducted among the administrators of the state criminal history record repositories in May–July 2023. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was the source for some of the information relating to criminal history records, including state participation in the Interstate Identification Index (III) system (the national criminal records exchange system) and the number of III records maintained by the FBI on behalf of the states; the number of records in the wanted persons file; and the protection order file of the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. The report found that forty-nine states, the District of Columbia, and Guam report the total number of persons in their criminal history files as 116,447,200, of which over 96% are automated records; thirty states, the District of Columbia, and Guam have fully automated criminal history files.

Sacramento, CA: SEARCH Group, Incorporated; 2024. 65p.

By Joint Select Committee on Social Media and Australian Society

This report focusses on the impacts of social media and Australian society. It examines the influence of social media on users' health and wellbeing, particularly on vulnerable cohorts of people, but also how social media can provide users with positive connection, a sense of community, a place for expression and instant access to information and entertainment.

The Committee heard that balancing these conflicting realities is a wicked problem.

The report addresses both the need for immediate action, and the need for a sustained digital reform agenda. It supports protecting Australians through a statutory duty of care by digital platforms, education support and digital competency, greater protections of personal information, independent research, data gathering and reporting, and giving users greater control over what they see on social media.

This report puts Big Tech on notice—social media companies are not immune from the need to have a social licence to operate.

Recommendations for the Australian Government

1. Consider options for greater enforceability of Australian laws for social media platforms.

2. Introduce a single and overarching statutory duty of care onto digital platforms for the wellbeing of their Australian users.

3. Introduce legislative provisions to enable effective, mandatory data access for independent researchers and public interest organisations, and an auditing process by appropriate regulators.

4. As part of its regulatory framework, ensures that social media platforms introduce measures that allow users greater control over what user-generated content and paid content they see by having the ability to alter, reset, or turn off their personal algorithms and recommender systems.

5. Prioritise proposals from the Privacy Act review relating to greater protections for the personal information of Australians and children.

6. Any features of the Australian Government's regulatory framework that will affect young people be codesigned with young people.

7. Support research and data gathering regarding the impact of social media on health and wellbeing to build on the evidence base for policy development.

8. One of the roles of the previously recommended Digital Affairs Ministry should be to develop, coordinate and manage funding allocated for education to enhance digital competency and online safety skills.

9. Reports to both Houses of Parliament the results of its age assurance trial.

10. Industry be required to incorporate safety by design principles in all current and future platform technology.

11. Introduce legislative provisions requiring social media platforms to have a transparent complaints mechanism.

12. Ensures adequate resourcing for the Office of the eSafety Commissioner to discharge its evolving functions.

Parliament of Australia, 18 NOV 2024

By Helen Christensen, Aimy Slade, Alexis Whitton

Recent events have reignited debate over whether social media is the root cause of increasing youth self‐harm and suicide. Social media is a fertile ground for disseminating harmful content, including graphic imagery and messages depicting gendered violence and religious intolerance. This proliferation of harmful content makes social media an unwelcoming space, especially for women, minority groups, and young people, who are more likely to be targeted by such content, strengthening the narrative that social media is at the crux of a youth mental health crisis. However, the parallel rise in social media use and youth mental health problems does not imply a causal relationship. Increased social media use may be a correlate, exacerbating factor, or a consequence of rising trends in youth self‐harm, which may have entirely separate causes. Despite its potential negative impacts, social media is also a source of information and support for young people experiencing mental health problems. Restricting young people's access to social media could impede pathways for help‐seeking. This complexity highlights the need for a considered approach.

Recommendations  

• Understand why some individuals are more susceptible to social media harms.

• Assess alternative explanations for youth self-harm trends.

• Mitigate artificial intelligence (AI)-related risks.

• Evaluate interventions that restrict social media and ensure they are evidence-based.

Medical Journal of Australia Volume221, Issue10 November 2024 Pages 524-526

By Leopoldo Fergusson, José-Alberto Guerra, and James Robinson

Since formal rules can only partially reduce opportunistic behavior, third-party sanctioning to promote fairness is critical to achieving desirable social outcomes. Social norms may underpin such behavior, but they can also undermine it. We study one such norm the “don’t be a toad” norm, as it is referred to in Colombia that tells people to mind their own business and not snitch on others. In a set of fairness games where a third party can punish unfair behavior, but players can invoke the “don’t be a toad” norm, we find that the mere possibility of invoking this norm completely reverses the benefits of third-party sanctioning to achieve fair social outcomes. We establish this is an anti-social norm in a well-defined sense: most players consider it inappropriate, yet they expect the majority will invoke it. To understand this phenomenon we develop an evolutionary model of endogenous social norm transmission and demonstrate that a payoff advantage from adherence to the norm in social dilemmas, combined with sufficient heterogeneity in the disutility of those who view the norm as inappropriate, can generate the apparent paradox of an anti-social norm in the steady-state equilibrium. We provide further evidence that historical exposure to political violence, which increased the ostracization of snitches, raised sensitivity to this norm.

Chicago: University of Chicago, The Becker Friedman Institute for Economics (BFI) , 2024. 57p.

By Michael Cerda-Jara and David J. Harding

One of the primary ways in which contact with the criminal legal system creates and maintains inequality is through the stigma of a criminal record. Although the negative effects of the stigma of a criminal record are well-documented, existing research is limited to the low-wage labor market. Through a job application audit design, this study examines the role of criminal record stigma in the labor market for recent college graduates across Black, Latino, and white men. We find that criminal record stigma has a large effect among white college-educated men but not among Black or Latino men and find no evidence that earning a college degree after the record mitigates criminal record stigma. In-depth interviews with college-educated men with a criminal record show that the criminal record stigma has effects beyond the initial application stage, as many reported provisional job offers being rescinded following a criminal background check, leading participants to limit the jobs to which they applied

Sociological Science 11: 42-66.2024

By Marguerite DeLiema and Paul Witt

We examine the characteristics of consumers who reported scams to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. We assess how consumers vary demographically across six scam types, and how the overall emotional sentiment of a consumer’s complaint (positive, negative, neutral/mixed) relates to reporting victimization versus attempted fraud (no losses). For romance, tech support, and prize, sweepstakes, and lottery scams, more older than young and middle-aged adults reported victimization. Across all scam types, consumers classified as Black, Hispanic, and Asian/Asian Pacific Islander were more likely than non-Hispanic white consumers to report victimization than attempted fraud. Relative to complaints categorized as emotionally neutral or mixed, we find that emotionally positive complaints and emotionally negative complaints were significantly associated with victimization, but that these relationships differed by scam type. This study helps identify which consumer groups are affected by specific scams and the association between emotion and victimization.

Security Journal (2024) 37:921–964

By: Hai Thanh Luong

After the Silk Road closure, many studies started focusing on the trend and patterns of darknet-related crimes in the 2010s. This frst study combined a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis in the feld. This study clarifes 49 articles in criminology and penology among 1150 publications relating to the darknet on the Web of Science database to review and analyze the research evolutions of this topic in the last decade. The main fndings point out (1) almost all leading authors with their most infuential papers came from the Global South with predominant contributions; (2) unbalancing publications between regional scholars and their institutions and countries although the darknet-related criminals occurred and operated without border; and (3) some specialized themes have identifed to call further extensive research such as policing interventions in the darknet and fows of the cryptocurrency in cryptomarkets, among others.

Security Journal (2024) 37:535–574

By Aliya Saied-Tessier

Every day, judges and magistrates make decisions in family courts that have substantial bearing on children’s lives, including where a child should live, who they should spend time with and who should have parental responsibility for them. The main consideration of every decision is the welfare of the child (s.1 Children Act 1989). Yet the family justice system has been described as ‘operating in the dark’ (Curtiss 2019, 25 June)1 without the necessary data to demonstrate that professionals, and the decisions they make, actually help children involved in proceedings.

This paper sets out the significance of data within the context of the family justice system, current limitations, and opportunities and recommendations for improvement. It covers all parts of the family justice system, from children’s social care involvement to family courts, including both public and private law proceedings.

Key points

• The family justice system has been described as ‘operating in the dark’, with fundamental data problems including a fragmented system of data owners and users, and significant data gaps.

• While professionals are working to improve data and its supporting infrastructure (and there are examples of positive innovations such as data linking e.g. Administrative Data Research (ADR) UK’s Data First family court dataset), it remains the case that the family justice system lags far behind other public services in terms of data availability and quality.

• A coherent plan involving all data owners and users in the system could seek to build on data improvement work, fill data gaps, publish more aggregate data, increase safe data linking, and raise standards of data literacy and use.

• The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is best placed to oversee a data improvement plan and coordinate the rest of the system, building on the data mapping exercise undertaken by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen).

London: Nuffield Family Justice Observatory. 2024. 25p.

By Dardan Kocani

Despite efforts to prevent illicit finance – such as the adoption of international frameworks, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards, and the EU’s anti-money laundering (AML) directives – financial institutions in the Western Balkans remain highly vulnerable to sophisticated criminals and the inherent risks in the formal financial system. Financial institutions such as banks, microfinance institutions, cryptocurrency services, and money transfer services are frequently exploited by criminals to move illicit money across borders. This report delves into the structural weaknesses and vulnerabilities that facilitate money laundering in the Western Balkans. One major insight is the impact of cryptocurrency, where regulatory shortcomings enable anonymous, cross-border transactions that are hard to trace. Financial technology, while promising innovation, also introduces fresh risks, especially where compliance and monitoring frameworks have yet to catch up. With no centralized registry for politically exposed persons (PEPs) or beneficial owners, financial institutions often lack critical information, inadvertently providing cover for criminal actors. The study identifies specific methods used to launder money, such as smurfing through bank accounts, taking out suspicious bank loans, engaging in real estate purchases, and employing frontmen. Notable cases in the region expose systemic vulnerabilities in banks, where criminal actors leverage insider support or regulatory gaps to move substantial amounts undetected. Furthermore, public-private partnerships in AML enforcement remain insufficient, creating weak links that are frequently exploited. This report provides strategic recommendations for governments, financial institutions, and non-state actors in the region to address these gaps, emphasizing the need for robust inter-agency collaboration, stronger regulatory frameworks, and consistent training for AML officers. The region needs a heightened, collaborative effort to prevent local financial institutions from becoming conduits for transnational organized crime and dirty money laundering.

Geneva: Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC)’s Observatory of Illicit Economies in South Eastern Europe.  2024. 40p.

By  J. R. Mailey   

Over the past decade, Iran has turned to criminal markets as a strategic tool to pursue its geopolitical goals. Isolated by international sanctions, Iran has forged extensive ties with criminal networks across the globe to fund armed groups, procure materials for its nuclear program, and evade sanctions. This report uncovers how Iran’s proxies, such as Hezbollah and militias in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Palestine are critical to Tehran’s influence. Iran supplies these groups with weapons, training, and funds, while criminal networks help smuggle oil, launder money, and move illicit goods across borders. This strategy has enabled Iran to weaken its adversaries without engaging in direct military confrontation. One of the most striking findings of the report is how Iran’s use of criminal proxies allows it to maintain plausible deniability. Tehran’s regime has relied on these illicit actors to conduct operations ranging from assassinations and abductions of critics to sabotage and terror attacks—all while skirting direct accountability. The report also highlights how criminal networks have been key to helping Iran circumvent widespread sanctions. By collaborating with middlemen and transnational crime organizations, Iran has continued to smuggle its oil and accumulate foreign currency. These criminal partnerships have enabled Tehran to access global markets, finance proxy wars, and strengthen its military capabilities through illicit means. The study provides detailed case studies on Iran’s operations and offers a range of recommendations to counter Tehran’s criminal statecraft. By identifying pressure points and vulnerabilities within these illicit networks, the report outlines steps that can be taken to expose and disrupt Iran’s activities.

GENEVA:  GLOBAL INITIATIVE AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME. 2024. 59P.

By Thiago Canettieri

This paper presents an analysis of the relationship between peripheral urbanization, informal real estate markets, and criminal activities in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The study, based on ethnographic research conducted in two different peripheral areas of the city, reveals a clear connection between crime and the land market in these areas. The paper highlights how criminal agents exploit land properties to promote their illicit economic activities in peripheral contexts of the city. The unique pattern of peripheral urbanization creates opportunities for illicit agents to manage, control, and commodify spaces of informality, thereby facilitating their illegal activities. The main findings of the study underscore the significant impact of criminal activities on land markets, particularly the role of violence, coercion, and social legitimacy in the actions of criminals in real estate markets. The study also sheds light on the impact of informal real estate markets on the lives of people living in peripheral areas. By revealing the connections between crime, land market dynamics, and urbanization processes, this study significantly contributes to a deeper understanding of the complexities at play in peripheral areas of Belo Horizonte.

Journal of Illicit Economies and Development, 6(1): pp. 129–144. DOI: 

By Albin Stenström, Felipe Estrada, Henrik Tham

Drug use was criminalized in Sweden in 1988 with the aim of reducing the number of consumers and drug-related risks and harms. Imprisonment was introduced into the penalty scale in 1993 to improve the legislation’s effectiveness. The criminalization has never been evaluated. Method: Goal-attainment evaluation based on a range of indicators from surveys, case-finding estimates, healthcare and cause-of-death data, and crime statistics. Comparative drug policy analysis is conducted with other Nordic countries. Results: The criminalization is not followed by a reduced or more expensive drug supply, reduced consumption levels, problematic drug use or healthcare needs, or fewer drug-related deaths. Most of the indicators instead show the opposite. Control costs are high, and trends are no better than those of other Nordic countries, despite Sweden’s more repressive drug policy. Conclusion: Criminalization emerges as an ineffective, expensive, and harmful means of dealing with the drug problem.

International Journal of Drug Policy Volume 133, November 2024, 104573

By Christopher Uggen, Ráchael A. Powers, Heather McLaughlin, and Amy Blackstone

Public attention to sexual harassment has increased sharply with the rise of the #MeToo movement, although the phenomenon has sustained strong scientific and policy interest for almost 50 years. A large and impressive interdisciplinary scholarly literature has emerged over this period, yet the criminology of sexual harassment has been slow to develop. This review considers how criminological theory and research can advance knowledge on sexual harassment—and how theory and research on sexual harassment can advance criminological knowledge. We review classic and contemporary studies and highlight points of engagement in these literatures, particularly regarding life-course research and violence against women. After outlining prospects for a criminology of sexual harassment that more squarely addresses perpetrators as well as victims, we discuss how criminological insights might contribute to policy efforts directed toward prevention and control.
Annual Review of Criminology Vol. 4 (2021), pp. 33–51

By Bradley Read

This article suggests that the parole dossier may be working to damage prisoners' sense of their identity. Through the creation of a carceral script which describes a person whom they do not recognise as themselves and which leads to an increased narrative labour. Prisoners' struggle therefore to form a post offence identity with which to navigate a complex process. As identity and its repair, appear instrumental to desistance, elements of the process, such as the dossier, could be putting hopes of rehabilitation at risk. Using the analysis of fifteen prisoner interviews, this article explores a parole process described as undermining agency. A process where risk assessment is perceived poorly and where ultimately the experience can lead to negative impacts on an already fragile self-identity. In conclusion, this article attempts to offer some solutions, to mitigate the negative effects, to maximise the potential impact of the dossier process on future desistance, through the more meaningful involvement of the prisoner at its centre.

Criminology & Criminal Justice, 2024. Online First.