This thesis explores the supervisory relationship between sex offenders and supervising probation officers, now called offender managers, and whether strengths-based approaches to rehabilitation and risk management can be usefully utilised. The strengths-based approaches considered are: desistance, the Good Lives Model, motivational interviewing, narrative therapy and solution-focused therapy. One-off in-depth interviews were conducted with 15 probation officers and 15 sex offenders, mainly across two probation areas, with one sex offender coming from a third area. A qualitative research approach was taken, with the intention of gaining insight into the subjective experience of officers and sex offenders involved in community supervision. The research is also influenced by positive psychology, focusing on what can be learnt from offenders who, to varying extents, have successfully taken part in probation supervision and have not re-offended. The thesis illustrates how sex offenders face significant challenges in overcoming stigma and establishing a non-offending, pro-social identity and a satisfying lifestyle in the community, twin foci of much strengths-based thinking. Also illustrated is how probation officers' experience significant anxiety about supervising sex offenders in a risk-averse society which renders it problematic to focus on potential strengths rather than on potential dangers. However, it is argued that, despite these difficulties, it is possible for probation officers to employ strengths-based approaches. It is posited that existing risk management systems and cognitive-behaviour groupwork, informed by the Risk, Needs Responsivity Principle, can be valuably augmented by a renewed valuing of the one-to-one therapeutic relationship, a core component of the strengths-based approach.

Immediately after the Second World War, France began to abolish the regulation of prostitution, first by outlawing brothels in 1946, then by dismantling all remaining medical and police registers in 1960. In doing so, it adopted an 'abolitionist' approach to prostitution. This stance, which distinguishes itself from both regulation and prohibition, is based on criminalising the exploitation of prostitution, and providing social support to individuals involved in prostitution, who are perceived to be inherently 'victims'. However, since then, the policies and programmes enacted in the name of 'abolitionism' have varied considerably: policies based on supporting 'victims' have been succeeded by some that seek to criminalise individuals in prostitution by outlawing soliciting. More recently, in April 2016, the country adopted a policy of client criminalisation which is intended to 'abolish' prostitution entirely. Thus, on the one hand, France has remained steadfastly committed to abolitionism throughout the period. On the other hand, the policy framework has demonstrated significant internal reform. Yet current institutional scholarship remains ill equipped for explaining how a policy framework can simultaneously persist and change. This thesis therefore investigates how and why contemporary French prostitution policy has changed the way it has since the end of the Second World War. To do this, it deploys a historical case study of contemporary French prostitution policy from 1946 to 2016, drawing on unique interview and archival data to explain the gradual and cumulative evolution of state intervention in this area. In the process, it makes a number of conceptual and theoretical contributions to institutionalist scholarship on policy change and stability. In particular, it conceptualises prostitution policy and the different policy frameworks states set up to address the issue. These frameworks are often referred to as 'regimes' but have yet to be fully unpicked and defined. Moreover, drawing on the emerging policy literature on regimes, the thesis identifies French abolitionism as a particular type of policy regime: an 'anemic' one which, while often challenged, has endured. Using this case as an empirical 'lens', it demonstrates that our current understanding of regimes as either strong or 'anemic' overshadows the mechanisms which allow institutionally weak regimes to endure but be incrementally reformed in the context of strong adherence to their core values and ideas. This explains how French abolitionism has been gradually converted from a regime based on the abolition of state regulation but the tacit tolerance of prostitution between adults to one that explicitly seeks to 'abolish' prostitution itself. The thesis concludes that institutional stability is often illusory, and what appears to be the endurance of a single regime actually masks the gradual but ultimately transformative accumulation of minor changes.

Currently, there is little empirical evidence to suggest a length of time at which a sexual offender is at risk of sexual recidivism. Through survival analysis techniques I investigate whether it is possible to identify when juvenile and young adult sexual offenders can be considered low risk in terms of sexual recidivism, which in this study, is judged to be the point when such a risk becomes as low as their respective juvenile and young adult never-convicted population receiving their first conviction for a sexual offence. I examine male juvenile and young adult samples born in seven birth cohorts from the Offenders index, which contains the criminal histories of convicted offenders in England and Wales from 1963 to 2008. Furthermore, I establish how sex offenders' risk of sexual recidivism compares to other recidivism types {violent recidivism and all recidivism) and compare such risks to that of three types of offenders, violent offenders, burglary offenders, and all offenders. In addition, I determine whether criminal history, demographic and socio-demographic variables encourage or prohibit sex offenders' risk, of a sexual reconviction through a Cox proportional hazard analysis and discrete time hazard analysis with complementary fog-log link. Socio-demographic variables are not obtainable from the Offenders Index. As a result, I have obtained access to Norway's population based registers allowing the analysis of static and dynamic socio¬demographic risk factors. Although there are difficulties in comparing crime data across countries, studying the results from the analyses conducted on the Norwegian samples will help elucidate the risk of sexual offending recidivism in England & Wales. From the analyses, in terms of sexually reoffending juvenile sex offenders from England & Wales were found to become a similar risk to their respective never- convicted population at age 38 - 17 years following their 21st birthday - and young JW adult sex offenders at age 40 - 14 years following their 26* birthday. Juvenile and young-adult sex offenders' risk of violent recidivism and all recidivism were found to become similar to the risk of their respective never-convicted population at a younger age than that found of sexual recidivism. Juvenile violent, burglary and all offenders' risk of sexual recidivism was considered low 10, 15 and 17 years following age 21 respectively. Young adult violent and all offenders, on the other hand were found to become a similar risk to the juvenile never-convicted population 5, 13 and 6 years following age 26 respectively. The sexual recidivism risk of the juvenile and young adult sex offenders convicted in Norway were also found to become a similar risk to their respective never-convicted population being convicted of a sexual crime at a comparable age to those of England & Wales; mid-thirties to early forties. Using the Norwegian data individual's status of employment was the; only factor found to significantly affect juvenile and young adult sex offenders' risk of sexual recidivism. Several variables were, however, found to significantly, affect such offenders' risk of violent recidivism including birth cohort, conviction of a violent offence and income. Interestingly, income was also found to significantly affect the sexual recidivism risk of both juvenile and young adult violent offenders and young adult burglary offenders. Surprisingly, the risk of the juvenile and young adult never-convicted population being convicted of a sexual crime was likewise found to be affected by income in addition to several socio-demographic variables including education, number of children and marital status. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are considered.

No description available.

The aim of this project is to investigate the phenomenon of honour-related violence, the most extreme form of which is honour killing. The research was conducted in Sindh (one of the four provinces of Pakistan). The main research question is, ‘Are these killings for honour?’ This study was inspired by a need to investigate whether the practice of honour killing in Sindh is still guided by the norm of honour or whether other elements have come to the fore. It is comprised of the experiences of those involved in honour killings through informal, semi-structured, open-ended, in-depth interviews, conducted under the framework of the qualitative method. The aim of my thesis is to apply a feminist perspective in interpreting the data to explore the tradition of honour killing and to let the versions of the affected people be heard. In my research, the women who are accused as karis, having very little redress, are uncertain about their lives; they speak and reveal the motives behind the allegations and killings in the name of honour. The male killers, whom I met inside and outside the jails, justify their act of killing in the name of honour, culture, tradition and religion. Drawing upon interviews with thirteen women and thirteen men, I explore and interpret the data to reveal their childhood, educational, financial and social conditions and the impacts of these on their lives, thoughts and actions. By viewing the rise in honour killings in Sindh over the last three decades as a suspicious change, I argue that there are some notable features such as the Pakistani law, gender discrimination in every walk of life, the social and economic situation and cultural and religious interpretations of notions about honour killing in the light of the interviewees’ accounts. Although this is a small-scale study, its findings help make recommendations for future research in the field.

This thesis explores the social meanings applied to the carrying and use of knives as a weapon, by young people living in areas with high rates of knife crime and violence. The thesis situates data, generated through interviews and focus groups, within a theoretical framework based around the concept of ‘street life’, as a place in which young people, often in groups, draw on street codes as a response to the extant violence and a ‘security gap’ in their neighbourhoods. This ‘gap’ was experienced to a greater or lesser extent by most of the young people who took part in the research, and was bound up in ongoing ‘integrational difficulties’ experienced in adolescence, and exacerbated by experiences of deprivation and marginality. Some participants responded to violence by adhering to a street code that exposed them to violence, and, reproduced the violence they sought to confront. Non-offending young people were able to draw on a ‘civic code’ as a means of sustaining collective resilience. Social integration is shown to provide a crucial form of resilience for participants. In the absence of sources of collective resilience, the knife represented for many participants a proxy form of resilience. Participants were sometimes able to cultivate more effective forms of integration and social resilience as they disengaged with ‘street life’ and, as a consequence, the knife as a source of protection became increasingly redundant. In this sense, the thesis is about how young people create and sustain identities, integration and resilience in difficult circumstances, and the sometimes-misguided ways in which they seek to do this. Thus, the thesis adds novel empirical and conceptual findings to normative and subcultural understandings, not just of knife carrying but of gangs, and other collective responses to violence.

The aim of this research was to explore the early stage of desistance in men who have previously committed sexual offences with a view to understanding the process further, and to make recommendations regarding assessment and treatment. Secondly, to explore the role of the Circles of Support and Accountability project (an intervention aiming to reduce sexual offending), in the desistance process. The research used a prospective, longitudinal design with a mixed methods approach. Pre and post narratives/interviews about the experience of desistance and psychometrics relating to the proposed protective factors for desistance were collected from 39 previously convicted sexual offenders living in the community and engaging in a Circle. Eighteen sexual offenders on probation licence in the community formed a comparison group, and completed the same tasks approximately 12 months apart. The qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis (Nvivo 10) and linguistic word analysis (Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count). Bringing together the results of all of the methodologies, a new, continuum-based model of early desistance for sexual offenders was proposed. This was tested using two methods of cluster analysis and a correlational analysis, and found initial support for the model. Possible protective factors and obstacles for desistance from sexual offending were suggested. It was also proposed that optimum levels of certain factors, previously described as obstacles to desistance (such as shame and stigma), may in fact act as maintenance factors. A key direction for further research is to test the predictive value of the variables within the model for longer-term desistance. This research makes an important contribution to the understanding of the early process of desistance in sexual offenders and also offers practical recommendations regarding implementing the findings of the model during assessment and treatment.

The reintegration of convicted sex offenders has become a major social and political issue. Current approaches by the criminal justice system have traditionally sought containment of risk over reintegrative aspects. Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) hereafter CoSA or 'Circles’ is a voluntary organisation which seeks to support the safe reintegration of convicted sex offenders. This PhD thesis examines the role of CoSA in the reintegration of convicted sex offenders into the community. CoSA is a voluntary initiative which uses 4-6 trained volunteers to work with a convicted sex offender in a ‘Circle’. They provide support to the sex offender - or Core Member - by assisting with practical skills, advice and work to reduce stigma. Accountability is provided by the volunteers questioning and challenging the Core Member about thinking patterns or by passing information related to a risk of harm to the police or probation service. In total, 30 Core Members were interviewed to examine their perceptions and experiences of participating in Circles of Support and Accountability as well as their experiences of living life as a convicted sex offender. Interviews were conducted using the appreciative inquiry approach and were supplemented with questionnaire data and administrative data from CoSA. To better examine the role of CoSA this thesis focuses on how the volunteers work with Core Members to reduce stigmatisation, what temptations are experienced by Core Members and how they self-control. The thesis examines how webs of control are created by the police and probation services as well as CoSA and how they are experienced by Core Members. The role of these agencies is further explored through the lens of change, specifically how Core Members change and where they attribute the cause of change. CoSA provided substantial aid to Core Members who were seeking to distance themselves from their conviction. The Circle was found to support Core Members to overcome some of their perceptions of stigma, assist and facilitate in providing a degree of control in Core Members lives and promote positive changes to support Core Members to achieve a greater distance from their offending lifestyle.

This thesis seeks to understand the nature of a particular kind of sexualised, abject violence that emerges in and through identity politics. This violence is practised against or through the body. I refer to this type of violence as ‘overkill’ and contend that it performatively constitutes identity in abject and sexualised ways through the weaponisation and brutalisation of the body. The thesis is situated within the literature on ethnic identities in conflict, which tends to under-theorise how this violence emerges and what this violence accomplishes by viewing violence as the outcome of pre-existing identity divisions. To address this gap, I introduce two theoretical approaches to the examination of violent identity politics. The first of these is the concept of performativity as formulated by Judith Butler (1990), which views identity as an iterative process constitutive of political subjectivity. The second is a theory of abjection as discussed by Julia Kristeva (1980), in which she argues that the constitution of identity is an exclusionary process that requires the simultaneous production of an other. Taken together, these theoretical approaches allow for an understanding of extreme violence as constitutive of a new kind of subjectivity that renders the other abject through sexualised discourses. There are two dynamics of overkill that this thesis explores: the brutalisation and the weaponisation of the body. Using an empirical study of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, I highlight the brutalisation of the sexualised body; through a second case study of the prison protests in Northern Ireland (1976-1981), I draw out the weaponisation of the sexualised body. I conclude by demonstrating the need for an understanding of identity as contingent upon markers of difference that are sexualised through abjection to establish a better explanatory framework for examining political violence.

The aim of this thesis is to examine how contemporary framings of the bodies of male perpetrators of sexual violence in war constrain what we know about them. To achieve this aim it elaborates an analytical strategy of leaky bodies that develops conceptual tools for analysing how the bodies of male perpetrators of sexual violence in war disrupt our representations of them. This analytical strategy of leaky bodies is central to my analysis of the ways in which bodies of male perpetrators surface within the literature on sexual violence in the DRC. Dissatisfied with the almost ubiquitous framing of male perpetrators of sexual violence in this landscape of war as physically and emotionally hard, it uses the term leaky to explore and contest how they materialize within explanations of sexual violence in the DRC.Situated within feminist analyses of sexual violence in war this thesis asks how the generic stories of militarized masculinity that authors work within violently reproduce the bodies of perpetrators as well as how these stories permeate explanations of why soldiers rape in the DRC. In tracing how the literature on sexual violence in this warscape reproduces an image of soldiers who perpetrate rape as part of the ‘machinery’ or ‘weaponry’ of war, my analysis looks for residues or traces of leaky bodies that reveal how they consistently exceed our prevailing understandings of them. It does this by paying attention to how the stories soldiers tell about perpetrating sexual violence subvert the dominant imagery of militarized masculinity central to many other militarized narratives. In doing so, my analysis is overwhelmingly indebted to the extensive first hand research of Maria Baaz and Maria Stern whose interviews with soldiers about why rape occurs has generated unique insights into their experiences of warring in the DRC.The central contention of this thesis is subsequently that, while we cannot entirely escape working within contemporary framings of the bodies of male perpetrators of sexual violence in war, new insights can be gained into why soldiers rape by reading the male body through the window of its leakiness instead of its hardness in the DRC.