About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

8 Critical Criminology 5 (1997)

handle is hein.journals/ctlcrm8 and id is 1 raw text is: Editor's Introduction Kieran McEvoy, Queen's University of Belfast Brian Gormally, NIA CRO This special issue came about as a result of discussions with Dr. Brian MacLean and others about the relevance of critical criminology in circumstances of violent political conflict. It was our view that this epistemology could make a distinct, and indeed vital, contribution both to an understanding of such a conflict and to its solution. The selection of essays contained herein are critical in that they all, in one way or another, deal with the interaction between elements of the state and civil society, rather than accepting state-defined categories as social facts. The other common element is that they deal, more or less directly, with the violent political conflict continuing in our region and its consequences. We find the resulting mix interesting, not simply because of the quality of individual contributions, but because we think that, despite the variety of subject matter, they are examples of a common genre. For this, we have adopted the term 'peacemaking criminology,' understanding it as critical criminology applied to the study of violent political conflict. At its simplest, a violent political conflict involves some level of combat between the state and armed opponents. The military forces of the state may or may not be involved, but it is almost certain that all or most elements of the criminal justice system will be. Clearly, studies of the operations of the criminal justice system in 'combat mode,' belong to the specialism we are identifying. It can equally be argued that examinations of the actions and motivations of the non-state combatants fall into the same category. Moreover, it is our view that a violent political conflict has such an effect on the interaction between the criminal justice system and all those with whom it engages that a study of any part of the system's operations must take the conflict into account. So the critical study of issues, apparently unrelated to the conflict, such as violence against women or drugs, actually have to take account of the impact of the conflict. It is only a positivist analysis, which accepts the state's view of the conflict as a pathological aberration, laid on top of an unproblematic normality, that seeks to study 'ordinary' crime and criminals without reference The editors and contributors would like to express their sincere gratitude to Brian MacLean for his energy, patience, and commitment in the production of this issue.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most