In Search of Respect in Criminal Justice

Abstract

The principal aim of the chapter is to examine the merits of respect as a concept of critical enquiry. This is an ambitious task, not least because it involves a challenge to the definitional self-evidence of respect to which criminal justice scholars and practitioners routinely subscribe. The chapter pursues three distinct lines of enquiry and reflection. What is respect? The first task is to attend to this deceptively simple question. In so doing, the chapter assembles materials on respect from philosophy and elsewhere in the social sciences. Second, having explored what respect means in general terms—though this is hotly contested—the chapter sketches and filters the most prominent classic and contemporary works into an understanding of respect for criminal justice. By initiating a dialogue with related disciplines in this way, the aim is to build a strong conceptual platform from which to engage with the substantive material on policing and imprisonment in subsequent chapters. Third, the chapter situates respect in criminal justice in contextual and methodological terms. Much of this work must be justificatory both of respect and of my own methodological choices. Having explained in some detail what respect means and why it has been selected for examination, the chapter considers why policing and imprisonment have been selected as contexts for that examination, and how an interpretive approach offers a means by which to conduct that examination.

Leveraging identity to overcome temporal and financial limitations in rapid ethnography in criminological research

“…While in situ observation is an indispensable feature of conventional ethnography (Jerolmack & Khan, 2014), it is neither exclusive to conventional ethnography nor the only source of truth that conventional ethnography draws from. Many ethnographers routinely combine different methods, including observation, to understand social behaviour and interpret the world (Cerulo, 2014; Watson, 2020). Jerolmack and Khan (2014) have criticised methods, such as rapid ethnography, which prioritise verbal responses over observing actions.…”

Re-thinking notions of evidence and proof for sentencing: Towards a more communitarian model

“… 64. ‘…criminal justice institutions ought to be responsive to respect and legitimacy, but empirical research will be essential to gain a deeper understanding of their precise operation and impact. Only then might we speak with greater authority on respect and legitimacy and make a successful case for both values to be elevated to the status of institutional standards at sentencing’; Watson (2021: 15) and see Watson (2020).…”