Latest research by Deakin’s Diarmaid Harkin reconsiders how we view police inflicted injury and suffering
In an article published in the latest issue of Theoretical Criminology Deakin Criminologist Dr Diarmaid Harkin argues that police inflicted injury and suffering should be explored in relation to ‘punitiveness’. The article draws on the sociology of punishment to reconsider how the public views the acceptability and unacceptability of police pain-delivery.
Article abstract:
This article argues that police studies should draw on the sociology of punishment to better understand state pain-delivery. Whereas penal theorists commonly assess the pain and punishment of inmates in relation to wider social sentiments, police theory has yet to regard police violence and harm in the same fashion. As a result, police scholars often fail to address why the damage caused by public constabularies, even when widely publicized, is accommodated and accepted. Adapting the idea of ‘punitiveness’ from penal theory allows some explanation of how the public views injury and suffering caused by the police by illuminating the emotions and sentiments their actions generate.
To view Diarmaid’s article click here.
Diarmaid join the Deakin Criminology team in December 2014.
To read about his background and current research, click here.