Books by Dale C. Spencer
Rowman and Littlefield , 2022
Policing Sex Crimes offers an overview of the affordances and difficulties of investigating and r... more Policing Sex Crimes offers an overview of the affordances and difficulties of investigating and responding to sex crimes in contemporary digital society. The simplest to most complex sex crimes investigations can (and often do) have a digital component. Such a digital society creates a number of inter- and intra-organizational challenges in terms of investigation of sex offenses and response to victims of sex crimes. In the proposed text, the authors elucidate laws defining sex crimes across international contexts and examine the different ways nation states have responded to digital sex crimes and related digital communication technologies via laws, policies, and practices. They draw on 70 interviews with sex crime investigators to document the effects of digital sex crimes on the policing profession and the broader police organizations that sex crime investigators work. Lastly, they explore how victims are interpreted by police officers and the challenges they face achieving justice in the wake of sexual victimization.
Routledge, 2017
Sex offenders remain the most hated group of offenders, subject to a myriad of regulations and pu... more Sex offenders remain the most hated group of offenders, subject to a myriad of regulations and punishments beyond imprisonment, including sex offender registries, chemical and surgical castration, and global positioning electronic monitoring systems. While aspects of their experiences of imprisonment are documented, less is known about how sex offenders experience prison and community corrections spaces – and the implications of their status on their treatment and safety in such environments.
Violence, Sex Offenders, and Corrections critically assesses what is meant by the term ‘sex offender’, and acknowledges that such meanings are socially constructed, situated, and contingent. The book explores the person, crime, penal space, sexual orientation, legislation, and the community experiences of labelled sex offenders as well as the experiences of correctional officers working with said custodial populations. Ricciardelli and Spencer use conceptions of gender and embodiment to analyze how sex offenders are constituted as objects of fear and disgust and as deserving subjects of abjection and violence.
Papers by Dale C. Spencer
The British Journal of Criminology, 2020
Drawing from focus groups and semi-structured interviews, this paper examines decision-making pra... more Drawing from focus groups and semi-structured interviews, this paper examines decision-making practices and monitoring techniques of Canadian Intensive Supervision Units (ISUs) managing high-risk individuals in the community. We argue that ISU subjects are hyper-individualized through their unique conditions of release, contesting notions that actuarial risk assessments have eclipsed individual understandings of dangerousness in risk, correctional and policing literature. Using Foucault’s disciplinary, pastoral and confessional dispositifs, we highlight how ISU agents make subjects active participants in their own punishment. Moreover, we illustrate how dispositifs not only allow ISU agents to understand, select and govern subjects but also, more problematically, transform subjects into ostensibly dangerous entities reifying and necessitating escalating criminal justice interventions under auspices of protecting the community from potential—not guaranteed—harm.
Ageing & Society, Mar 4, 2019
Most of the existing literature on inclusion and exclusion among older adults focuses on communit... more Most of the existing literature on inclusion and exclusion among older adults focuses on community-dwelling individuals. In this article, we draw on the results of a comparative case study to explore how older adults in two assisted living settings experience inclusion and exclusion. One site was a low-income facility and the other a higher-end facility in a mid-sized Canadian city. Bridging together geographies of encounter and gerontological approaches on social inclusion, we analyse interviews with tenants and key informants to explore when, where and in what ways these groups experience inclusion and exclusion in these particular settings. Tenants’ narratives reveal how their encounters, and in turn their experiences of exclusion and inclusion are shaped by experiences throughout their lifecourse, the organisation of assisted living spaces, communities beyond the facility, and pervasive discourses of ageism and ‘dementiaism’. We argue that addressing experiences of exclusion for older adults within these settings involves making more time and space for positive encounters and addressing pervasive discourses around ageism and ‘dementiaism’ among tenants and staff.
Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie, 2021
This study explores interpretations of interpersonal aggression involving older adults, through a... more This study explores interpretations of interpersonal aggression involving older adults, through an analysis of semi‐structured interview data from 13 assisted living (AL) tenants and 19 AL service and/or care workers. Differing relations (tenant‐tenant and tenant‐worker) shape the kinds of tenant actions experienced as problematic and/or aggressive. Tenants and workers invoke communal living, aging, and dementia as explanatory frames, in part to mitigate victimization experiences through normalization and neutralization. This was more prominent among workers, who are less able to enact empowering responses as they sought to keep working in difficult circumstances. Structural constraints, and the power and social hierarchies that contribute to victimization, generate interpretive responses that obscure fulsome and contextualized understandings of the problem while further reinforcing oppressive discourses including a sense of the inevitability of aggression in older adults–especially...
Journal of Aging Studies, 2019
Dominant approaches to relational aggression among older adults tend to conceptualize the problem... more Dominant approaches to relational aggression among older adults tend to conceptualize the problem as a behavioral or interpersonal issue, and can inadvertently infantilize the phenomenon as 'bullying.' In this article we use a narrative approach and the conceptual lens of precarity to develop an in-depth, theoretically informed analysis of relational aggression between older women in low-income assisted living. The analysis of the narratives of tenants (and a manager) indicated that past life experiences and intersecting threats to power and identity shaped and could intensify tenants' interpretations of and reactions to others' actions and comments. Conflicts over a) unequal distributions of caring labor, b) control of social activities, and c) access to appreciation are complex and rational responses to precarious contextual conditions. Findings contribute empirically to the body of research on relational aggression among older adults, expanding this field through connecting it to critical gerontological conceptualizations of precarity. Preventing relational aggression requires increased public investment in formal social supports for older adults, challenging dominant discourses that privilege independence, and recognizing how the legacies of past disadvantage and contextual precarity (as opposed to mental illness or dementia) shape social interactions with and responses to others.
Handbook of Posttraumatic Stress, 2021
Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 2023
In this article, we explore the responses of crossfit practitioners to the 'canceling' of Greg Gl... more In this article, we explore the responses of crossfit practitioners to the 'canceling' of Greg Glassman in the aftermath of racist tweets and comments made in response to the killing of George Floyd. We draw on 50 interviews with crossfit practitioners to understand how they interpret and respond to the 'canceling' of Greg Glassman and the disavowal of CrossFit by prominent CrossFit athletes and organizations. We probe how athletes, regardless of levels of involvement, in the wake of Glassman's comments respond to the refiguring of the sporting community of CrossFit. A cancel culture continuum from affirmation to rejection emerged from the interview data that typified their views of cancel culture, Greg Glassman's removal from CrossFit HQ, and the current state of the sport. We conclude with a discussion of the phenomena of canceling or cancel culture and reflects on crossfit as a sport in light of the Glassman affair.
Gerontologist, Sep 17, 2019
Background and Objectives: Although it is generally acknowledged that the changing behaviors of s... more Background and Objectives: Although it is generally acknowledged that the changing behaviors of some people living with dementia can be emotionally exhausting for family members, there has been little research on how carers actually interpret and manage their emotional responses when interacting with persons with dementia in context and over time. Applying the concept of emotion work, this analysis examines when and where carers feel they are responding "the right way" to their kin and when and where they resist normative emotions around family care. Research Design and Methods: Semi-structured qualitative interviews (N = 20) and diaries (N = 11) were conducted with, and collected from, family carers in Manitoba, Canada to explore how they negotiate their emotions and emotional displays when caring for a family member whose behaviors are changing. Results: Carers expressed feelings of frustration, anger, and resentment and identified putting on a positive attitude, putting the person with dementia first, protecting the person with dementia, and avoiding conflict and arguing as the "right way" to respond to these feelings. They identified challenges responding the "right way," however, in relation to household chores, and situations that also involved isolation, fear, verbal aggression, and fatigue. Discussion and Implications: Programs and policies must recognize the complex emotion work of family carers. There is a need for more nuanced education materials, support with household tasks, inclusion of carers' emotional needs in transition planning, and support for carers to exit the caring role when necessary.
Victims & offenders, Oct 12, 2022
Canadian journal on aging =, Jun 10, 2020
L'exploration systématique et approfondie de la couverture médiatique de cas impliquant des agres... more L'exploration systématique et approfondie de la couverture médiatique de cas impliquant des agressions et des personnes âgées est rare, et peu d'attention est accordée aux modalités et aux raisons pour lesquelles des situations particulières se manifestent dans divers contextes et relations. L'analyse de cadres a été utilisée pour examiner 141 articles de médias d'information canadiens de langue anglaise publiés entre 2008 et 2019. La couverture médiatique existante avait tendance à stigmatiser, à susciter la peur et à souligner le cadre biomédical associé à l'agression. Elle reflétait et renforçait également des ambiguïtés, notamment en ce qui concerne les principales différences entre les milieux et les relations de soins. La couverture de l'actualité est indicative des tensions retrouvées dans le public concernant la compréhension des agressions et des personnes âgées (par exemple, sur le plan médical ou criminel), tensions qui sont particulièrement intensifiées par la nature des reportages. Une couverture plus nuancée permettrait de mieux comprendre les différences entre les milieux, les relations et les types d'actions, ainsi que la nécessité d'une prévention multiforme et de réponses politiques tenant compte de ces différences.
Dementia, Dec 18, 2020
In this article, we analyze how mainstream news media frames violence in relation to dementia and... more In this article, we analyze how mainstream news media frames violence in relation to dementia and the consequences of different frames for people living with dementia and their carers. Conceptually, the goal is to bring literature on citizenship and aggression into dialog with each other. Empirically, a total of 141 regional and national English-language mainstream Canadian news media articles (2008–2019) with a focus on dementia, violence, and aggression were analyzed. Analytically, we examine how different actors are portrayed as victims or perpetrators; how their histories (identities, belonging, and exclusion) are told; how dementia is used to explain events; and what types of expert knowledge and authorities are introduced to make sense of stories of violence in relationships of care. Our analysis points to the implications of media narratives for people with dementia as well as carers and researchers seeking to address stigma and call for change.
Criminal Justice and Behavior, Jan 13, 2023
Civilian administrative assistants who work for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, known as Detac... more Civilian administrative assistants who work for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, known as Detachment Services Assistants (DSAs), are frequently exposed to materials and/or experiences that are potentially psychologically traumatic. Drawing from 49 semi-structured interviews with DSAs, we analyze how these civilian personnel experience exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events, most notably, vicarious trauma. Specifically, we overview the types of exposure to potentially psychologically traumatic events and materials experienced by DSAs, including the impact of incidents involving children, and the occupational duties through which these exposures occur; we unpack the nuances and variability in DSAs’ occupational work, which informs such exposures; and we draw from DSAs’ experiences to offer recommendations for ameliorating the mental health toll of civilian police work. The study adds to the limited academic literature on the occupational and mental health experiences of civilian personnel, who serve a vital, but underrecognized, role in supporting police operations.
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, Jan 3, 2023
Internationally, parole work is loaded with tensions, particularly when supervising a people conv... more Internationally, parole work is loaded with tensions, particularly when supervising a people convicted of sex crimes (PCSCs) who, due to their criminal history, are stigmatized and occupy the lowest rungs of the status hierarchy in prison and society more broadly. Drawing on analyses of interview data from federal parole officers ( n = 150) employed by Correctional Service Canada, we interpret their perceptions and feelings about overseeing re-entry preparations and processes for the PCSCs on their caseloads. We unpack the “tensions” imbued in parole officers’ internal reflections and negotiation of complexities in their efforts toward supporting client’s rehabilitation efforts, desistance from crime while negotiating external factors (e.g., the lack of available programming), and being responsible for supervising PCSCs. We highlight facets of occupational stress parole officers experience, finding PCSCs may be more compliant when under supervision but may also require more of a parole officer’s resources, including time and energy. We put forth recommendations for greater empirical nuance concerning parole officer work and their occupational experiences and beliefs about PCSC, particularly as related to parole officer health.
Innovation in Aging, Nov 1, 2019
Elder abuse prevalence among community residing adults is 10%, but this prevalence is cut by more... more Elder abuse prevalence among community residing adults is 10%, but this prevalence is cut by more than half among those who report high levels of social connection. Relatedly, elder abuse outcomes are significant, producing increased prevalence of anxiety and depressive disorders, the prevalences of which are, again, halved when one experiences abuse in the context of high social support. Similarly, mental health effects of natural disaster on older adults are virtually eliminated in the presence of high social support. Moreover, treatment for anxiety and depressive disorders is improved when high social support is present. We will present findings from five of our major studies in the aforementioned areas that underscore this point.
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Books by Dale C. Spencer
Violence, Sex Offenders, and Corrections critically assesses what is meant by the term ‘sex offender’, and acknowledges that such meanings are socially constructed, situated, and contingent. The book explores the person, crime, penal space, sexual orientation, legislation, and the community experiences of labelled sex offenders as well as the experiences of correctional officers working with said custodial populations. Ricciardelli and Spencer use conceptions of gender and embodiment to analyze how sex offenders are constituted as objects of fear and disgust and as deserving subjects of abjection and violence.
Papers by Dale C. Spencer
Violence, Sex Offenders, and Corrections critically assesses what is meant by the term ‘sex offender’, and acknowledges that such meanings are socially constructed, situated, and contingent. The book explores the person, crime, penal space, sexual orientation, legislation, and the community experiences of labelled sex offenders as well as the experiences of correctional officers working with said custodial populations. Ricciardelli and Spencer use conceptions of gender and embodiment to analyze how sex offenders are constituted as objects of fear and disgust and as deserving subjects of abjection and violence.