Papers by Nicole L Asquith
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 2018
Since the publication of Moffitt’s (1993) important research on adolescence-limited and life-cour... more Since the publication of Moffitt’s (1993) important research on adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent offending, there has been a renewal of the often tacit goal of criminology of identifying the individual factors that facilitate and inhibit deviant behaviour. In focusing on early childhood biological, genetic and psychological development, and considering social environment only as a mediating factor, these approaches miss some of the queer pathways to crime. We argue that examining offending by queer people inevitably destabilises taken-for-granted ideas about offending and desistance from offending. Moreover, given the increasing numbers of young people identifying as queer, and that they are more likely to be sanctioned by criminal processing systems, we highlight the importance of exploring the experiences of queer young people. A queer criminological lens can offer up an alternative, queer criminal career, which starts not with bio-psychological dysfunctioning, but with social exclusion and criminalisation of identity.
Journal of Family Strengths , 2018
The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep,... more The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." -Robert Frost
Diversity & Safety on Campus @ Western
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
Discrimination, harassment and violence can mediate staff and students’ experiences of education ... more Discrimination, harassment and violence can mediate staff and students’ experiences of education and work. Although there is increasing knowledge about these experiences in primary and secondary education, very little is known about them in higher education. This paper draws from landmark research that examines the interpersonal, educational and socio-cultural perspectives that prevail about sexuality and gender diversity on an Australian university campus. In this paper we focus on three aspects of the broader research findings: the heterosexism and cissexism experienced by sexuality and gender diverse students and staff at the university; their actions and responses to these experiences; and the impact of these experiences on victims. The research
demonstrates that although the university is generally safe, sexuality and gender diverse students and staff experience heterosexist and cissexist discrimination, which can have negative ramifications on their workplace and learning experiences
NB this available article is a proof copy; if you plan to cite, please access the published copy from the International Review of Victimology
The debates about how and whether law enforcement and public health share a policy and practice m... more The debates about how and whether law enforcement and public health share a policy and practice mandate are perplexing. Frontline practice indicates that this intersection is de rigueur, and that practitioners from both fields see no reason why they cannot work together beneficially. Indeed, police are as much public health interventionists as health practitioners are public safety facilitators. In this article, we document the practical synergies that exist (and have always existed) in western societies, and identify the conceptual dissonance that continues to frame the debate about law enforcement and public health. We suggest that the divide between law enforcement and public health is futile, and that the universally shared concept of vulnerability in policing, health and law can do much to foster better collaborative practices, policies and shared understandings.
Critical Criminology, 2015
Transgender people are one particular vulnerable group in the prison system. Recent US statistics... more Transgender people are one particular vulnerable group in the prison system. Recent US statistics suggest that physical assault was experienced by 16% of incarcerated transgender people in jail or prison, with 15 per cent experiencing sexual assault (Grant et al. 2011: 158). In comparison, one study from California reports an overall sexual assault rate of 4.4 per cent of all inmates in male California correctional facilities (Grant et al. 2011: 167). Denial of access to health care was another form of abuse of transgender people in jails or prisons, with 12 per cent reporting denial of routine health care and 17 per cent reporting denial of hormones (Grant et al. 2011: 158). There is no Australian empirical research. In addition the power dynamics inherent in the criminal justice system, transgender people are particularly vulnerable to the way the dynamics of cisnormativity play out in prisons. Transgender prisoners are further criminalised or pathologised in incarceration practices which aim to address and reduce their vulnerability. This comment will briefly examine these practices through the discussion of policy, procedure and practice regarding the treatment of transgender people in prisons, using a framework of cisnormativity. This comment will conclude by identifying some gaps in current research about transgender people in prison and suggest a way forward. Through the examination of the way cisnormativity affects transgender prisoners, this comment begins to move beyond strategies that respond to vulnerability and move towards approaches to prevent its replication.
International Journal of Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, Sep 2015
Popular representations of Honour Based Violence (HBV) and honour killings construct this violenc... more Popular representations of Honour Based Violence (HBV) and honour killings construct this violence as an artefact of an uncivilised code of morality, unique to Islam. Here sharaf or izzat (honour) and shame are adhered to particular moral codes that are only found in the Koran. This clichéd version of HBV frames Muslim women’s sexual autonomy as highly regulated, most commonly by male family members with the complicity of female relatives. In its extreme (and publicly known) forms, HBV is epitomised by the ‘honour’ killings that come to the attention of the criminal justice system, and as a consequence, the media. While these violent crimes are uncommon in Australia, they have received growing scholarly and popular attention in the UK, USA and Canada (Araji 2000, Gill 2008, 2011; Meetoo & Mirza, 2011). This increased scrutiny of HBV, particularly in the UK, has led to a growing body of knowledge about the antecedents and characteristics of this type of violence against women. This emerging research clearly shows that this variant of VAW is neither unique to Islam, nor religious communities more generally. In particular, apart from its occurrence in Muslim communities, this type of violent crime also arises in other ‘moral’ communities (including Catholic, Hindu, Sikh, and Travellers/Roma communities) (CPS 2012, Araji 2000). In other research, intrafamilial violence which aims to regulate and control sexual and gendered behaviours has also been documented in cases of heterosexist hate crimes against gay men and lesbians (Asquith, 2013). In this sense, and contrary to popular representations, honour-based violence is not endemic to Islam, nor to religious codes of conduct. In this paper, it will be argued that the construction of HBV as a matter deviant and antiquated Muslim belief systems is Islamophobic.
Queering Criminologies, 2015
Popular representations of hate crime are commonly framed by the notion of ‘stranger danger’, and... more Popular representations of hate crime are commonly framed by the notion of ‘stranger danger’, and while more contemporary research has identified the everyday nature of this victimisation (Iganski, 2008; Moran, 2007; Mason, 2005; Perry & Alvi, 2011), there remains a gap in relation to the collective familial violence found in the analysis of 100,000 hate crimes reported to the London Metropolitan Police Service (Asquith 2013). In addition to being more violent, these intrafamilial hate crimes against gay men and lesbians are also more likely than other forms of hate crime to be perpetrated by immediate family members in a form of criminal conspiracy. This paper identifies the key characteristics of this reported violence against gay men and lesbians, and critically examines the force and effects of intrafamilial hate crime.
Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 2015
The ripple effects of the Macpherson report were felt by police organisations worldwide. Western ... more The ripple effects of the Macpherson report were felt by police organisations worldwide. Western societies, already wounded by previous inquiries into policing, had to come to the uncomfortable realisation that police organisations were institutionally racist. But the over policing and over-representation of some minorities in the criminal justice system and in police custody particularly was never limited to ethnic minorities, and other vulnerability attributes had to be given consideration. This paper posits the policing of vulnerable people as an unintended consequence of the Macpherson inquiry and its predecessors, and analyses the clumsy emergence of critical diversity as a new paradigm in modern policing policies. The authors also cautiously examine structural limitations to the implementations of these policies in practice, from the points of view of community representativeness, police curriculum, and vulnerability assessment in the field. The paper concludes on the essential need to depart from the pernicious historical framing of police-race relations, to using more contemporary, less siloed ways to approach vulnerable people as a fundamental socio-cultural make-up of communities worldwide.
Frontline practices indicate that the intersections between policing and health are de rigueur. I... more Frontline practices indicate that the intersections between policing and health are de rigueur. Indeed, police are as much public health interventionists as health practitioners are public safety facilitators. In this chapter, we document the practical synergies, and identify the conceptual dissonance that continues to frame the debate about law enforcement and public health. We suggest that the despite these differences, the adoption of a social-ecological model of public safety recognizes the realities of these practice synergies, and offers a shared language of vulnerability that can do much to foster better synergies, along with collaborative practices, policies and shared understandings.
The horrific stories of James Byrd Jr, Matthew Shepard and Stephen Lawrence are forever etched in... more The horrific stories of James Byrd Jr, Matthew Shepard and Stephen Lawrence are forever etched in criminal law. In each of these cases, activists, family members, politicians, academics, the public and media all reacted in their unique way to bring the problem of ‘hate crime’ onto the agenda. There are many other cases that have activated such a public imagination, or what Asquith (2015) calls, ‘figurehead’ cases, yet the factors pertinent to figurehead recognition remain under-explored within hate crime scholarship. Using a case study analysis, three racist and heterosexist hate crime cases are examined in order to assess the individual and collective conditions that facilitated their place on the public agenda. This analysis has important implications for the category of ‘disability’, and highlights several shortcomings that forestall the recognition of ‘disablist hate crime’ publicly, legislatively, and judicially. It is argued that the positioning of disability as ‘abject’ has inhibited the operationalisation of disablist violence within the hate crime framework, and within criminal justice systems more generally.
Policing Encounters with Vulnerability, 2016
In the social policy sphere, the clarity of practitioner guidelines is affected by a lack of cons... more In the social policy sphere, the clarity of practitioner guidelines is affected by a lack of consensus in both the conceptualisation of vulnerability and the expressions used to refer to vulnerable people. In this chapter, a case study of the Queensland Police Service (QPS) is considered in light of Australian and international approaches. Although the policy documents and practice guidelines of the QPS exemplify an inclusive approach to vulnerability, the case study highlights some difficulties that may arise when vulnerability is operationalised haphazardly over time. The authors suggest that the language used in policing should recognise the potential for vulnerability is inherent in all people.
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Nov 25, 2018
This study established psychometric testing (reliability and principal component analysis) to val... more This study established psychometric testing (reliability and principal component analysis) to validate the Fear of Heterosexism Scale (FoHS) (Asquith & Fox, 2013). To enhance the application of the new scale, four hypotheses were tested. As suggested by the literature, victims of heterosexist prejudice, discrimination and/or violence are more likely to fear such incidents in the future. Therefore, participants who have been victims will have greater fear as measured by the FoHS. Fear of heterosexism is also associated with participants’ concealment of their sexual and/or gender identity and their level of social connectedness.
Participants (N = 162) were recruited through a statewide online survey of experiences of heterosexist violence by Tasmania’s sexual and gender diverse communities. The survey data sought participants’ demographics, levels of fear in relation to heterosexist violence, and experiences of prejudice, discrimination and heterosexist violence in the last 12 months, over participants’ lifetime and the most significant incident of violence.
Participants who experienced heterosexist violence reported higher scores on the FoHS. Respondents who had concealed their sexual /gender identity also recorded higher levels of fear. Participants who indicated a connectedness with community reported lower levels of fear of heterosexism.
The findings highlight the importance of contextual factors in fear of heterosexism, and identify the critical roles that disclosure and social connectedness play in ameliorating the damaging effects of heterosexist victimization. These findings link to general fear-of-crime research and contribute to the growing literature on victimization and fear-of-crime. Further research is required with other LGBTIQ and marginalized communities to test the validity and reliability of the FoHS.
Policing Encounters with Vulnerability, 2016
Vulnerability is becoming of increasing concern in policy, legislation, and as a focus for action... more Vulnerability is becoming of increasing concern in policy, legislation, and as a focus for action in policing and criminal justice practices. Yet concerns about the over-representation of vulnerable people in the criminal justice system are not a new, with literature on the topic spanning more than five decades. What has come to the fore more recently, though, is a renewed conceptualisation and understanding of what vulnerability means, and greater efforts by practitioners at operationalising the concept in policing and justice. This chapter frames the collection through an extended discussion of this new conceptualisation of vulnerability, and how this shapes policing encounters with vulnerability.
Australasian Policing: A Journal of Professional Practice and Research, 2012
Vulnerable people have become a key focus of policy over the past few decades. As a result, polic... more Vulnerable people have become a key focus of policy over the past few decades. As a result, police organisations have had to adapt to ongoing requests for specialised attention and protocol development to mediate the interactions between frontline officers and members of a variety of vulnerable groups. This article examines the various socio-political developments that have led to contemporary policing practices in relation to vulnerable people, and untangles a series of problems in our current approach to vulnerability. Additionally, we propose an alternative operationalisation of vulnerability, which shifts the focus from siloed cultural competency to integrated critical diversity, and in doing so, attempts to relieve some of the institutional, political and operational pressure faced by policing services.
While there is a paucity of research pertaining to the phenomenon of disablist violence, one key ... more While there is a paucity of research pertaining to the phenomenon of disablist violence, one key feature has emerged: it is widely under-reported and under-recorded.
The reasons for this are diverse: many are representative of reporting issues attributable to all forms of (hate) crime, and others are unique to the individual and social conditions
of living with a disability (Sin 2013). This article provides a conceptual and contextual overview of disablist violence before proceeding to a critical literature review of the reasons why the phenomenon is largely under-reported. Against this backdrop, we offer a critical examination of the various policing strategies necessary for addressing the problem of under-reporting of disablist violence.
International Handbook on Hate Crime (N Hall, ed), 2014
In Australia and New Zealand, the strategies employed by governments to remedy prejudice, intoler... more In Australia and New Zealand, the strategies employed by governments to remedy prejudice, intolerance and hatred occur on a continuum; ranging from global mission statements about multiculturalism/ biculturalism, through to the enactment of civil anti-discrimination and anti-vilification legislation. In some jurisdictions, these civil remedies have been extended to criminal codes and sentencing legislation, and enshrined in human rights charters. In the place of a comprehensive outline of each of the nine jurisdictions, case studies from throughout the region are presented as exemplars of the strategies employed and barriers faced in reducing prejudice-related violence. The differences between the Australian and New Zealand jurisdictions belies a common theme that frames the delay in developing legislative responses to hate crime and the paucity of cases to reach the point at which they begin to establish an agreed set of norms and values about the abhorrence of prejudice and hatred. At most turns—whether political or public rhetoric, or legislative and policy development—there is a frontier denial, minimisation and negation of prejudice and hatred.
Policing Vulnerability, (Bartkowiak-Théron & Asquith,eds), 2012
The contemporary work of police is increasingly multifaceted, and as a consequence is marked by i... more The contemporary work of police is increasingly multifaceted, and as a consequence is marked by intricacy. This intricacy has led, in recent years, to more structured results- and accountability-driven operations, often under the frameworks of problem-oriented policing (Goldstein, 1990), intelligence-led policing (Ratcliffe, 2002; 2003), or reassurance policing (Innes, 2006). Such innovative policing paradigms have come at a time when individual officers and policing organisations are required to engage with issues of crime and disorder in more and more complex ways. While a professional “response-driven” mode of policing (Putt, 2010) was initially thought to remedy some of the new problems encountered by police, these had little effect on some communities’ experiences of crime and fear of crime. In tandem with these more structured policing innovations, policing has been required to adapt to communities’ needs, and to rapidly changing legislation and policy.
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Papers by Nicole L Asquith
demonstrates that although the university is generally safe, sexuality and gender diverse students and staff experience heterosexist and cissexist discrimination, which can have negative ramifications on their workplace and learning experiences
NB this available article is a proof copy; if you plan to cite, please access the published copy from the International Review of Victimology
Participants (N = 162) were recruited through a statewide online survey of experiences of heterosexist violence by Tasmania’s sexual and gender diverse communities. The survey data sought participants’ demographics, levels of fear in relation to heterosexist violence, and experiences of prejudice, discrimination and heterosexist violence in the last 12 months, over participants’ lifetime and the most significant incident of violence.
Participants who experienced heterosexist violence reported higher scores on the FoHS. Respondents who had concealed their sexual /gender identity also recorded higher levels of fear. Participants who indicated a connectedness with community reported lower levels of fear of heterosexism.
The findings highlight the importance of contextual factors in fear of heterosexism, and identify the critical roles that disclosure and social connectedness play in ameliorating the damaging effects of heterosexist victimization. These findings link to general fear-of-crime research and contribute to the growing literature on victimization and fear-of-crime. Further research is required with other LGBTIQ and marginalized communities to test the validity and reliability of the FoHS.
The reasons for this are diverse: many are representative of reporting issues attributable to all forms of (hate) crime, and others are unique to the individual and social conditions
of living with a disability (Sin 2013). This article provides a conceptual and contextual overview of disablist violence before proceeding to a critical literature review of the reasons why the phenomenon is largely under-reported. Against this backdrop, we offer a critical examination of the various policing strategies necessary for addressing the problem of under-reporting of disablist violence.
demonstrates that although the university is generally safe, sexuality and gender diverse students and staff experience heterosexist and cissexist discrimination, which can have negative ramifications on their workplace and learning experiences
NB this available article is a proof copy; if you plan to cite, please access the published copy from the International Review of Victimology
Participants (N = 162) were recruited through a statewide online survey of experiences of heterosexist violence by Tasmania’s sexual and gender diverse communities. The survey data sought participants’ demographics, levels of fear in relation to heterosexist violence, and experiences of prejudice, discrimination and heterosexist violence in the last 12 months, over participants’ lifetime and the most significant incident of violence.
Participants who experienced heterosexist violence reported higher scores on the FoHS. Respondents who had concealed their sexual /gender identity also recorded higher levels of fear. Participants who indicated a connectedness with community reported lower levels of fear of heterosexism.
The findings highlight the importance of contextual factors in fear of heterosexism, and identify the critical roles that disclosure and social connectedness play in ameliorating the damaging effects of heterosexist victimization. These findings link to general fear-of-crime research and contribute to the growing literature on victimization and fear-of-crime. Further research is required with other LGBTIQ and marginalized communities to test the validity and reliability of the FoHS.
The reasons for this are diverse: many are representative of reporting issues attributable to all forms of (hate) crime, and others are unique to the individual and social conditions
of living with a disability (Sin 2013). This article provides a conceptual and contextual overview of disablist violence before proceeding to a critical literature review of the reasons why the phenomenon is largely under-reported. Against this backdrop, we offer a critical examination of the various policing strategies necessary for addressing the problem of under-reporting of disablist violence.
Written by an expert author team, the twentieth anniversary edition has been thoroughly updated to include new examples and expand on the new directions in crime and criminology.
The book includes learning features designed to engage students in theory and current criminological research by demonstrating how theory can be placed into a modern context or used to frame research. It will provide learning pathways beyond the theory, providing students with the skills to understand their own theoretical perspective and understand the social context, history and concepts behind criminological theory.
New to this edition
• Significant revision to key chapters:
• Expanded coverage of biocriminological and psychological positivism
• Chapter 7: Feminist Perspectives
• Chapter 8: Realistic Approaches
• Chapter 9: Republican Theory and Restorative Justice
• A new chapter on Cultural and Postmodern Criminology.
Rob White is a Professor of Criminology at the School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania.
Fiona Haines is a Professor of Criminology at the School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Melbourne.
Nicole Asquith is an Associate Professor in Policing and Criminal Justice at the School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney University.