Books and Edited Journals by Dale Ballucci
Child Abuse & Neglect, 2019
In response to child victims of sex crimes, Canadian police agencies are required to work collabo... more In response to child victims of sex crimes, Canadian police agencies are required to work collaboratively with child victim oriented community organizations. Such collaborations involve the navigation of potentially competing objectives of partner agencies. In our research, we examine police interpretations of collaborative responses to child victims of sex crimes in order to assess the challenges and benefits of police and community partnerships.
Papers by Dale Ballucci
Handbook of Posttraumatic Stress, 2021
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 2019
Digital evidence, once regarded as existing only in a portion of criminal cases, in our digitized... more Digital evidence, once regarded as existing only in a portion of criminal cases, in our digitized world commonly appears within all crime categories and is a factor in many (or arguably most) cases of sexual assault. In this article, we draw from 70 interviews with sex crime investigators from across Canada to demonstrate that the infusion of digital evidence into sexual assault investigations results in new opportunities and challenges for police and both negative and positive impacts on victims' experiences within the criminal justice system. We show that while digital evidence certainly provides more opportunities for documenting the context and content of acts of sexual assault, police perceive this evidence as a double-edged sword that provides both more evidence and new challenges for police and victims. While officers express that digital evidence may provide more conclusive proof in the notoriously difficult pursuit of proving sexual assault charges, they are also concerned that this evidence provides new challenges for already overburdened sex crime units and makes cases more lengthy and invasive for victims. This article contributes to emerging research on the challenges of policing in the digital age and to the dearth of research on the potential and pitfalls of digital evidence in sexual assault investigations.
Policing: An International Journal, 2019
Purpose Digital evidence is now infused in many (or arguably most) cases of sexual assault, which... more Purpose Digital evidence is now infused in many (or arguably most) cases of sexual assault, which has refigured investigative tools, policing strategies and sources of cynicism for those working in sex crime units. Although cynicism, both its sources and affects, is widely studied among scholars of work and policing, little is known about how police working in sex crime units experience, mitigate and express cynicism. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap in understanding and explore the role of cynicism amongst investigators working in sex crime units. Design/methodology/approach To address this research gap, the authors conducted 70 semi-structured in-depth interviews and two focus groups with members of police services organizations across Canada working in sex crime units. Findings Examining sources of cynicism and emotional experiences, the authors reveal that officers in these units normalize and neutralize organizational and intra-organizational sources of cynicism, a...
Child Abuse & Neglect, 2019
Background: In response to child victims of sex crimes, Canadian police agencies are required to ... more Background: In response to child victims of sex crimes, Canadian police agencies are required to work collaboratively with child victim oriented community organizations. Such collaborations involve the navigation of potentially competing objectives of partner agencies. Objective: In our research, we examine police interpretations of collaborative responses to child victims of sex crimes in order to assess the challenges and benefits of police and community partnerships. Participants and Setting: We conducted 52 semi-structured interviews and focus groups with police officers working on one of different ten police service organizations across Canada in order to unpack the joint responses of police and community partner agencies to child victims of sex crimes. Methods: We coded and analysed focus group and interview transcripts for emergent themes pertaining to police interpretations of their collaborations with governmental and non-governmental organizations when responding to child victims of sex crimes. In focusing on the management and sharing of information, the complexities and practicalities of joint responses to child sexual abuse are revealed. Conclusion: Collaborative tensions, such as differing mandates and blurred boundaries, were present in all participating policing agencies, but police working in and alongside CACs were more likely to recognize that the safety and best interest of children was a shared goal across partner agencies. Operating in successful partnership requires clearly demarcated roles and mutual understanding and respect between both police and partnerships agencies.
Critical Criminology, 2018
Criminal justice responses to sexual violence have long been critiqued for either failing or furt... more Criminal justice responses to sexual violence have long been critiqued for either failing or further victimizing complainants. The ways that police can be complicit in these shortcomings is well documented, but less is known about how police officers themselves identify and understand the barriers to justice within the criminal justice system. In this article, we use data from 70 semi-structured interviews and two focus groups with sex crime investigators to explore police interpretations of the obstacles to achieving justice in cases of sexual violence. Our findings demonstrate that the majority of officers are critical of the present criminal justice response to sexual violence and are doubtful of its ability to provide a semblance of justice to the majority of victims.
Childhood, 2013
This article analyzes and compares two instances of national border crossing that involve decisio... more This article analyzes and compares two instances of national border crossing that involve decisions about children from China: children whose Canadian relatives have applied to adopt them, and unaccompanied children who seek refugee status. Discourse analysis of interviews, hearings, and official documents in the two cases demonstrates how the ‘innocence’ and ‘best interests’ of children are produced through three specific forms of knowledge: age, generational ordering, and most significantly, cultural readings of Chinese kinship. By examining the two cases of relative adoption and unaccompanied refugee claimants next to each other, the article reveals some of the institutional discourses through which childhood is constructed in the socio-legal discretionary power over immigration. The study also considers how the flexible deployment of conceptualizations of childhood, especially imaginaries of culturally ‘other’ kinship and childhood, serve the production of the nation-state.
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.
Social & Legal Studies, 2008
This article illustrates the importance of empirical investigations that reveal `risk in action&#... more This article illustrates the importance of empirical investigations that reveal `risk in action'. Using interviews, operation manuals and correctional policies, I examine the governance of female young offenders at `Youth House' (an open custody facility in Canada). This article focuses on the ways in which risk discourses and practices shape the governance process. Particular attention is paid to the discretionary power of front-line workers and administrators who employ the Youth Management Assessment (YMA), a risk tool used to govern young offenders. My research shows that contrary to the belief that risk tools remove the subjective nature of the governing process, such practices not only still exist but are necessary for risk tools to operate. Furthermore, I reveal an unanticipated outcome of risk tools. I argue their use unintentionally results in the surveillance of an unsuspecting population: those that govern. Risk tools are implemented seemingly with the intent to manage offenders, however, in practice the YMA also governs those that govern.
Time refers to both the chronological ages of the children and the historical time frame under co... more Time refers to both the chronological ages of the children and the historical time frame under consideration. Space is a dimension that includes familial, community, institutional, and cultural spaces within which children live. The third dimension, discipline, names the ...
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Books and Edited Journals by Dale Ballucci
Papers by Dale Ballucci