Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Critical rethinking on crime'

La tesi si occupa del concetto di “riflessione critica” dell’autore di reato sull’illecito commesso. Secondo l’art. 27 d.P.R. 30 giugno 2000, n. 230, essa consiste in una riflessione dialogica concernente le condotte antigiuridiche e colpevoli, le correlate motivazioni, le conseguenze che discendono per l’autore medesimo e le possibili azioni di riparazione attuabili nella fase di esecuzione. La ricerca si sviluppa in cinque momenti: il primo capitolo focalizza l’attenzione sullo studio di un fondamento costituzionale del concetto di “riflessione critica”, anche al fine di una rinnovata lettura del finalismo rieducativo; il secondo capitolo mette in luce i punti di intersezione tra “riflessione critica” sull’illecito commesso e “teoria generale del reato”; il capitolo successivo offre una panoramica degli ostacoli e dei problemi operativi che impediscono la piena predisposizione di un modello responsabilizzante e che sollecitano ipotesi di riforma del sistema penale e penitenziario; nel quarto capitolo ci si sofferma sull’approfondimento delle premesse di un modello dialogico e riparativo di giustizia; quindi, il capitolo conclusivo si dedica a un’esplorazione dei confini e delle congruenze dei concetti di “rehabilitation” e “restorative justice”, per muovere oltre verso la considerazione di un modello di giustizia ispirato all’idea di “responsività” [John Braithwaite] e di “restorative justice dialogue” [Mark S. Umbreit]. In sostanza, lo studio mira a proporre un modello che faciliti, in modo dialogico e inclusivo, forme di responsabilità attiva nel settore penale.
The dissertation examines how offenders deal with “critical rethinking” on their crimes. According to art. 27 d.P.R. 30 June 2000, n. 230, it consists in a dialogical reflection on the wrongdoings they committed, their motivations, the consequences that follow on for the offenders themselves, and the possible reparations during the post-sentencing phase. The study is divided into five chapters. The first chapter focuses on the research for a constitutional basis of the “critical rethinking” and for a renewed understanding of the “finalismo rieducativo” (equivalent to the rehabilitative goal). The second chapter highlights the points of intersection between the “critical rethinking” and the “general theory of crime”. The third chapter summarizes the obstacles and the operative problems that hamper the implementation of this dialogical reflection and describes hints for a possible reform of the criminal justice system, particularly with regard to the post-sentencing phase. The fourth chapter proposes an in-depth analysis of some of the basic key-concepts for the introduction of a dialogical-restorative model of justice. Finally, the fifth chapter investigates the relationship between “rehabilitation” and “restorative justice” and takes into consideration a justice model that is inspired by “responsivity” [John Braithwaite] and “restorative justice dialogue” [Mark S. Umbreit]. By means of that, the study aims at providing a framework for an active assumption of responsibility in a more dialogical and inclusive culture.

La tesi si occupa del concetto di “riflessione critica” dell’autore di reato sull’illecito commesso. Secondo l’art. 27 d.P.R. 30 giugno 2000, n. 230, essa consiste in una riflessione dialogica concernente le condotte antigiuridiche e colpevoli, le correlate motivazioni, le conseguenze che discendono per l’autore medesimo e le possibili azioni di riparazione attuabili nella fase di esecuzione. La ricerca si sviluppa in cinque momenti: il primo capitolo focalizza l’attenzione sullo studio di un fondamento costituzionale del concetto di “riflessione critica”, anche al fine di una rinnovata lettura del finalismo rieducativo; il secondo capitolo mette in luce i punti di intersezione tra “riflessione critica” sull’illecito commesso e “teoria generale del reato”; il capitolo successivo offre una panoramica degli ostacoli e dei problemi operativi che impediscono la piena predisposizione di un modello responsabilizzante e che sollecitano ipotesi di riforma del sistema penale e penitenziario; nel quarto capitolo ci si sofferma sull’approfondimento delle premesse di un modello dialogico e riparativo di giustizia; quindi, il capitolo conclusivo si dedica a un’esplorazione dei confini e delle congruenze dei concetti di “rehabilitation” e “restorative justice”, per muovere oltre verso la considerazione di un modello di giustizia ispirato all’idea di “responsività” [John Braithwaite] e di “restorative justice dialogue” [Mark S. Umbreit]. In sostanza, lo studio mira a proporre un modello che faciliti, in modo dialogico e inclusivo, forme di responsabilità attiva nel settore penale.
The dissertation examines how offenders deal with “critical rethinking” on their crimes. According to art. 27 d.P.R. 30 June 2000, n. 230, it consists in a dialogical reflection on the wrongdoings they committed, their motivations, the consequences that follow on for the offenders themselves, and the possible reparations during the post-sentencing phase. The study is divided into five chapters. The first chapter focuses on the research for a constitutional basis of the “critical rethinking” and for a renewed understanding of the “finalismo rieducativo” (equivalent to the rehabilitative goal). The second chapter highlights the points of intersection between the “critical rethinking” and the “general theory of crime”. The third chapter summarizes the obstacles and the operative problems that hamper the implementation of this dialogical reflection and describes hints for a possible reform of the criminal justice system, particularly with regard to the post-sentencing phase. The fourth chapter proposes an in-depth analysis of some of the basic key-concepts for the introduction of a dialogical-restorative model of justice. Finally, the fifth chapter investigates the relationship between “rehabilitation” and “restorative justice” and takes into consideration a justice model that is inspired by “responsivity” [John Braithwaite] and “restorative justice dialogue” [Mark S. Umbreit]. By means of that, the study aims at providing a framework for an active assumption of responsibility in a more dialogical and inclusive culture.

In this paper I discuss retributivist justifications for legal punishment. I argue that the main moral retributivist theories advanced so far fail to support a plausible system of legal punishment. As an alternative, I suggest, with some reservations, the legal retributivism advanced by Alan Brudner in his Punishment and Freedom.

Since the end of the Cold War, there has been a comprehensive challenge to dominant conceptions in Security Studies. Security has been approached as a political phenomenon, resulting from political assumptions and having political effects. The politicization of security has been pursued by a number of so-called ‘critical approaches,’ including ‘security as emancipation.’ The latter argues that security consists in removing or alleviating constraints upon the lives of individuals and groups – such as poverty, ill health, or lack of education. This thesis asks two questions: firstly, can the ‘security as emancipation’ approach, in its current formulation, deliver on its claims and promises, in the context of the effort of politicization in Security Studies? And secondly, if it is shown that there are weaknesses, in what ways can the analytical and normative outlook of security as emancipation be strengthened through an engagement with other resources in the literature? Chapters 1 and 2 establish the context in which the merits of security as emancipation must be judged. They conclude that an engagement with this approach must focus on the way it conceives the multiple connections between security and politics. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 pursue this insight, by focusing on the notions of reality, threat and power respectively. In each of these themes, the argument identifies gaps in security as emancipation and suggests theoretical reconsiderations based on an engagement with approaches and ideas – in the critical security literature and in social and political theory – that so far have been neglected or not examined sufficiently by this approach. This thesis aims to re-establish security as emancipation as a valid interlocutor within critical debates about security. It also aims to show that the dialogue between critical approaches is, not only possible, but beneficial to understanding the politicization of security.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a concept which has developed over the past five decades through a range of fields. It is based on the premise that modifications to the built and natural environment can reduce both crime and fear, and improve the overall quality of life. CPTED relies on the cooperation of a variety of agencies; however, research has revealed important inherent difficulties regarding multi-agency working and that current practice is neither sustainable nor does it consider social characteristics which may impact upon crime and the effectiveness of CPTED initiatives. Criticisms of diverse factors relating to CPTED have been expressed but how robust such criticisms are and if suitable resolutions exist has not been explored. Using a mixed methods approach, this PhD seeks to improve and update the CPTED concept by addressing issues of communication and collaboration between CPTED stakeholders, and suggests robust ways of enhancing the social context within CPTED planning. The research answers the following fundamental questions: what are the underlying problems of the CPTED concept and how did they come to fruition; and can the approach to CPTED planning be re-examined and updated to reduce the inherent underlying difficulties and improve the transferability and practical application of CPTED initiatives. The research highlights language and definition inconsistencies in the CPTED framework, transferability and engagement issues between CPTED stakeholders and an unestablished but vital link between CPTED and social sustainability and context. The thesis delivers three major academic contributions to new knowledge. It firmly identifies failings in the CPTED concept since its inception to present; it proposes an updated framework which is theoretically driven, and represents a holistic catchment of all CPTED knowledge; and it makes a solid link between crime prevention and the sustainable development of communities highlighting its importance for context analysis.

La maggior parte degli studi nell'ambito del genocidio si focalizza principalmente sul concetto di "omicidio di massa". Il culturicidio o genocidio culturale resta invece nell'ombra e costituisce tuttora un campo pressoché inesplorato. Tuttavia, quando Raphael Lemkin coniò il termine "genocidio" nel 1944, egli incluse nella sua definizione anche una componente culturale di non minore importanza. Ma perché allora il culturicidio viene trascurato? E perché a differenza del genocidio fisico, il genocidio culturale non è ancora ritenuto illegale dal diritto internazionale? Scopo di questo lavoro è far conoscere la tematica del genocidio culturale, spesso ingiustamente trascurata e collocarla nel panorama giuridico, politico e sociale. Inoltre, il lavoro ha come obiettivo quello di far comprendere la necessità di un’analisi e di una riflessione più profonda sul tema, nel contesto internazionale, mirante all’adozione di misure efficaci per prevenire e punire il genocidio culturale che ad oggi non costituisce un crimine di diritto internazionale.

The study of intra-state conflict has increased exponentially during the post-Cold War period. This has given rise to a variety of competing approaches, which have (i) adopted differing methodological and social theoretical orientations, and (ii) produced contradictory accounts of the causes and nature of violent conflict. This project intervenes in the debates which have resulted from this situation, and develops a critical realist approach to conflict studies. In doing so it rethinks the discipline from the philosophical ground up, by extending the ontological and epistemological insights which are provided by critical realism into more concrete reflections about methodological and social theoretical issues. In addition to engaging in reflection about philosophical, methodological, and social theoretical issues, however, the project also incorporates the insights of two largely neglected literatures into conflict studies. These are, first, the insights of the gender-studies literature, and second, the insights of decolonial/postcolonial forms of thought. It claims that the discipline is strengthened by incorporating the insights of these literatures, and that the critical realist framework provides us with the philosophical basis which is required in order to do so.

At the beginning of 1930, Theodor W. Adorno, who was only 28 years old, was awarded the venia legendi (teaching permission) for philosophy and the academic title “Privatdozent”, after his Habilitationsschrift (on Kierkegaard) had been accepted by the faculty of philosophy on the basis of two positive reviews, by Adorno’s older friend and mentor Max Horkheimer and the prominent theologian-philosopher Paul Tillich. This title traditionally comes without academic position or pay, but is the precondition for applications for the position of professor. In early May, he was obliged to give his inaugural lecture to the academic public, and he chose a rather programmatic subject, “The Actuality of Philosophy”, using the occasion for a rigorous critique of the major trends in current German academic philosophy and a bold statement concerning the possible future of a certain kind of materialist philosophy which he was just about to develop.

Scholars have long puzzled over the conditions that promote cooperation between nation-states. This thesis develops a new approach to the puzzle by examining the practice of international cooperation through a socio-legal lens. It is grounded in a qualitative case study of the criminal justice relationship between Australia and Indonesia, focusing on three areas: police cooperation, extradition arrangements, and cooperation relating to detained nationals. The thesis asks: what are the conditions that promote crime cooperation between Australia and Indonesia? Beneath this overarching question, it poses the following sub-questions: What drives the cooperation? How do different actors influence the cooperation? What determines the scope for cooperation? The thesis frames these questions socio-legally by situating the cooperative relationship within transnational legal orders (TLOs) that regulate terrorism and other transnational crimes. The TLO framework has several advantages over existing approaches to studying international cooperation. First, rather than privileging the state as an actor, the framework attends to the multiplicity of actors above and below the state who shape cooperative initiatives. Second, rather than focusing on political dynamics, it also highlights the significance of law and policy in the practice of international cooperation. Third, it embraces the inherent complexity of this practice by integrating various empirical and theoretical perspectives into its analysis. To provide a rich empirical picture of the criminal justice relationship between Australia and Indonesia, the thesis relies on interviews with over 100 current and former participants in the relationship, and extensive archival material, including media reporting and government records. To make sense of this data within the TLO framework, the thesis draws on theories relating to the construction of transnational problems (securitisation), the interplay of domestic and international politics (two-level games), the operation of international police networks (bureaucratic autonomy and culture), and the scope for international cooperation (reciprocity). It also incorporates insights from regulatory studies.   Based on this analysis, the thesis argues that there is a structural tension between political and policy interests at the heart of the cooperative relationship. It further argues that cooperation is more likely to occur when these interests are in balance, and that law is a critical institution in enabling this balance to be struck. To conclude, the thesis brings the key findings of the study together to propose a model of the cooperative relationship. It also considers whether the findings could be generalised and their practical implications.

This thesis critically examines the literature on joyriding, car crime, motor projects and masculinities. Fieldwork in motor projects combined with the methods of cultural studies locates car crime within a gendered car culture. Thus motor projects are seen to 'work' within that gendered car culture but a longer term solution to car crime is to be found in 'green' transport policies and changes in gender relations. Theoretically it recognises the reality of car crime and also the reality of the environmental consequences of car use but also the ideological context which places the car at the centre of transport Policy and many men's dreams of transcendant personal freedom. It draws as many conclusions about criminology as about car crime.

The rise of terrorism and transnational organised crime (TOC) post-9/11, two previously separate phenomena, are now both a plague of the 21st century. The emergence of unconventional forms of terrorist organisations such as the Islamic State (IS) indicates new features in the crime-terror nexus. This requires rethinking of the conventional crime-terror convergence frameworks; including the crime-terror continuum (CTC) model, which is used to explain and categorise the relationships between organised crime (OC) and terrorism. The original 2003-2004 CTC model suggests that the relationship between crime and terrorism is not static but has evolved into a continuum. The CTC tracks down how the organisational dynamics and operational nature of both terrorism and OC changes over time. A single group can slide up and down between OC and terrorism, depending on the operational environment. Contemporary terrorism practices suggest that post-9/11 terrorist organisations have undergone significant transformations, and that the boundaries between organised crime and terrorism have become blurred. This brings into question the explanatory power and applicability of the conventional convergence trends, which are depicted in the 2003-2014 versions of the CTC model, to the reality of the transformation of terrorist organisations post-9/11. The conventional convergence trends revolve around ‘realities’ of relationships between OC and terrorism in the form of alliances, appropriation of tactics, integration, hybridisation, and transformation from terrorist to criminal entities or vice versa. The current realities raise several questions about the applicability of the CTC model, as an explanatory tool. Terrorist organisations can originate as criminal organisations, using ideological motives as a recruiting poster for criminal activities. This points to gaps in the relationship of contemporary terrorism and OC, which are found in the crime-terror nexus and its discourse. These gaps pave the way for rethinking and critical evaluation of the explanatory power of the CTC model in the post-9/11 period and lay the basis for the development of an alternative framework as a foundation for further research. This study aims to critically rethink the explanatory power and revisit the applicability of the CTC to changes in the relationship between crime and terrorism post-9/11. This study employs a systematic literature overview design followed by critical evaluation. It isolates key works on the crime-terror nexus and convergence phenomenon, and assesses their limitations, so as to better understand and tackle terrorism in the post-9/11 period.
Mini Dissertation (MSS)--University of Pretoria, 2018.
Political Sciences
MSS
Unrestricted

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Cincinnati, 2009.
Advisor: John P. Wright. Title from electronic thesis title page (viewed July 29, 2009). Keywords: low self-control; behavioral genetics; Mx; Gottfredson and Hirschi; general theory of crime; sex differences; biosocial criminology. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Crime fiction is an emergent category in South African literary studies. This introduction positions South African crime fiction and its scholarship in a global lineage of crime and detective fiction. The survey addresses the question of its literary status as ‘highbrow’ or ‘lowbrow’. It also identifies and describes two distinct sub-genres of South African crime fiction: the crime thriller novel; and the literary detective novel. The argument is that South African crime fiction exhibits a unique capacity for social analysis: a capacity which is being optimised by authors and interrogated by scholars

This thesis critically analyzes Axel Honneth’s theories of misrecognition and struggles for recognition and argues for two main conceptualizations to address shortcomings in his theories. The first conceptualization is that recognition and misrecognition behaviors are better understood along three dimensions of engagement—norms, individuals, and actions. We can use this multidimensional view to identify misrecognitions in which the problems are in vertical recognition, either disengagement from norms or engagement with problematic norms, and misrecognitions in which the problems are in horizontal recognition, during which there is insufficient or improper engagement with other individuals. The multidimensional view of misrecognition overcomes Honneth’s overly positive picture of recognition and lack of a robust account of misrecognition and shows how negative recognition fits into the normative structure of social life while acknowledging the positive value of recognition. The second conceptualization is an expanded view of struggles for recognition that takes such struggles beyond group political conflicts into everyday social experiences. I identify two problems in Honneth’s formulation of struggles for recognition: his premise that emotional experiences of disrespect motivate struggles for recognition is contradictory without an account of individual agency, and his theoretical reliance on political resistance movements neglects other paths responses to injustice can take. To address these problems, I argue that there are two types of struggles for recognition, affirmational (related to practical identity) and rectificatory (related to efforts to change social circumstances), and that individuals’ familiarity with affirmational struggles enables them to engage in rectificatory struggles against injustice. Individuals respond to injustice in varied ways other than organized political action, and this is significant for critical theory. The common thread in these two conceptualizations is the importance of individuals’ normative experiences in ethical life and social change. Power structures shape social relations, but individuals actively instigate many instances of injustice.

Latinas face many challenges within public schools. They are a marginalized group that has struggled to overcome the effects of practices that have created entrenched cycles of poverty and educational failure. The development of a critical consciousness has been proposed as a means of resisting and transcending oppression. Freire (1970) defined conscientização, or critical consciousness, as “learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions, and to take action against oppressive elements of reality” (p.19). This study reexamined the development and nature of critical consciousness through the use of critical feminist methodologies. Standpoint theories assisted in the development of counter-stories that challenged androcentric perceptions of consciousness. This qualitative study examined how some Latina teachers, working with Latina students, were able to transform an after-school club, lunchtime meetings, and a daylong conference into opportunities for Latina students to reexamine their role and position in their family, culture, American society, and develop a critical awareness or consciousness. What emerged from the findings was an approach used by these particular Latina teachers that elevated the affective domain to footing equal to the intellectual. The participating teachers created a matrix of connection with students that challenged a masculine perception of consciousness. They used socially and culturally located histories and experiences to develop a gendered critical consciousness. What was observed and heard throughout the research process was the unearthing of a consciousness that was decidedly enmeshed in the private arena of the body and identity, in addition to the public domains of politics and economics.

This thesis criticizes Marx's labour theory of value in terms of Habermas's critique of subject-centred thinking, before going on to criticize Habermas's subject-centred approach to the economic system in terms of an intersubjectively re-formulated conception of labour, for while Habermas restores normative content to the principle of self-constitution he restricts it to communicative action. This places the economic system (and its bureaucratic state apparatus) beyond the normative content of modernity. Drawing upon Honneth's writings on struggles for recognition, the thesis seeks to re-normatize labour on the basis of worker's own struggles to re-normatize the economic system. The first half of the thesis explores the tensions that arise from Marx's attempt to locate his critique of capitalism in a subject-centred conception of self-constitution. Although Marx seeks to historicize the categories of political economy (in line with capitalist exchange relations), he also seeks to preserve a transhistorical conception of labour as the subject of self-objectification (as the standpoint from which to criticize capitalism). However, this leaves Marx vulnerable to his own historical critique of political economy. It is then argued that it is only possible to redeem the latter by re-grounding critical theory in the labour movement's social and historical struggles to oppose capital. This requires a re-formulation of Marx's labour theory of value. In place of Marx's notion that 'value' is an expression of self-objectifying labour we substitute Simmel's intersubjective approach to money-value. Marx's account of value is then understood as arising from the diremption of intersubjectivity into an 'objective' economic system and its 'subjective' agents. This generates a bifurcation of selfconstitution with the intersubjective form of normative social-constitution, on the one side, and the dirempted objective and subjective forms of economic-constitution on the other. The second half of the thesis critically analyzes Habermas' s contention that modern sociality is divided into a normative lifeworld and a non-normative system. This takes the form of an empirical critique of Habermas' s restriction of normativity to communicative action, and a theoretical critique of his restriction of the charge of reification to the economic system's encroachment upon the latter. In keeping with the theory of discourse ethics, it is argued that Habermas cannot legitimately withdraw normative content from labour and claim universal scope for the former. Consequently, not only is the economic system's capacity to suppress the normativity of labour invalid from the standpoint of 'practical reason', but so is Habermas's attempt to legitimate the system on the basis of 'functional reason'. The thesis draws on Honneth's work to extend the realm of intersubjectivity into the economy on the basis of the struggles of the labour movement to sublate its diremption of self-regulating system and self-interested actors. We conclude by arguing that trade unions and the welfare state may be understood to comprise normative vehicles for subjecting 'market-value' to an intersubjectively accountable form of 'social-value'.

In response to the reification of social reality caused, according to the first generation of the Frankfurt School, by the instrumental mastery of nature, Adorno, Horkheimer and Marcuse have elaborated a critique of instrumental reason aimed at providing the theoretical tools for a treatment of the social realm as a field of human practice. Concerned with the risks of reproducing the relationship between humanity and nature hindering human emancipation, they have nevertheless sought to limit the task of critical theory to a theoretical form of resistance, thereby divorcing social theory from the practical orientations found in Marx‟s critique of political economy. It was not until the works of second-generation critical theorist Jürgen Habermas, that one could find a renewed attempt to link theory with the objective conditions of existence thought to be required for human emancipation. With these theoretical developments, however, social theory was effectively stripped of its critique of technology, and became primarily concerned with the problem of human emancipation as a matter strictly regarding intersubjective relations. The present work proposes that the formulation of a social critique oriented towards the institutionalisation of emancipatory practice cannot presuppose or apologise for the instrumental mastery of external nature. It shall be argued that in order to achieve such a task, the critique of instrumental reason elaborated by the first generation of Frankfurt School theorists must be complemented and completed with the broad outline of an institutional framework capable of indicating the conditions of existence required for the actualisation of human emancipation as the labour-mediated reconciliation of humanity with both internal and external nature, and for which the works of G.D.H. Cole provide a potential basis for rethinking critical theory and updating libertarian socialism.

Critical geopolitics, a platform on the interface between International Relations and Political Geography, has privileged the spatial over the temporal dimension in its understanding of geopolitics. This has entailed the neglect of the politics of time (chronopolitics) and thereby inhibited a full understanding of the functioning of geopolitical texts. On the few occasions when critical geopolitics has addressed the issue of time, it has either problematically equated it with ‘speed’ or approached it through a useful but incomplete focus on the ‘modern’ temporality at work in geopolitics. This thesis argues for the fourfold departure from this literature. After suggesting a conception of time as constituted not outside but through narrative, it traverses the dichotomous understanding of space and time found in critical geopolitics. Furthermore, it urges the theoretical platform to take account of the hetero-temporality and micro-temporality of modern geopolitical discourse. With the help of this improved theoretical toolbox, it is possible better to distinguish between different geopolitical narratives and unpack the relationship between spatiality, temporality and security. A number of case studies, all investigating the relationship between the European Union and the post-Soviet space, will illustrate these changes. The study will zoom in specifically on the discourse in and around Brussels on Russia, German narratives of Russian gas and Belarusian geopolitical constructions of Europe. What emerges is an image of the boundary between Europe and its East that is inscribed by a number of conflicting spatiotemporalities and patterns of security interaction.

Tese de Doutoramento em Relações Internacionais
Associating both the subject and object of this study with the dramaturgical world, Beyond the Security Drama aims to critically contextualize discourses, rhetoric, characters, behaviors, roles, performative capacities, choices, and decisions of constitutive actors of what is here defined as the political theater of international relations. Within this political theater, I argue that its constitutive actors play humanitarian scenes, with a restricted club of them performing on the stage and manifesting a dramaturgical language of security which is involved by particular discourses of Other and constructions of threats. Whereas the latter can create dramatic impacts in the humanitarian scenes, some keywords and key concepts become security labels as the performers attempt to convince the audience to take action in favor to their self-centered interests and the preservation of their own form of existence. These discourses are reproduced on the political stage, and they play a fundamental role in the universe of the theater and the collective imagination of the audience. Manifesting a dramaturgical language of security, the restricted club of performers create what is called the security drama, which does not only materialize the historical power dynamics within the political theater, but discloses a set of characters, behaviors, and performative capacities in and around the humanitarian scenes. Language, choices and decisions made by the performers are parameters that prescribe the security drama, but they might also be useful for a reflexive interpretation of the audience to rethink security. In critically exploring the concept of security and its dramaturgical language, this dissertation involves itself with one setting of analysis and four defining actors: the knowledge (what must be properly spoken on the political stage), the performers (the ones able to speak), the audience (spectators in the auditorium able to listen and eventually speak by emancipatory means), the victims of the drama (the excluded groups located outside the theater; unable to listen and to be listened) and the intermediate actors (independent channels of communication playing an activist role due to their ability to encourage enough of the audience to achieve its emancipatory aspirations). Although all of these four actors are examined, the audience and its constitutive multiple publics come to considered the most fundamental sphere of analysis in the course of the following dissertation. It is about subjectively analyzing the security drama that the combination of praxeological and historical-sociological methods enable me to consider multiple publics in the audience as sources that develop immanent possibilities for change; towards a more dialogic relationship with the performers characterized by a less securitized narrative. These immanent possibilities of changing the course of the security drama are expected to include what I call the ‘excluded realities,’ i.e., the ‘forgotten worlds’ of the victims of the drama existing outside the theater and marginalized by the leading roles on the stage. To sustain this assumption, the dissertation is committed with praxeology, history, and sociology. These methods foreground my critical theorizing of IR, and they also enlighten my preference for stressing a couple of contributions of desecuritization undertaken by free and emancipated multiple publics of the Western audience. Desecuritization is best described in the following study as political and social expressions carried out by free people (multiple publics of the audience) having emancipatory aspirations that would, among other things, call for the move of securitized humanitarian issues back to the normal haggling of politics. Therefore, aiming to set the audience and the excluded groups free from what I call dystopian security drama, I highlight some desecuritizing moves as immanent possibilities for enough of the Western audience to rethink the humanitarian scenes played by American, European and Israeli leading roles. As the study demonstrates, most of desecuritizing moves identified in these three humanitarian scenes can still be found at the micro level of collective actions undertaken by a few Western civil society groups. Indeed, these collective actions belong to what I refer to as an emancipatory project, and they must be further stimulated, because only a renewed thinking of human emancipation followed by activism can make enough of the audience to acknowledge that the victims of the security drama should never be feared, threatened, or labeled.
Associando tanto o tema quanto o objeto de estudo da presente dissertação com o mundo dramatúrgico, Além do Drama da Segurança pretende contextualizar criticamente os discursos, a natureza, os papéis e as capacidades performativas dos atores constituintes do que se chama de teatro político das relações internacionais. Dentro deste teatro político, argumenta-se que seus atores constituintes representam cenas humanitárias, com um clube restrito de atores no palco que manifesta uma linguagem dramatúrgica de segurança internacional de acordo com discursos que facilitam ações e práticas, definem o possível e o impossível, e constroem noções de ameaças existenciais e de um inimigo a ser combatido. Discursos particulares do Outro e construções de ameaças existenciais moldam o comportamento dos atores no palco, fazendo com que eles atuem de um jeito e não de outro, privilegiando algumas questões em detrimento de outras, adquirindo vários desiquilíbrios no teatro político. Tendo em vista que estes discursos podem criar impactos dramáticos nas cenas humanitárias, conceitos-chave se tornam sub-rótulos de segurança enquanto os atores tentam convencer o público a aceitar medidas securitizadoras. Estes sub-rótulos de segurança são produzidos e reproduzidos através de uma linguagem dramatúrgica, e desempenham papéis centrais no universo das relações internacionais e na imaginação coletiva do público. Estabelecendo um tal de ‘regime da verdade’ que corresponde somente as intenções de um grupo de atores em particular, e não ao bem comum, a securitização molda o nosso pensar sobre a forma que enxergamos o teatro e o comportamento dos atores. Certamente, o drama da segurança não materializa somente as dinâmicas de poder dentro do teatro político como também revela um conjunto de personagens complexos em torno das cenas humanitárias. Portanto, retórica, comportamento e intenções governamentais são consequências deste drama que trabalha em prol daqueles que detêm o poder da manipulação. Sustentado por uma linguagem dramatúrgica e subrótulos de segurança, o drama da segurança é aqui descrito como distópico, pois ele viabiliza o exercício de medidas extraordinárias que são responsáveis por exacerbar o sofrimento humano, como se estas medidas fossem as únicas alternativas disponíveis para manter a sobrevivência dos atores no palco e do público nas tribunas. Dentro deste drama, os atores protagonistas clamam pelo direito de tomar qualquer medida necessária para remover as ameaças que eles mesmos criaram. Ações repressivas e práticas intervencionistas que intensificam o sofrimento humano das vítimas deste drama se tornam justificáveis (até mesmo sob a luz do direito internacional), sempre em nome da segurança dos atores mais poderosos e que se encontram em posições mais privilegiadas. Este processo viabilizador de medidas extraordinárias dá-se por garantido através de fatores históricos, religiosos, sociais, econômicos e políticos explorados no decorrer deste estudo. Ao explorar-se o conceito de segurança e sua linguagem dramatúrgica que envolve o humanitarismo, o estudo destaca um cenário de análise e quatro atores definidores: o conhecimento (o que deve ser adequadamente falado no palco), os artistas/ou atores securitizadores (aqueles que detêm o poder da fala), o público (grupos da sociedade civil Ocidental que podem ouvir e eventualmente falar através de meios emancipatórios), os grupos marginalizados (as vítimas do drama da segurança impedidas de ouvir e ser ouvidas) e, por fim, os atores intermediários (os canais independentes de comunicação que desempenham um papel crucial devido às suas habilidades ativistas que podem ajudar boa parte do público a alcançar desejáveis aspirações emancipatórias). Além disso, com o auxílio do método praxeológico e do método histórico-sociológico pode-se correlacionar o cenário de análise com os atores definidores, assim identificando o exercício desta correlação como condição fundamental para a construção de identidades dentro e fora do teatro político. O processo de construção de identidades envolve um pensamento coletivo sobre as ameaças que determinados objetos (sejam povos, religiões, gêneros, pensamentos, ideologias, cor da pele e entre outros) podem causar à sobrevivência dos artistas Ocidentais e seus respectivos públicos. No século XI, por exemplo, o drama da segurança pôde ser encontrado no discurso sobre as cruzadas. No século XIV, o discurso do Outro se destinou à expansão e colonização europeia. No século XVI na caça às bruxas, e no século XVIII no escravismo. Já antes e no decorrer da Segunda Guerra Mundial, o drama ganhou contornos nazistas. No período da Guerra Fria, o discurso se concentrou no combate ao comunismo. No século XXI, presenciam-se dramas que incluem o terrorismo e os fluxos migratórios. Em todos estes dramas, sem exceção, artistas Ocidentais criaram narrativas sobre o Outro a ser combatido. Ao compreender que a percepção de alvos faz parte da construção discursiva de ameaças, o público deve se ater à condução de um debate focado na desconstrução destes discursos, visando à eliminação da falsa relação entre o bem contra o mal, explorado neste estudo através da dicotomia entre Eu-Outro. Pensando nisso que sugere-se, então, contribuições de dessecuritização que visam libertar tanto o público Ocidental quanto os grupos marginalizados deste distópico drama da segurança. Conforme o estudo demonstra, a maioria dos movimentos de dessecuritização se encontra num nível micro de ações coletivas realizadas por grupos da sociedade civil. São movimentos que se refletem em ações e expressões artísticas que contestam as questões securitizadas pelos principais atores no palco. Para o necessário progresso e aumento dos movimentos de dessecuritização, duas simples estratégias devem ser seguidas pelo público. A primeira é objetivista, que consiste na tentativa de advertir o resto da sociedade por meio de um debate democrático sobre os perigos causados pelo drama. Assim, o resgate do passado, sublinhando o que a história tem para contar, se faz muito importante. Com isso, a proteção da memória histórica também desempenha um papel relevante. Já a segunda estratégia é construtivista, em que se busca compreender o por que alvos se tornam ameaças. As sociedades civis devem compreender como operam os discursos de segurança, identificando suas principais características, refletindo tanto numa simples análise sobre a reprodução por parte dos atores securitizadores de alguns conceitos vagos que fazem referência à categorização de migrantes como ameaças quanto à utilização de doutrinas ‘universais’ que, apesar de reforçarem uma ‘humanidade em comum’, acabam por fortalecer medidas de securitização. Utilizando dessas duas simples estratégias dentro de um diálogo mais aberto entre espectadores nas tribunas é que retórica, decisões e discursos reproduzidos nas cenas humanitárias do teatro politico podem ser contestados de modo que eles sejam repolitizados numa revigorada esfera pública com intensa participação popular. Isto significa que os discursos revelados pelos atores protagonistas no palco devem ser discutidos pelo público dentro de uma normal politics em busca de uma nova consciência social em relação aos problemas humanitários. Tal consciência seria dificilmente manipulada por manobras que tendem lidar com certos alvos através da violência, militarização, repressão e exclusão. Buscando refletir e repensar sobre cenas humanitárias por intermédio de uma abordagem mais crítica, o seguinte estudo se divide em três seções e sete capítulos. A seção de abertura introduz o processo de teorização de minha abordagem crítica, destacando, sobretudo, um argumento reflexivo e crítico à teoria (neo)realista das relações internacionais. Os dois capítulos que compõem a seção de abertura são destinados à desconstrução dos conceitos, sistemas e regras relacionadas ao tema (o drama da segurança) e ao objeto de análise (cenas humanitárias). A segunda seção da dissertação pretende desmascarar a linguagem dramatúrgica da segurança. Os dois capítulos que dão corpo à segunda seção descrevem como as ameaças são construídas por discursos e práticas, além de aprofundarem a ideia de dessecuritização, definindo as condições necessárias para a devida execução dos seus movimentos. Já a seção final e última parte do estudo explora os três contextos humanitários dos quais estão a ocorrer em regiões Ocidentais, particularmente nos Estados Unidos, Europa e Israel. Cada um dos três capítulos discorre sobre uma cena humanitária em específico (a saber: a crise ao longo da fronteira entre os Estados Unidos e México, o contexto migratório na Europa e o teatro Americano-Israelense). Obviamente, estas três últimas cenas destacam a importância dos movimentos de dessecuritização que visam remover os assuntos humanitários para fora deste mecanismo de ameaça e defesa chamado securitização. Estes movimentos de dessecuritização explorados no decorrer da seção final se configuram em ações coletivas das quais pertencem a um desejável projeto emancipatório que deve ser ainda mais estimulado, pois somente a emancipação humana seria capaz de fazer com que o público (sobretudo as sociedades civis Ocidentais) reconheça que as vítimas deste drama nunca devem ser temidas ou rotuladas. Dito isto, o questionamento das políticas de exclusão gerenciadas por discursos particulares do Outro deve ocorrer através da mobilização de esforços para uma maior participação popular, abrindo um solo fértil para a cultivação de uma consciência humanitária mais crítica. É seguindo o caminho da dessecuritização de questões humanitárias que talvez será possível desenvolver – num futuro não tão distante – uma sociedade Ocidental política e emancipada.
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In today's modern society we are highly exposed to different media in our everyday life, and individuals may spend a large part of their time taking part in media debates, news and other information shared on different media channels. Through this, news media have become an influential factor for how individuals in today's society perceive and construct reality, and consequently the public's perception of crime. This critical analysis strives to elucidate how crime in Malmö is presented in Swedish newspapers. This report is centered on which discourses emerge throughout the chosen empirical material, how different crime types are presented and how victims and perpetrators are constructed in this material. By studying how Malmö is presented through a commonly used news media source, it is possible to uncover how collective understandings of crime are created and affirmed, which is essential in order to be able to influence this established (but arguably somewhat radical) image. Newspapers' presentation of Malmö differs from the description of other major cities in Sweden, and Malmö is often illustrated as a dangerous or unsafe city with high crime rates. The perception of crime in Malmö given through the official statistics are overshadowed by news media's accentuation of violent and lethal crime. A skewed division of crime reporting, may therefore be an important factor for the public's perception of crime in Malmö. Crimes are depicted as an effect of larger societal problems and an integral part of everyday life. Few articles dispute the established image of Malmö as dangerous, and the few who do only briefly highlight this to an extremely limited extent, resulting in the preservation and reproduction of the majority's presentation of Malmö as a dangerous or unsecure city.

Sport has been promoted as having potential to contribute to crime prevention, rehabilitation and reduction (Coalter 2007; Nichols 2007). This rationale was accelerated by „New‟ Labour Government‟s policies (Coalter 2012). The interrelationship between sport, adult crime reduction and social exclusion provide a focus for this thesis. An initial policy review and literature review is followed by two empirical studies which investigate the use of a sports-based programme by an ex-offender (aged 39) and explore the attitudes via semi-structured interviews of gatekeepers (n=21) towards the use of sport for crime reduction purposes with adult populations. Key findings demonstrate that the provision of a sports-based programme for an adult ex-offender has the potential to assist the rehabilitation and resettlement process. There is evidence that the links between sport, career development and employability were particularly important amongst this older age band. There were mixed views from the gatekeepers towards the use of sport for crime reduction, particularly its potential amongst adult delinquents. There were instances where sport was being utilised in crime reduction practices, this was done on an ad hoc basis. Gatekeepers demonstrated concerns over raising expectations of offenders through sports-based qualifications and the public‟s negative perceptions of sport as an „easy option‟ for offenders. It is essential to adopt an holistic approach when examining sports within a crime reduction context, concentrating on those problems experienced by individuals engaged in sports-based programmes as opposed to the intervention itself (Crabbe 2000, 2008; Coalter 2012). Any quest to change behaviour patterns associated with crime will involve complex associations which create a myriad of outcomes (Coalter et al. 2000). In order to understand which approaches work for which subjects in what conditions, there is a need to obtain a deeper understanding of the complexities of participant‟s interactions with initiatives (Morris et al. 2003; Coalter 2012).

The methodology aims to demonstrate that absence is not reducible to one approach or another but plays on the incommensurabilities, commensurabilities and gaps between the different concepts presented. The 'motions of absence', which are textual insertions interspersed between the sections, directly articulate the methodology of the thesis by responding to and exploring the thinking in each section. The methodology therefore both produces and addresses the tensions and gaps available in visual and theoretical discourses to demonstrate absence. lt thereby allows for the possibility of a re-inscription of signification for absence to occur.

In here, the criminalization of sexual violence is a manifestation of increased recognition of feminism, and proof of international law reaching at liberal criteria for legitimization. Though, in making conclusions other necessary criteria for fully recognized legitimacy are acknowledged (such as other types of rights, types of security and other levels for analysis). Though, from a strict feminist critical approach the criminalization of sexual violence, and the extent of such criminalization can by itself prove legitimacy or illegitimacy.The criminalizing of sexual violence took place over 100 years ago, yet the systematic use of it in warfare was not publicly condemned until the ICTR (International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda) and the ICTY (International Criminal Tribunal of former Yugoslavia) (Buss, 2009, p. 356) took on the duty to prosecute and convict. Still today women’s security and sexual violence are research fields that awake a lot of hostile emotions.Findings show that there is few, if any, affects for those tribunals that fail to bring justice to rape victims; calling for an analysis of Walzer’s political fit. The international praxis of impunity supports feminism in an existing ‘male truth’ risking the security of women. The legitimacy of the institution of international law is, however, not dependent on one legal procedure.Liberalist and feminist different interpretations of adequate necessity to create peace frame after 15 224 words a utilitarian illusion which slows down the pace of the implementation of a feminist security agenda. However, the progress is still evidence of strife towards the Kantian society of states. An inconsistent moral consensus finally results in the conclusion that this thesis cannot confirm the institution of international law illegitimate, arguably validating legitimacy.

This study critically examines rulings of Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) tribunals. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) Chapter 11, ISDS provides foreign investors with the tools to launch a claim against signatory countries should they feel their investment was inhibited by local regulations. Empirically this study draws upon Windstream Energy LLC. v. the Government of Canada as a case study to analyze the competing responses exchanged during the tribunal’s hearings. The claim by Windstream Energy LLC against the Government of Ontario (GoO) serves as both a central and relevant example for examining the ramifications of ISDS, as it is one of Canada’s most recent defeats featuring the largest award outside a pre-tribunal ISDS settlement. Information was drawn from tribunal documents, referred to as a Memorial and Counter Memorial, which outline each party’s argument and supporting claims. Additionally, the tribunal publishes their final decision and justifications. A critical discourse analysis method, theoretically informed by the corporate crime literature and Gramsci’s theory of hegemony, helps in critically examining the economic, political, and cultural assumptions that influenced the tribunal’s decision and the state’s approach to foreign investment. Overall, dominant voices reinforced neoliberal beliefs about transnational market expectations and the role of the state under a globalized capitalist system. Justifications rooted in market logics prioritized the accumulation of foreign capital over the potential dangers of Windstream’s project. Ultimately, it is the inclusion of corporate safeguards, like ISDS, in free trade pacts that help to (re)produce neoliberal capitalist ideals and further reinforce status-quo economic relations.

One of the key thrusts in Singapore’s Thinking Schools, Learning Nation (TSLN) educational vision, launched in 1997, is the emphasis on critical thinking in schools. This entails pedagogical changes and challenges for teachers, especially, in terms of their knowledge, dispositions and practices of critical thinking, which are argued to be fundamental in fulfilling the TSLN thrust. Although TSLN is now 10 years into its implementation, to date, there has been little research undertaken to determine the efficacy of the implementation of the critical thinking policy thrust through the perspectives and voices of both teachers and students — the key stakeholders of education and the ultimate agents in the successful implementation of educational initiatives. Therefore, in gaining an in-depth understanding of teachers’ and students’ perspectives of the implementation of critical thinking from the ‘swampy lowlands’, a qualitative case study approach was used. Six government school teachers and their students participated in the case study and data were gathered through lesson observations, interviews, and the analysis of documents.
Findings suggest that a multitude of interrelated systemic and contextual factors, which are predisposed by underlying ‘technocratic and instrumental rationalities’ that govern Singaporean education, remain major barriers to the realisation of TSLN’s critical thinking thrust. The study found that there are gaps and uncertainties in the teachers’ knowledge base of critical thinking and that the incorporation of critical thinking as part of their pedagogy and classroom practice is marginal. Student data corroborate the general lack of emphasis and the limited role of critical thinking in the classroom and they indicate that the hegemony of both school curricula and high stakes examination perpetuate rote learning and didactic pedagogies.
Implications of the study suggest the need to reorientate teacher education and professional development programmes with the explicit aim of transforming teachers’ knowledge base and dispositions to engage with the pedagogical changes that TSLN’s critical thinking policy thrust necessitates. However, to effect deep change and realize the core aspiration of ‘thinking learners’, there must not only be restructuring; reculturing also needs to occur across and beyond the educational system. Importantly, such changes need to be primarily informed by the reconceptualisation of teachers — from mere ‘technicians’ to ‘transformative intellectuals’ — and teachers’ work — from ‘technical work’ to ‘intellectual work’. It is also vital that teachers who are entrusted with the task of developing ‘thinking learners’ under TSLN teach curricula and work in school contexts that explicitly encourage, value and reward critical thinking.

This thesis explores the geographies of Islamist terrorism (particularly, in the post-9/11 era), using carefully selected literary works as a vehicle for social critique. This innovative approach to terrorism research helps to transcend the constraints faced by terrorism researchers (especially, academics) due to the unavailability of sensitive data or the so-called 'classified information'. It equally brings to terrorism research, and to this thesis (in particular), what may be described as 'border-crossing', resulting in a multiplicity of perspectives, and consequently, facilitates the rethinking of counterterrorism from the standpoint of inconsistent multiplicity. This thesis thus comprises eight chapters, which are thematised in a way that they investigate the multifaceted layers of contemporary terrorism with specific emphasis on the social processes that produce radicalism and terrorism and the various ways in which terrorism and military counterterrorism are shaped not only by values but by the politics of terrorism. The first two chapters consider the definition problem in terrorism, current and prominent studies in the field, and the place of literature in terrorism research while establishing the arguments for the methodology and theoretical frameworks used in the analysis of the primary texts. Chapter Three examines the role that values play in shaping the violence that typifies Islamist terrorism and military counterterrorism. While Chapter Four interrogates the notion that 'religious ideology' plays a significant role in Islamist radicalisation, Chapter Five discusses the morality of contemporary terrorism. Chapter Six argues that the state of exception, which has become integral in the war on terror, is a reflection of the interplay of biopolitics and Orientalism in the post 9/11 era. Chapter Seven examines 'gender terrorism' and the post-9/11 trauma. Finally, Chapter Eight, evaluates the politics of 'truth', which characterises jihadi terrorism and military counterterrorism.

Is crime fiction the new 'political novel' in South Africa? Why did the apartheid censors disapprove of crime fiction more than any other genre? Crime fiction continues to be a burgeoning literary category in post-apartheid South Africa, with more new authors, titles and themes emerging every year. This book is the first comprehensive survey of South African crime fiction. It provides an overview of this phenomenally successful literary category, and places it within its wider social and historical context. The authors specialise in both literary studies and print culture, and this combination informs a critical analysis and publishing history of South African crime fiction from the nineteenth century to the present day. The book provides a literary lineage while considering different genres and sub-genres, as well as specific themes such as gender and eco-criticism. The inclusion of a detailed bibliography of crime fiction since the 1890s makes A Survey of South African Crime Fiction an indispensable teaching and study aid

This thesis was originally inspired by the surge of intellectual interests, starting from the late 1980s and early 1990s in western academia, in the former Soviet psychologist Lev S. Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory (CHT) of psychology. Vygotsky’s approach to the development of the psychological functions of man places much emphasis on the transformative roles played by social and cultural tools such as language, and thus distinguishes itself from other popular methodologies, such as behaviorism and Chomskyan generative grammar, which study human thinking and its relationships with language by cutting off the connections between the inner mental world and the external physical world. Therefore, Vygotsky’s theory is widely believed to be an alternative to both the behaviorist and the mentalist approach to the problem of the mind and that of language. A group of linguists working within the field of second language acquisition even claimed that Vygotsky’s theory provides the solution that can finally settle the long-standing social-cognitive debate in the study of language teaching and learning. However, despite Vygotsky’s scientific innovations (which I discussed with details in Chapter I), my study of Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory has led me to doubt some the almost unanimous consensus on the theoretical contributions that Vygotsky is believed to have made to contemporary scholarship, especially with regard to language studies. My research shows that Vygotsky’s theorization of the development of the human mind as a process of increasing abstraction, and language as a system of abstract meanings independent of concrete human experiences is fundamentally problematic. This is because such theorization not only reifies language into an inhuman system of fixed codes that denies the creativity and agency of individuals engaged in communicative activities, but also takes away both the linguistic rights and responsibilities of the individuals. Furthermore, Vygotsky’s psychology, especially his linguistic view, is deeply rooted in a blind belief in naive realism and rationalism that preach for a shared reality, an objectively shared knowledge of language and of the world in general, as well as a form of rationality that favors intellect over illiteracy, scientific knowledge over everyday experiences, logic over common sense, etc. In the end, it is not just our history of mental development and our knowledge of the world that have been classified and ranked according to their degree of sophistication, but also us as human beings. By bringing these fundamental problems in Vygotsky’s theory to light, I initiated a critical reading and re-thinking of not just Vygotsky’s psychology, but also its appropriations in contemporary sciences, such as linguistics, communication studies, and educational studies (with various degrees of attention on each area of study). This thesis could be regarded as the beginning of a new perspective to the studies of human communication and psychology by adopting a different view of language, a view I believe is first and foremost, liberal.
published_or_final_version
English
Master
Master of Philosophy

The thesis is comprised of two parts: the novel, Disorder, and a three-chapter critical analysis of Behaviourist POV in crime fiction from 1929 to the present day. Disorder is an attempt to make sense of the current political and social situation in Belfast in the form of a crime fiction novel; specifically, a politically charged piece of hardboiled detective fiction that harkens back to the subgenre’s genesis through the works of Dashiell Hammett. The ever-present activity of mindless riotous disorder in certain pockets of Belfast is examined with an objective Behaviourist point of view (POV). A disparate cast of characters - spanning the gamut of political opinion and economic class from one end of ‘The Wee City’ to the other - is tied together by Detective Inspector Tommy Bridge of the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The accompanying critical component is an examination of the strengths of the Behaviourist POV in hardboiled crime fiction and noir; initially put to work in The Maltese Falcon and The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett. The thesis starts with Hammett and follows a logical trail to identify those writers who, influenced by Hammett’s Behaviourist technique, have experimented with their own versions of the POV to create an unsung legacy of challenging and thought-provoking literature. The concluding chapter is a reflective piece on the experience of writing a Behaviourist hardboiled crime fiction novel set in contemporary Northern Ireland.

Why has international society been unable to develop political and judicial collective-security arrangements to limit external aggression? The thesis argues that efforts to limit aggression in moral and legal theory have created an unjust order in which great powers have used these theoretical traditions to reinforce their power in the global order. The thesis argues that is not a new development but can be found in one of the oldest traditions of moral reflection on war, the just war tradition. To substantiate this point, the thesis critically surveys the philosophers of the ancient Greek, Roman, Medieval Christian Renaissance, and early modern theorists of just war and demonstrates that their just war ideas contain assumptions about exclusion, identity and power reflecting their cultural superiority which underlie the practices and theories of the leading states and justifications of their aggressive wars. The thesis connects these moral reflections to the emergence of modern international law and the European pluralist international society of states based on mutual respect for sovereignty and the norm of non-intervention, highlighting how justifications of its colonial aggression against non-Europeans established an unjust solidarist order against them which persists in the post-Cold War era. To conclude it presents suggestions for improvement in the current pluralist international arrangements to address the issue of aggression.

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This paper aims to investigate the speeches about violence and crime broadcasted on Jornal Nacional news program on Rede Globo de Televisão , in order to interpret the possible oration strategies related to the processes of health and disease. Its specific objectives were: carry out a quantitative study concerning to the news on violence and crime shown on JN news television program; analyze the conditions of producing news about violence and crime trying to know the plausible senses produced in the groups of statements present in their discourses and identify the distinct typologies that characterize the words in the body of analysis. The following crimes were focused: homicides, body injuries, extortion, torture, theft or robbery. As its theoretical and methodological basis, we searched for support on Critical Social Psychology and on French Speech Analysis, considering that both of them propose to perceive the human being as a social and historical product and as an active factor in constructing and transforming the society. The results indicate that, from the 49 recorded editions, 29 ones present news on violence and crime, adding up to 59.18% of all the recorded editions. The information broadcasted about the violence and crime problems are, especially, theft, robbery and homicides. Through a qualitative analysis, it is noticed that JN does not establish relations with health and disease processes. Moreover, it is verified that the discourse functioning tends to be authoritarian, that means, it is predominantly found the relapse of paraphrase in the news subjected to analysis. Therefore, when the dominance of paraphrase is found, the repetition of senses is seen and not the opposite, the disruption with the established senses.
Este estudo tem como objetivo principal investigar os discursos sobre violência e crime veiculados no/pelo Jornal Nacional, da Rede Globo de Televisão, com o intuito de interpretar as possíveis estratégias discursivas relacionadas aos processos de saúde/doença. Os objetivos específicos foram: realizar um estudo quantitativo referente às notícias sobre violência e crime veiculadas no JN; analisar as condições de produção das notícias sobre violência e crime; buscando conhecer os possíveis sentidos produzidos nos conjuntos de enunciados presentes no discurso e identificar as distintas tipologias que caracterizam os discursos presentes no corpus de análise. Os seguintes crimes foram enfocados: Homicídio; Lesão Corporal; Extorsão; Tortura e Furto ou Roubo. Como base teórico-metodológica, nos apoiamos na Psicologia Social Crítica e na Análise de Discurso Francesa, considerando que ambas se propõem a perceber o ser humano como produto histórico-social e sujeito ativo na construção e transformação da sociedade. Os resultados indicam que das 49 edições gravadas, 29 edições apresentam notícias sobre violência e crime incluídas na delimitação da pesquisa, perfazendo um total de 59,18% das edições gravadas. As informações transmitidas sobre a problemática da violência e do crime centram-se, especialmente, nas classificações furto ou roubo e homicídio. Através de nossa análise qualitativa, percebemos que o JN ao abordar a problemática da violência e do crime não estabelece relações diretas com os processos de saúde e doença. Além disso, verificamos que o funcionamento discursivo tende para o tipo de discurso autoritário, ou seja, encontramos predominantemente a reincidência da paráfrase nas notícias submetidas à análise. Portanto, ao encontrarmos a dominância da paráfrase, percebemos a repetição dos sentidos e não o contrário, a ruptura com os sentidos postos.

Drug courts have become an important part of adult and juvenile corrections. Since the establishment of the first adult drug court in 1989, the therapeutic court model has developed, and can now be considered a significant component in American criminal justice. The problem is adult drug courts have faced considerable disapproval in the area of evaluation and documentation. Through the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the federal government allots millions of dollars to support drug court programs; there have been attempts to count and record the activities of these programs with little success, there is little uniform data on actual drug court success nationwide. The intent of this dissertation was to systematically and critically analyze drug court evaluations. My major goal was to demonstrate the need for uniformity in regards to assessing the impacts on outcomes. I analyzed drug court evaluations and their attempt to identify factors that contribute to graduation, in-program recidivism/ retention rates, drug treatment relapse and postprogram recidivism rates. Forty drug court evaluations were used in this examination. Further, I introduced a model that will aid in examining the impacts on outcome. My studies' unit of analysis is the evaluation report. I attempted to explain specific issues, such as how well drug courts work for different types of offenders. I was also able to generate a well founded policy recommendation for the evaluation of drug courts based on empirical data and literature. Conclusions show that Drug Courts do reduce post-program recidivism however there were certain impacts on graduation and termination rates. I also demonstrated the need for more methodologically sound and uniform evaluations in order to determine effectiveness.
Ph. D.

This dissertation critically reviews three community safety partnerships. It contributes to learning by using new data to examine some of the enduring challenges faced by the partnerships as they respond to the changing socio-political context. These multi-agency bodies primarily involve the police and local authority, along with the fire service, and primary care trust as statutory partners, and other criminal justice agencies. Although multi-agency work has a long history, Community Safety Partnerships originated most notably within the Morgan Report published in 1991. The principles outlined within the Morgan Report were subsequently embodied in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 which itself attempted to formalise and standardise community safety structures and practice. The research has involved fifty-eight in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, and observation of twenty-nine meetings held in Birmingham, Cambridge and Lincoln. These three areas were chosen to facilitate comparison in terms of the size of the city, local authority structure, level of urbanisation and concomitant social deprivation, and levels of crime. My research suggests four key challenges. The first of these concerns the development of structures within the post Crime and Disorder Act 1998 period. The purpose, structure and processes varied between areas. Birmingham, for example, struggled to develop an appropriate structure because of its size and the devolution of local authority services. In all three areas, however, those interviewed noted a lack of decisionmaking and implementation which raised questions about the purpose of the partnerships beyond being 'talking shops' . The second challenge concerns the changing social context for new partnership developments. For example, the two-tier local authority structure in Cambridge and Lincoln posed particular problems. Moreover, in all three areas community involvement appeared to be symbolic rather than 'real'; this inhibited developments and emphasised some of the difficulties inherent in communitariarusm. The third challenge relates to funding and performance monitoring arrangements. Here, practitioners noted the influence of bureaucracy and 'short-termism'. The early 'honeymoon period' where there was relatively little government interference (Phillips et al., 2002) had ended and the partnerships had clearly experienced increasing managerialist pressure, but in spite of this pressure, evidence of longer-term success remained scarce. As outlined in the Audit Commission (2002), practitioners in the three partnerships acknowledged that with the exception of specific initiatives, the post 1998 developments had yet to make a significant impact on crime and disorder or that at best, they remained unclear about the impact. Such uncertainty about impact could be a consequence of the difficulties of measuring performance, of course, due to difficulties in accessing relevant data and information about community safety initiatives. Fourth, there appear to be inherent difficulties in assuming that 'many agencies are better than one' in addressing community safety (Liddle, 2001). An 'ideology of unity' (Crawford and Jones, 1995), however, may mask underlying tensions. My research revealed tensions at different levels, including tensions between the local partnerships and national government. This is not to say that local practitioners lacked autonomy, however, as they were able to resist some of the governmental constraints. But interagency relationships appeared to be underpinned by power struggles which served to undermine joined-up community safety practice; in particular, the struggles raised questions about who was responsible for community safety in each area. The challenges for the partnerships, as revealed in this dissertation, suggest that the recommendations within the Morgan Report of 1991 have not been addressed nor has the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 standardised community safety structures and practice. The notion of 'responsibilisation' (Garland, 2001) through decentralised governance is clearly a complex issue; the Government appears to wish to both 'steer' and 'row' each of the partnerships and this leaves practitioners uncertain of their own role. This is one example of the contradiction between the 'reality' and symbolism of community safety practice which seems to underpin the partnerships.

This research will be undertaken in the field of both criminal and civil law with particular focus on international interventions in the fight against organized criminal activities, assets forfeitsure in South Africa in general and its treatment of victims of the underlying forfeitsure crimes ("the victims") in assert forfeitsure, more specifically.

Since the late 1980s, efforts made by the international community to deal with the complex and global problem of money laundering have stimulated the creation and definition of the so-called 'international crime of money laundering', which is included in various United Nations and Council of Europe international treaties, as well as European Union Directives. The Central purpose of this thesis is to investigate if the main goal of effectiveness in the adaptation of the international crime of money laundering at the domestic level, might undermine other values that international law is seeking to protect, namely the guarantee of due process and the adequate protection of human rights principles. Then, if the adoption of any element of the crime shows to be inconsistent with civil rights and guarantees, to propose how deficiencies could be remedied.

In 2002, the Tanzanian government launched the Primary Education Development Plan in order to meet its commitments to global Education For All targets and the Millennium Development Goals. Although Tanzania has made great strides in improving access to primary education, achievements in learning outcomes have been slow to come, which has prompted concerns about the quality of Tanzania's teaching force. Research has broadly positioned teachers as either the cause of poor education quality (through commentary on teachers' 'deficient' behaviours, such as absenteeism, rote-teaching, and withholding content); or the victims of a flawed system, which has been demonstrated through expositions of teachers' impoverished working and living conditions. This thesis aims to draw these polarised views together by using the Capability Approach supplemented with a Critical Realist theory of causation, to investigate the relationship between teachers' conditions of service and their criticised behaviours. The rationale for using the Capability Approach lies in its ability to offer an alternative analytical space in which to understand teacher's well-being, as it elucidates how environmental, social and personal conditions may constrain the 'beings and doings' that people value. This form of constrained well-being can be linked to teachers' 'deficient' performance by locating it within a Critical Realist theory of causation; which provides ontologically grounded, holistic accounts of the underlying mechanisms, structures and tendencies that generate empirical behaviour. The Capability Approach I Critical Realist framework that this thesis develops will be contextualised with qualitative data collected from three Tanzanian primary schools from June - November 201 O; and analyses will demonstrate how teachers' criticised actions are often a result of their constrained capabilities. By understanding teachers in this way, holistic and nuanced explanations for various practices and behaviours can be made, which has the potential to enhance future practice and policy regarding teachers in Tanzania.

This thesis rethinks the security dilemma within the context of the Cyprus problem. It analyzes and problematizes the established political discourses and societal insecurities in Cyprus. It basically contends that the Cyprus problem should be reconceptualized from a critical security perspective, utilizing the fatalist, mitigator and transcender logics of insecurity. In that regard, it advances the idea that the security paradox in Cyprus should be rethought with the aim of transcending it through reconciliation and trust-building. The thesis takes attention to the scope of human agency, both at the state and human society levels, in the processes of reconciliation and trust-building, and concludes that these processes are key in transforming the two communities in the island into a post-national and pluralistic community of Cyprus.

This study explores how victims of violent crime construct meaning around crime, justice and reconciliation. It further aims to gain insight into how victims of crime construct expectations of which actions should ensue after the crime and whether their constructions encompass elements of reconciliation and restorative justice. The study is conducted from a social constructionist position and uses a critical discourse analysis framework in analysing the data. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine victims of serious crimes such as armed robbery, hi-jacking, attempted murder and rape. From the analysis it appears that participants have a need to experience justice and have a high demand for vengeance. This however may itself have grown out of a lack of a more positive experience of justice. Participants’ constructions of their experience of being a victim of crime center on notions of power, equality, prejudice and dominance. They draw on socially constructed differences based on race and gender to define both their identity as a victim of crime as well as the identity of their offender. These distinctions, based on categories of identity, serve to create an oppositional construction of “us” against “them” and also serve to dehumanise the offender. The analysis further indicates that participants draw on multiple constructions of restorative justice and despite strong support for punitive beliefs it appears that a discourse of restorative justice is also present in participants’ discussions. A key theme running through the data is the loss of personal power as a result of victimization. Instead of returning a sense of power to participants by allowing them to participate in the justice process, the legal system becomes the holder of the power and compounds the injury against the victim. The study has implications for how victims of crime are positioned in the justice system and how notions of restorative justice can be advanced in South African discourses. Copyright
Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2011.
Psychology
unrestricted

In this critical review I will explore the aims and influences; themes, characterisation, genre and plot summaries; research impact, publication histories and critical reception of my four novels: Hitman, The Fixer, Baptism and Sacrifice. In addition, I will provide a commentary on the processes and methodology I employed in the writing of the four novels as well as a critical reflection on them. Published between 2000 and 2013, my books represent a body of work that is rooted within the British crime thriller genre. However, in the nature of the novels’ construction and target readerships, they also represent two distinct literary styles. The first two novels, Hitman and The Fixer, published in 2000 and 2001 respectively are satirical thrillers in which I experiment with genre with the intention of unsettling and confounding readers’ expectations while at the same time, testing the boundaries of what the crime fiction genre can sustain. In these two novels, I draw on a range of influences and traditions in literature, film and popular culture. The second two novels, Baptism and Sacrifice, published in 2012 and 2013 are more closely aligned to the accepted conventions of the thriller genre but are no less ambitious in their intention to explore new forms of plotting and characterisation. In their writing, I was influenced more by contemporary geo-politics, particularly surveillance, intelligence, cyber warfare and the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and 7/7 than I was by literature and film. The latter two books continue a theme of experimentation I began in the first two, combining disparate influences to create original fiction. Further reflection will be made on the part that these novels have played, and continue to play, within my ongoing body of work as a novelist, screenwriter and Creative Writing academic.