Dear

Welcome to the first edition of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (CCJ) e-Newsletter.  The CCJ newsletter will highlight activities undertaken by our staff and students and will assist us to stay connected with our alumni.

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Ms Miria Bastock was awarded the Criminology and Criminal Justice Alumnus of the Year at the 2012 Arts, Education and Law Alumni Awards.

The awards recognise the significant work being undertaken by our alumni. They acknowledge and celebrate our former students' outstanding success, and contributions to their profession, chosen field and to the community. For more read Alumnus of the Year.

Professors Anna Stewart and Philip Stenning have jointly assumed the editorship of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, one of the world’s longest-running criminology journals and the leading international peer reviewed journal for criminology research in Australia.  Professors Stewart and Stenning will be co-editors of the journal for the next three years, and will bring to it a broad scope of interests and approaches.

CCJ welcomed Dr William Wood in July.  Dr Wood is teaching our first cohort of criminology students at the Gold Coast campus. Dr Wood, originally from California, comes to Griffith from the Department of Sociology at University of Auckland. The School is looking forward to welcoming more new academic staff in 2013.

CCJ will again have a strong contingent of staff presenting at the American Society of Criminology Conference, this year in Chicago from 14-17 November.  Following last year’s success, the School is again hosting a reception for delegates on 16 November, providing an opportunity to network with international academics and showcase the strength of criminology at Griffith.

Associate Professor Tina Murphy was invited to present a paper at the Australian Institute of Police Management in Sydney on October 12th.  The Institute provides executive development programs for police and Tina presented on how procedural justice policing can improve trust in police and cooperation in crime control among ethnic minority groups.

Research led by CCJ’s Dr Troy Allard, and funded by the AIC, featured heavily in recent Queensland news media. The research linked criminal careers and place-based approaches, examining the locations where chronic offenders resided and their cost. Findings indicated that in Queensland chronic offenders were not randomly distributed.  These locations tended to be in regional or remote Queensland and to be severely disadvantaged. The findings highlight the urgent need for early/developmental and situational crime prevention interventions to be implemented in these communities to reduce offending and victimisation. Read more at Young criminals cost Queensland $130 million.

Professor Stephen Smallbone was featured in the Weekend Australian for his expert commentary on sex offenders, in relation to the sentencing of a media identity convicted in Tasmania for child pornography offences. Read more at Internet driving child pornography.

The Criminology Student Society (CSS) has been active in recent weeks, organising two networking events where students mingled with staff and invited industry professionals, at the Mt Gravatt and Gold Coast campuses. Additionally, they’ve taken students on visits to the Queensland Police Academy, Brisbane Men's and Brisbane Women's correctional centres.  CSS students have also gone on a Ghost Tour on historic St Helena Island, located in Moreton Bay.  Membership in the CSS continues to grow.  Early in 2012 there were approximately 35 student members.  By the end of Semester 2 membership has grown to more than 120 student members.

Professor Tim Prenzler’s new edited book Policing and Security in Practice: Challenges and Achievements, addresses questions of 'best practice' across police and security work by focusing on what the scientific literature says about how to achieve optimal outcomes in law enforcement, crime prevention and professional standards. Each chapter is written by subject experts with many years of research experience and collaborative work with policing and security agencies. The book is a readable, inspiring and fully grounded guide to achieving the best in policing and security.

Professors Stephen Smallbone and Richard Wortley’s new book Internet Child Pornography: Causes, Investigation and Prevention provides a comprehensive introduction to the problem of internet child pornography.

Australia’s most comprehensive Good Practice Principles for Youth Development Organisations was launched in September by Professor Ross Homel. The guide by author and PhD scholar Kathryn Seymour, is a useful learning, planning and review tool for all organisations, policy-makers and individuals who work developmentally with young people. The Good Practice Principles for Youth Development Organisations is published by the Key Centre for Ethics, Law, Justice and Governance in both hard and electronic formats. Interest in and uptake of the good practice guide has been very enthusiastic with 1,000 copies distributed across Australia to date. For more read the Good Practice Principles for Youth Development Organisations (PDF 1.2mb).

Dr Jacqueline Drew presented, along with Prof Michael Drew (Griffith Business School) and Detective Superintendent Brian Hay (Queensland Police Service) at the Australian Institute of Management Thoughtleaders’ breakfast. This panel of experts provided an interdisciplinary insight into fraud. Dr Jacqueline Drew an expert in psychological and criminological theory discussed the foundational pillars of fraud prevention and detection. Professor Michael Drew with extensive knowledge in financial markets dissected analytic levers of investment fraud and Detective Superintendent Brian Hay, given his significant operational experience in fraud and corporate crime, provided 'real-world' insight into contemporary fraud investigation.

CCJ academic staff have been visiting local high schools to dispel some of the common myths around criminology and provide information on what the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Griffith has to offer students wanting to study Criminology.  Nada Ibrahim met with 23 Grade 12 students and their teachers at the Islamic College of Brisbane during their Queensland Core Skills (QCS) study session. Nada presented an overview of Criminology and Criminal Justice, career pathways, and why students should choose Griffith for their criminology degree. The School has also made similar presentations at Miami High, Brisbane Christian College and Rochedale State High.  CCJ is hoping to attend more high schools in 2013.

September saw the launch of a new initiative for staff – a lunch time discussion series. The first discussion starring Professor Philip Stenning and Dr Aaron Sell centred on the gun debate.  Both orators came out with all guns blazing providing a very engaging and entertaining discussion in front of approximately 40 staff and students.

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