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The University of Southampton
Institute of Criminal Justice Research

Towards Reflexivity in Penal Policymaking? Event

Time:
16:00
Date:
2 December 2015
Venue:
Building 58, Room 1023, Highfield Campus, University of Southampton

For more information regarding this event, please email Professor Jenny Fleming at j.fleming@soton.ac.uk .

Event details

In this seminar I explore the extent to which penal policymakers can be said to be ‘reflexive’. I first consider what we might mean by reflexivity, and why this issue is deserving of criminological attention. Research conducted for the monograph Dangerous Politics (OUP, 2015), drawing on over 60 ‘elite’ interviews to explore British policymaking activity in relation to ‘dangerous offenders’ in 2002-2012, is utilized in order to consider the extent to which UK penal policymakers can be seen as demonstrating reflexivity. It is argued, inter alia, that while reflection (ie post hoc reflexivity) is commonplace, the picture regarding ‘in the moment’ reflexivity is more mixed. In closing, I consider the contribution that interpretive studies of penal policymaking might make to the improvement of policymaking processes and, therefore, penal policy outputs.

Towards Reflexivity in Penal Policymaking?
Dr Harry Annison

Speaker information

Dr Harry Annison,Dr Harry Annison LLB (Soton) 2006; MSc Criminology and Criminal Justice (Oxon) 2009; DPhil Criminology (Oxon) 2013. Harry is a lecturer in Criminal Law and Criminology at Southampton Law School and a member of the University's Institute for Criminal Justice Research. His primary research focus is penal policymaking, analysing the political dynamics that underpin criminal justice policy. His research primarily centres upon penal policymaking, analysing the beliefs and practices that underpin criminal justice policy. He has also conducted research on criminal justice practice, serving as co-investigator on a project researching Integrated Offender Management (IOM) for Thames Valley Police and Thames Valley Probation. He has also collaborated with the Howard League for Penal Reform on its ‘What is Justice?’ symposium, acting as consultant for the ‘One Idea for Change’ and ‘Ideas for Justice’ initiatives. His first monograph Dangerous Politics was published by Oxford University Press in October 2015. His work has been published in leading journals including Theoretical Criminology and The Journal of Law and Society.

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