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Critical Reflections on the Operation of Aboriginal Night Patrols

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Abstract

Much has been written about Aboriginal night patrols in recent decades; this has typically been ethnographic or evaluative. However, little work has been done to situate night patrols against wider historic trends in criminal justice and theorize their contribution in relation to neoliberal regimes of justice. Drawing on data collected as part of an evaluation of Aboriginal night patrols in New South Wales, this paper develops a critical approach to understanding night patrols. We interrogate the notion of ‘community’—central to the philosophy and practice of night patrols—examining the limitations of community forms of justice in challenging dominant understandings of crime and addressing the structural causes of crime.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    John Scott

  2. School of Behavioural, Cognitive and Social Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia

    Elaine Barclay

  3. School of Education, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia

    Margaret Sims

  4. School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA, Australia

    Trudi Cooper

  5. Design Out Crime and CPTED Centre, Quinns Rocks, WA, Australia

    Terence Love

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  1. John Scott
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  2. Elaine Barclay
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  3. Margaret Sims
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  4. Trudi Cooper
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  5. Terence Love
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Kerry Carrington

  2. Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Russell Hogg

  3. Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    John Scott

  4. National University of Litoral Santa Fe, Santa Fe, Argentina

    Máximo Sozzo

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Scott, J., Barclay, E., Sims, M., Cooper, T., Love, T. (2018). Critical Reflections on the Operation of Aboriginal Night Patrols. In: Carrington, K., Hogg, R., Scott, J., Sozzo, M. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Criminology and the Global South. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65021-0_50

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65021-0_50

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