Abstract
Convict Criminology (CC) began in the early 1990s as a reaction to the then current state of academic criminology that did not adequately reflect the voices of convicted felons. Since its beginnings, CC has attempted to draw attention to a range of problems created by the criminal justice apparatus and defenders of the status quo. Dr. Joanne Belknap’s 2014 ASC presidential address and subsequent article presented an argument that stressed the importance of activism to be considered as part of criminological research. In the process, she reviewed her career and then criticized the field of Critical Criminology, in particular Convict Criminology. The article, however, ignored the numerous efforts that CC has engaged in to build an inclusive group school, movement, organization and network that includes the diverse voices of Ph.D. educated convicts and excons, and overall reflected a superficial understanding of the history and intent of Convict Criminology. This article attempts to explain the shortcomings of Belknap’s article and clarifies misunderstandings.
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Notes
Although we have used the word "group" throughout this article to refer to CC, we also acknowledge the synonyms movement, network, organization, and school.
Before she wrote the article, Belknap reached out a handful of times to one of our group, requesting clarification regarding certain questions she had about CC. Of particular concern was a perception she had of an absence of women and visible minorities within our ranks. She also questioned our failure to include three specific individuals in the collective efforts of the network. In response, the member did his best to answer her questions fully and in a rational, truthful, and diplomatic fashion. The member also volunteered to give Professor Belknap advance feedback on her speech and her paper prior to their public presentations. She declined both offers. The member trusted that the conversations he had with Dr. Belknap would help her to properly contextualize or modify any presumptions she may have had about Convict Criminology. We regret that this belief was ill founded.
Compare this with full ASC membership which in 2015 totalled 3981 individuals (Personal conversation with Susan Case, American Society of Criminology, July 5, 2016).
Again, CC does not have an official membership list and participation on ASC panels is probably the next best proxy for participation in CC activities. The reader must also keep in mind that attendance and participation at ASC conferences are likely to be influenced by what city the meeting is held as well as travel funds to which the participant has access. Three major variables were selected for coding and statistical analysis: origins of panelists (regardless of whether they served in the role of paper presenter, discussant, or chair), race of participants, and gender of participants. Origins of panelists is used as a proxy measure for diversity. To begin with, there were 476 times that an individual participated on a CC panel. This ranged from 1 year when there were 7 (2011) panelists to one year when there was 60 people (2014).
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Special thanks to Bruce Arrigo, Rod Earle, and Richard Tewksbury for comments, and Christopher Brees-Rosveit for research assistance.
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Ross, J.I., Jones, R.S., Lenza, M. et al. Convict Criminology and the Struggle for Inclusion. Crit Crim 24, 489–501 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-016-9332-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-016-9332-9