Call for Papers: 2016 DWC Student Paper Awards

/by

The Division on Women and Crime (DWC) of the American Society of Criminology invites submissions for the 2016 Student Paper Competition. The winners of this year’s competition will be recognized during the DWC meetings at the 2016 annual ASC conference. The graduate student winner will receive $500.00 and the undergraduate student winner will receive $250.00. For submissions with multiple authors, the award money will be divided among co-authors.

Deadline: Papers should be RECEIVED by the committee chairs by October 1, 2016.

Eligibility: Any undergraduate or graduate student who is currently enrolled or who has graduated within the previous semester is eligible. Note, any co-authors must also be students, that is, no faculty co-authors are permitted. To document eligibility, every author/co-author must submit proof of student status. This eligibility proof may be in the form of a letter from your department chair or an unofficial transcript.

Paper Specifications: Papers should be of professional quality and must be about, or related to, feminist scholarship, gender issues, or women as offenders, victims or criminal justice professionals. Papers must be no longer than 35 pages including all references, notes, and tables; utilize an acceptable referencing format such as APA; be type-written and double-spaced; and include an abstract of 100 words or less. Papers may not be published, accepted, or under review for publication at the time of submission.

Submission: Papers and proof of eligibility must be submitted to the committee chair by the stated deadline. Submitters must prepare the paper for blind review; all identifying information (name, affiliation, etc) should be removed from the paper itself and papers should then be converted to a PDF file. In the email subject line, students should include identifying information and indicate whether the submission is to be considered for the graduate or undergraduate competition.

Judging: Members of the paper competition committee will evaluate the papers based on the following categories: 1. Content is relevant to feminist scholarship; 2. Makes a contribution to the knowledge base; 3. Accurately identifies any limitations; 4. Analytical plan was well developed; 5. Clarity/organization of paper was well developed.

Notification: All entrants will be notified of the committee’s decision no later than October 31st. We strongly encourage winners to attend the conference to receive their award.

Committee Chairs: Jennifer Carlson, PhD & Dana Radatz, PhD

Email all paper submissions to:
Dana Radatz, PhD │Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice
Niagara University│dradatz@niagara.edu

Condolences to the Family of Dr. Nicole Hahn Rafter

/by

Nicole (Nicky) Hahn Rafter

Nicky Rafter, a long-time professor of Criminal Justice and senior research fellow at Northeastern University and an internationally-revered scholar in the fields of social history and criminology, passed away, suddenly and unexpectedly, on February 29, 2016 at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Boston.

Guided by a methodology of comparative social history, Nicky’s eclectic research and scholarship explored mechanisms of social control, representations of crime, eugenics, biological theories of crime, and the history of criminology. Nicky’s love of historical criminological research was born when her dissertation research on the punishment of “defective delinquents,” while a doctoral student at SUNY-Albany, brought her to the nearly-undiscovered world of state prison archives. A few years later she returned to those archives to analyze reports produced by prison matrons in the early to mid-1900s and authored the authoritative history of women’s imprisonment in Gender, Prisons and Prison History (1985) and Partial Justice: Women, Prisons and Social Control (1990). Nicky’s ground-breaking research on gender and punishment emerged alongside, was supported by, and helped cultivate the field of feminist criminology. Not surprisingly, Nicky was instrumental in the creation of the American Society of Criminology’s Division of Women and Crime and remained an active member throughout her life.

Nicky was never afraid to take on unpopular topics. Long before the recent resurgence of criminological interest in genetics and crime, Nicky was one of few criminologists to examine the origins of the eugenics and crime movement – and her decades-long interest in this area never waned. In White Trash: The Eugenic Family Studies 1877-1919 (1988), Creating Born Criminals (1997), and The Criminal Brain: Understanding Biological Theories of Crime Nicky promoted a critical re-evaluation of biological theories of crime. A collaboration with social historian, Mary Gibson, led to their re-translation of the Cesare Lombroso’s Criminal Man and Criminal Woman.  In the 1990s, Nicky’s interest shifted to the representation of crime in popular culture. In Shots in the Mirror: Crime Films and Society (1999) and Criminology Goes to the Movies (2011), co-authored with Michelle Brown, Nicky examined crime films through a criminological lens arguing that crime films form a discourse in their own right.

Never one to let her intellectual curiosity stagnate, in 2010, she was awarded a Fulbright to study and teach in Linz, Austria, childhood home of Adolf Hitler and the cultural center of the Third Reich.  Her experiences in Linz moved her to seek a deeper understanding of genocide and served as the impetus for her most recent book The Crime of All Crimes, Toward a Criminology of Genocide which was published by NYU in March of 2016, nearly one month after her death. In his review of the book, John Braithwaite describes The Crime of all Crimes as “a landmark reframing in the criminology of genocide” writing that Nicky’s work “challenges existing claims about the nature of genocide, weaving together a complex new understanding of crime, war, and violence.” Nicky challenged every idea she confronted.

Nicky’s many achievements as a scholar were recognized by American Society of Criminology with her selection as a Fellow in 2000 and as the winner of the Sutherland Award in 2009, but one of her most enduring legacies is her mentoring of students and junior colleagues. Throughout her career she chaired numerous dissertations, provided mentorship and guidance to young scholars, and led efforts to ensure the profession recognized scholarship from marginalized and underrepresented groups. Most importantly, Nicky was an inspiration to many in the field of criminal justice.  Her research was bold and she was even bolder. She was demanding, fierce, and loyal. Despite the importance of her scholarly work, those who knew her well will likely remember her inspiration as her most enduring legacy.

Nicky lived in Boston’s North End, where she was active in community affairs. She is survived by her husband Robert Hahn, her son Alex Hahn, her daughter Sara Hahn, and her daughter in-law Sunali Goonesekera. Geoff Ward and Amy Farrell have organized a special session in her honor for the 2016 ASC meetings in New Orleans and we hope you will join us for a celebration of her life and impact on the field. Donations in her honor can be made to Human Rights Watch at www.hrw.org.

Authored by: Amy Farrell and Natasha Frost 

Screen Shot 2016-08-08 at 11.57.53 AM

Screen Shot 2016-08-08 at 11.57.08 AM

Call for Nominations for 2016 DWC Awards

/by

The Division on Women and Crime Internal Awards committee is requesting nominations for seven award categories: Distinguished Scholar, New Scholar, Lifetime Achievement, CoraMae Richey Mann “Inconvenient Woman of the Year,” the Saltzman Award for Contributions to Practice, Graduate Scholar, and the Sarah Hall Award.

Submission Information
The nominees are evaluated by the awards committee based on their scholarly work, their commitment to women crime as a research discipline, and their commitment to women in crime as advocates, particularly in terms of dedication to the Division on Women and Crime (for a list of previous award winners, see https://ascdwc.com/awards/professional-awards). In submitting your nomination, please provide the following supporting materials: a letter identifying the award for which you are nominating the individual and evaluating a nominee’s contribution and its relevance to the award, and the nominee’s C.V. (short version preferred). No nominee will be considered unless these materials are provided and arrive by the deadline. The committee reserves the right to give no award in a particular year if it deems this appropriate.

Send nominations and supporting materials by September 16, 2016 to:
Co-Chairs: Marilyn Corsianos mcorsiano@emich.edu and Emily Wright emwright@unomaha.edu.

Distinguished Scholar Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of women and crime by an established scholar. The contributions may consist of a single outstanding book or work, a series of theoretical or research contributions, or the accumulated contributions of an established scholar. Eligibility includes scholars who have held a Ph.D. for eight or more years.

New Scholar Award recognizes the achievements of scholars who show outstanding merit at the beginning of their careers. Outstanding merit may be based on a single book or work, including dissertation or a series of theoretical or research contributions to the area of women and crime. Eligibility includes scholars who have held a Ph.D. for less than eight years.

Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes scholars upon retirement. We inaugurated this award on our 20th Anniversary, 2004. Scholars receiving this award should have an established career advancing the goals and work of the Division on Women and Crime.
CoraMae Richey Mann “Inconvenient Woman of the Year” Award recognizes the scholar/activist who has participated in publicly promoting the ideals of gender equality and women’s rights throughout society, particularly as it relates to gender and crime issues. This award will be granted on an ad hoc basis. Nominations should include specific documentation of public service (news articles, etc.) and should describe in detail how this person’s activism has raised awareness and interest in the issues that concern the Division on Women and Crime.

The Saltzman Award for Contributions to Practice recognizes a criminologist whose professional accomplishments have increased the quality of justice and the level of safety for women. The Saltzman Award need not be given every year. It is available to honor unique achievements combining scholarship, persuasion, activism and commitment, particularly work that has made a deep impact on the quality of justice for women, as well as a wide impact (interdisciplinary, international, or cross-cultural).

The Graduate Scholar Award recognizes the outstanding contributions of graduate students to the field women and crime, both in their published work and their service to the Division on Women & Crime. Outstanding contributions may include single or multiple published works that complement the mission of the DWC, and significant work within the Division, including serving as committee members, committee chairs, or executive board members. Preference will be given to those candidates who have provided exceptional service to the DWC. Eligibility includes scholars who are still enrolled in an M.A. or Ph.D. program at the time of their nomination.

The Sarah Hall Award (established in 2012) recognizes outstanding service contributions to DWC and to professional interests regarding feminist criminology. Service may include mentoring, serving as an officer of the Division on Women and Crime, committee work for the ASC, DWC, or other related group, and/or serving as editor or editorial board member of journals and books or book series devoted to research on women and crime. The award is named after Sarah Hall, administrator of the American Society of Criminology for over 30 years, whose tireless service helped countless students and scholars in their careers.

Congratulations to 2016 Student Scholarship Winners!

/by

The Larry J. Siegel Graduate Fellowship for the Study of Gender and Crime is awarded to Erin Cournoyer, a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Her project is titled: “Finding the Path to Reentry Together: Staff and Resident Perspectives at a Women’s Halfway House.”

The Feminist Criminology Graduate Research Scholarship is awarded to Annie Rose Crowley, a doctoral candidate at the University of Glasgow. Her project is titled: “Protection for Whom?: Responding to ‘At Risk’ Young Women in Scotland.”

Congratulations to both of our recipients and thanks to the 58 applicants who submitted very high-quality proposals for the awards.

Thank you to the selection committee members for offering their time and talents to this process: Drs. Rosemary Barberet, Kim Cook, Vera Lopez, and Margaret Shaw.

Finally,thank you to those who make these awards possible: Larry J. Siegel, Terri Libby, and the Darald and Julie Libby Foundation; the Feminist Criminology editorial board; and the DWC executive board.