Access to Justice – International Society for the Study of Rural Crime

Digital components of rural prisoner re-entry

18 April 2023/in Access to Justice, Penality, prisoner reentry, Punishment, Rural Criminology /by admin

This is the fourth post in a series of short topic snapshots, prepared by Joseph Loades, a research student with the Centre for Rural Criminology at the University of New England.

Individual intervention and social support are a crucial components of prisoner reentry. Prisoners within urban areas face many of the same issues that are faced within rural areas. However, the support services and agencies that are common in urban areas are generally not as plentiful in rural and remote settings. Therefore, case management for reentry into country areas should be tailored on individual needs, not support agencies.

White and Graham (2014) state that:

Reentry is a crucial point of intervention and support on the part of practitioners and agencies, but it is an even more fundamental transition for the offender and the communities they return to … Rehabilitation needs to focus on the whole person … In other words, the centre of attention should not be on this or that program or service, but on the individual who requires our assistance. (pp. 270-271)

Many prisoners returning to rural and remote settings have drug and alcohol disorders and addiction. In urban areas there are a variety of programs and interventions to guide prisoners through the reentry phase. However, rural areas have certain barriers that include a lack of drug and alcohol services and treatment facilities, staff with less experience and qualifications, spatial inequalities, poor infrastructure, and a lack of transport.

These social and economic boundaries can prevent ex-prisoners from addressing addiction and drug abuse, however, digital technology and telehealth services can now be used to alleviate this problem (Thomas et al., 2020).

Due to the geographical distances ex-prisoners need to travel to attend services, find employment, and create social bonds – which may help in their recovery process – the skills needed to use digital technology are necessary.

Digital technology serves more than one purpose concerning successful prisoner reentry. In a world that is increasingly digital, prisoners can be left behind with regard to finding work, finding accommodation, and a social network of friends (Zivanai, and Mahlangu, 2020). These examples are particularly true in the rural sense, due to spatial inequalities.

However, many prisoners have been left behind in this digital age, lacking the skills and the means to access digital software, and put them to use. It has been found that prisoners re-entering society generally rely on younger family members when using the internet, due to a ‘Rip-Van-Winkle like experience’ after a period of incarceration, and the lack of digital technology within prisons (Ogbonnaya-Ogburu et al., 2019).

Furthermore, most prisons do not run the programs that prepare inmates for their release into an increasingly digital world.

Ogbonnaya-Ogburu et al. (2019) study concluded that there is a desire by inmates to acquire the skills to use digital technology, and a need for research into the role that digital literacy plays within the process of successful reintegration.

Lack of technological skills are a major challenge of employability and social networking upon reintegration, and the lack of efforts to design and pilot prison-run programs that give prisoners the skills needed to use digital technology can affect successful reintegration into the rural setting.

(Images sourced from pixels.com)

References

Ogbonnaya-Ogburu, I. F., Toyama, K. & Dillahunt, T. R. (2019, May). Towards an effective digital literacy intervention to assist returning citizens with job search. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI conference on Human factors in computing systems (pp. 1-12). https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10283436

Thomas, N., Van de Ven, K. & Mulrooney, K. J. (2020). The impact of rurality on opioid-related harms: A systematic review of qualitative research. International Journal of Drug Policy, 85, 102607. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395919303147

White, R. & Graham, H. (2014). Working with offenders: A guide to the concepts and practices. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203810330/working-offenders-rob-white-hannah-graham

Zivanai, E. & Mahlangu, G. (2022). Digital prison rehabilitation and successful re-entry into a digital society: A systematic literature review on the new reality on prison rehabilitation. Cogent Social Sciences, 8(1), 2116809. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23311886.2022.2116809

Access to justice in rural courts

4 April 2023/in Access to Justice, Courts, Rural Criminology /by admin

Here is the second blog post in a series of short topic snapshots, prepared by Joseph Loades, a research student with the Centre for Rural Criminology at the University of New England.

Free Brown Wooden Gavel on Brown Wooden Table Stock Photo The access to justice has its issues in both urban and rural communities, however, rural communities suffer inequity at a higher rate. Two of the primary issues include the lack of lawyers and legal personnel that are willing to live in rural areas, and the lack of digital technology in many rural and remote jurisdictions.

Access to justice is a principle of the rule of law. The Department’s report (Australian Law Reform Commission, 2019) states:

‘Access to justice’ is an essential element of the rule of law. In essence, access to justice refers to the ‘affirmative steps’ necessary to ‘give practical content to the law’s guarantee of formal equality before the law’. It refers to the need to ameliorate or remove barriers to access and ‘must be defined in terms of ensuring that legal and judicial outcomes are just and equitable’. It is enshrined in part 14 of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). (p. 319)

The barriers concerning access to justice of legal representation and proceedings in rural communities lack equity. The inequity regarding the access to legal representation, involves both the quantity and quality of representation. It has been shown that while the rural population expands, the number of legal practices in the community decreases, leaving an overall shortage of lawyers per capita, compared to urban areas.

One problem contributing to the lack of lawyers in rural areas is the unwillingness of young personnel to live in rural areas for longer than two years, in part due to profitability, rewards and incentives.

Free Crop unrecognizable office worker standing with papers in hand Stock Photo Other reasons include the things that make rurality unattractive to young lawyers such as a lack of professional peers, recreation, and culture (Rice, 2011).

McKeon and Rice (2009) elaborate on the staffing issues, explaining the high pressure on Magistrates in rural areas due to the lack of attorneys, which increases the number of self-represented clients and professionality within the court. Other issues affecting Magistrates include the distances that need to be travelled, and the lack of modern digital technology within certain rural locations.

A major issue with accessing justice in the rural court system is the digital divide that exists between urban and rural areas. Quaintance (2022), explains the digital inequities that are developing which leave rural courts vulnerable when unable to access new technology. Issues that relate to being disconnected when attempting to access technology for remote hearings is a primary issue in areas that lack high-speed internet coverage.

Free Person Using Laptop Computer during Daytime Stock Photo The individual victim and offender accessing internet technology can also be problematic. Emailing legal documentation to the court registry, and to lawyers, can be an issue for the lower socioeconomic groups who cannot afford internet access, and those that lack internet coverage due to geographical location. These issues are problematic within the rule of law when attempting to access viable means of justice.

(Images sourced from pixels.com)

References

Australian Law Reform Commission. (2019). Access to Justice. https://www.alrc.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/fr133_10._access_to_justice_issues.pdf

McKeon, J. C., & Rice, D. G. (2009). Administering Justice in Montana’s Rural Courts. Montana Law Review., 70(2), 1-20. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2030&context=mlr

Quaintance, Z. (2022, Mar 31). What’s New in Digital Equity: The Digital Divide and Access to Justice. Government Technology. https://www.proquest.com/magazines/whats-new-digital-equity-divide-access-justice/docview/2645706065/se-2

Rice, S. (2011). Access to a lawyer in rural Australia: Thoughts on the evidence we need. Deakin Law Review, 16(1), 13-46. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/ielapa.490191503284612

Barriers faced by rural police services

29 March 2023/in Access to Justice, Policing, Rural Criminology /by admin

Following is the first of a series of short topic snapshots, prepared by Joseph Loades, a research student with the Centre for Rural Criminology at the University of New England.

Rural police services experience adversities that differ from urban areas, including the geographical distances that are needed to be covered, lack of government funding, minimal transport infrastructure, high rates of unemployment and poverty of residents, and rising rates of violent crime and property offences compared to non-urban areas.

Whilst police in urban areas face an extensive array of crimes and the suspects are mostly unknown to the police, rural police are based in communities where social networks are smaller, most members of the community are known to police, and a subjective and interdependent form of policing is used. In rural communities that are subject to an interdependent form of policing, crimes are generally lower than metropolitan areas and rural communities that use an objective and dependent form of policing (Nolan, DeKeseredy and Brownstein. 2022).

Within many rural communities’ economic resources tend to be limited due to deindustrialisation. Adversities such as unemployment, poor health, poverty, a lack physical and non-physical resources, and a high prevalence of crime is experienced in the lower economic status (LES). Economic statuses can dislodge bonds between varying social groups and cultures, creating issues for rural police – who are also part of the local community. The adversities experienced within the LES have been shown to be connected to higher rates of victimisation and offending, which is intergenerational in nature, and can become a part of community culture (Day et al. 2018).

Lack of government funding to rural police agencies can create many issues, which include low staff numbers, and a lack of police operated harm reduction methods, and police community service interventions. Wooley and Smith (2022) explain that rural police are often understaffed, under-trained, lack adequate equipment, have less time to spend on public relation exercises, which leads to a higher degree of scrutiny within their jurisdiction.

Furthermore, rural communities have a higher degree of conservative attitudes, gun ownership, have a higher population of white residents and extremist views, and a higher level of aversion to government interference and employment of personal social control. These physical and non-physical barriers, combined with large territorial jurisdictions make policing a challenging task.

The expansive geographical areas that need to be covered to access police services not only affects those needing to attend police stations for varying reasons, such as the face-to-face reporting of crime, it also affects the police who need to attend urgent crimes and motor vehicle accidents (Yarwood and Cozens, 2022). The large geographical distances affect police response times to attend urgent situations such as violent offences and property crimes, which are increasing within rural locations (Carcach 2000).

For rural police services to become more efficient, government funding needs to be addressed for police to expand harm reduction and public relation methods. Human resources are also required to alleviate the high rate of adversities suffered by rural residents and break down the economic barriers between social groups.

(Images sourced from pixels.com)

References

Carcach, C. (2000). Size, accessibility and crime in regional Australia (pp. 1-6). Canberra, Australia: Australian Institute of Criminology. https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/tandi175.pdf

Day, A., Casey, S., Gerace, A., Oster, C. & O’Kane, D. (2018). The forgotten victims: Prisoner experience of victimisation and engagement with the criminal justice system. https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/55219/1/Day%20et%20al%20-%20Research%20Report%20-%20The%20Forgotten%20Victims.pdf

Nolan, J. J., DeKeseredy, W. S. & Brownstein, H. H. (2022). Police Ethics in Rural Contexts: A Left Realist Consequentialist View. International Journal of Rural Criminology, 7(1), 1-23. https://ruralcriminology.org/index.php/IJRC/article/view/8958/7736

Wooley, M. J. & Smith, S. Z. (2022). Reaching Rural Police: Challenges, Implications, and Applications. Crisis, Stress, and Human Resilience: An International Journal, 4(1), 66-84. https://www.crisisjournal.org/article/36378-reaching-rural-police-challenges-implications-and-applications

Yarwood, R. & Cozens, C. (2017). Constable countryside? Police perspectives on rural Britain. In Geographies of rural cultures and societies (pp. 145-170). Routledge.

Rural access to justice during COVID

17 September 2020/in Access to Justice, Courts, Rural Crime Events /by admin

At the end of August 2020, the Deakin University Law School hosted an online lunchtime event entitled Access to Justice during COVID: The rural and regional experience.

“Description: The pandemic has no doubt had an impact on everyone, however it has had a significant impact on those living in rural and regional towns. Access to justice is an issue for many members of our community with barriers such the tyranny of distance, lack of public transport and a lack of awareness of services that may be able to assist. With the restrictions due to the pandemic this has further compounded these access to justice issues.”

The presenter was Sejal Amin, Principal Lawyer at the Goulburn Valley Community Legal Centre in Shepparton, Victoria:

“Sejal Amin was admitted to practice as a lawyer in 2009 and has worked predominantly in the non-for-profit/government sector. She has previously worked at Victoria Legal Aid, Victoria Police and the Office of the Freedom of Information Commissioner. She moved from Melbourne to Country Victoria; Shepparton in 2015 and joined the team at the Goulburn Valley Community Legal Centre (GVCLC) to manage a three year pilot Therapeutic Justice Program (TJP). Following the completion of this pilot program in 2018, she decided to stay and settle in Shepparton. She has been working with GVCLC for 5 years and enjoys working in the country.”

The video of the event can be accessed here.

Rural Access to Justice Roundtable

9 June 2020/in Access to Justice, Conferences, Events /by admin

Rural crime and criminal justice practices and responses face different challenges from those experienced in urban contexts. Our new series of ISSRC Roundtables investigate challenges in international contexts and provide opportunities for participants to promote their research and practice and build collaborations for future initiatives. Follow on Twitter @RuCrimSociety with #ISSRC2020.

Our first roundtable will be held on 26 June, and will focus on rural access to justice. Mark the date in your diaries and come along!

To attend: Register via Eventbrite.

RURAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ROUNDTABLE – 26 JUNE 2020

Rural crime and criminal justice practices and responses face different challenges from those experienced in urban contexts. This Roundtable investigates challenges in international contexts and provides an opportunity for participants to promote their research and practice and build collaborations for future initiatives to promote access to justice.

To attend: Register via Eventbrite.

We ask:

What are emerging issues in rural access to justice?
What are potential responses or solutions to these problems?
How can future research and practice enhance access to justice?

The panel:

Dr Danielle Watson
Senior Lecturer in Justice
Queensland University of Technology

Dr Liz Curran
Honorary Associate Professor
Australian National University and Principal Curran Consulting: Enhancing Justice & Human Rights

Emeritus Professor Joseph F. Donnermeyer
Acclaimed international rural criminologist
Ohio State University

Our expert scholars and practitioners will discuss emerging issues in access to justice. The audience will be invited to share and engage with our panel and other participants. We hope to develop agendas and build networks to advance access to justice in rural zones, internationally.

Time:

Friday 26 June 2020
8.20pm login for 8.30 pm start (Australian Eastern Standard Time) for one hour
Check your local time here.

Location:

Virtual – held via Zoom
Register via Eventbrite and access details will be provided

Cost:

Free of charge.
However, if you are able to make a donation this will be used to fund ISSRC awards for higher degree research students and early career researchers https://issrc.net/membership/donate-to-issrc/

To attend: Register via Eventbrite.

Introducing the new series of ISSRC Roundtables

29 May 2020/1 Comment/in Access to Justice, Events /by admin

Rural crime and criminal justice practices and responses face different challenges from those experienced in urban contexts. Our new series of ISSRC Roundtables investigate challenges in international contexts and provide opportunities for participants to promote their research and practice and build collaborations for future initiatives. Follow on Twitter @RuCrimSociety with #ISSRC2020.

Our first roundtable will be held on 26 June, and will focus on rural access to justice. Mark the date in your diaries and come along! To attend: Register via Eventbrite.

RURAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ROUNDTABLE – 26 JUNE 2020

Rural crime and criminal justice practices and responses face different challenges from those experienced in urban contexts. This Roundtable investigates challenges in international contexts and provides an opportunity for participants to promote their research and practice and build collaborations for future initiatives to promote access to justice. To attend: Register via Eventbrite.