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This thesis seeks to explain the behaviour of frontline police officers engaged in incident work. Policymakers try to improve police legitimacy by changing how individual police officers interact with the public at police incidents. However, police practice has been particularly resistant to change, and professional and academic work that explains why this might be the case is underdeveloped. This thesis explores these issues from an interactional perspective; asking the questions - how do police officers behave, and why do they behave in that manner? The classic grounded theory method was used to collect and analyse data from officer interviews and body-worn video footage from police incidents within an English county in 2019. It is argued that officers seek to balance the level of effort they use at an incident against the value that they perceive that the incident represents. An incident is of value if an officer is afforded an opportunity to perform the role of an imagined police identity involving socio-culturally constructed notions of 'real' crime, 'real' victims and 'real' criminals. If value and effort are 'unbalanced', then an officer feels frustration and seeks to correct that imbalance by subconsciously shaping the behaviour of incident participants. Officer behaviour can be categorised into one of two types: binary retreat or binary deconstruction. Officers alternate between these two behaviour types to shape the behaviour of incident participants; trying to achieve a balance between value and effort. The theory can be used to improve police practice by changing how training is designed and how policy is created. The significance and relationship of value and effort in driving police behaviour have, to date, not been explored within existing literature as an explanation of frontline police practice.

This thesis sets out to explore how the physical security of communal spaces is governed on two university campuses. It draws upon non-participant observation and in-depth interviews to explore the authorization and provision of physical security. It looks at how security departments use a multiplicity of mentalities and techniques in a wide variety of combinations and assemblages to organize the matters pertaining to physical security. The originality of this work lies in its representation of how attempts geared towards producing physical safety in communal spaces are ridden with indeterminacy and unpredictability. The quest for certainty that lies at the core of security practices is seriously compromised in conditions characterised by a multiplicity of interactions; as such this multiplicity is the source of indeterminacy. The unpredictability of daily interactions alters security practices on the ground. Interactions amongst individuals can result in all sorts of human experiences – emotions, personal likes and dislikes, prejudices, norms, expectations, and so on – that interfere with the translation of intended security practices on the ground. Interactions amongst officers also enable previously unforeseen security practices to emerge and be used to govern others’ behaviour. Even then, such tactics do not always engender what is intended. The interaction between the officer and the wrongdoer can cause further indeterminacy to emerge, as the wrongdoer can react unexpectedly to the officer‘s directives. Additionally, what one officer views as a breach of physical security, another may perceive as tolerable. Some officers may not react to a situation requiring a security response, whereas others will. Simply put, the governance of physical security in communal space is an indeterminate process. In the quest for security, unpredictable processes can organise physical security in communal spaces, and in this thesis, we explore the extent to which they do so.

Against the background of financial cuts this thesis examines the effects of the measures pursued by the government to improve the efficiency of the English criminal courts and the English and Welsh Criminal Justice System (EWCJS). An initial examination of governmental, ministerial, and departmental publications was pursued to understand what concepts of efficiency the government and its agencies were employing in the quest to attain greater efficiency. The thesis attempts to establish how successful the efficiency programmes have been to date, by in depth questioning of legal practitioners who have direct, first-hand experience of those programmes in action. Like the curates egg, the government's pursuit of efficiency has been good in parts, according to its own criteria of success. However, the efficiency measures have proved to be detrimental to the maintenance of other important values and aims of the legal system, such as justice and fair process.

Mobile phone use while driving is a major concern for, but is also performed by, many drivers on UK roads (RAC, 2017b), with 40% of drivers admitting to using a mobile phone illegally (Ibid). This thesis presents a mixed methods exploration of mobile phone use while driving, with a focus on one particular educational approach to tackling the problem. Whilst the educational course in question appeared to have considerable benefits upon a range of attitudes and behaviours, many aspects of social life were found to compete with that, as well as with other attempts to tackle mobile phone use while driving. The speed of technological as well as social change necessitates that individuals 'keep up' with the pace of life (Rosa, 2013), however, a law that prohibits mobile phone use while driving was found to prevent many forms of acceleration in this way; it inhibits the use of a mobile phone as a communication device, a form of identity-presentation, and even a tool of work. Furthermore, the malleable and changing nature of risk surrounding the behaviour and who can be considered 'expert' (Beck, 1992: 29), was found to create difficulties for individuals in understanding those actions that are 'risky' and not. Consequently, individuals often failed to recognise the risk of their own actions but did recognise the risk of others', somewhat influencing perceptions of fairness in interactions with the police. Despite this, an offer of education as an alternative to prosecution was shown to have the ability to enhance perceptions of fairness of police work in various ways. The thesis concludes that mobile phone use while driving is an action symptomatic of postmodernity; concerned with time, productivity, connectivity, identity and uncertainty. These should be considered in any innovation dedicated to creating safer roads and research project attempting to explore the issue.

This thesis presents original research exploring how serving in 21st century theatres of war impacts on the return to 'civilian' life ('civvy street'). Through a rich analysis of in-depth narrative interviews with former military personnel, this research seeks to better understand the complexities of navigating between military and civilian fields - 'no man's land' - amid the uncertainties, precariousness, and violent politics of modern life in 'civvy street' (Bauman, 2007; Cooper and Whyte, 2017). Significantly, the thesis develops the new concept of 'combat capital' (Wilkinson, 2016, 2017), to provide a novel framework to help make sense of the embodied and symbolic 'value' of war experiences. Used in conjunction with 'field theory' (Bourdieu, 1977, 1990), the theoretical lens of 'combat capital' makes visible a continuum of conflict and 'ordinary suffering' (Bourdieu et al., 1999), deeply rooted in the state and its institutions, that runs throughout the life course of participants in varying degrees of severity. Grounded in the experiences and voices of those currently absent within criminological literature (Walklate and McGarry, 2015a), this thesis offers a rare insight into the lived experience of being employed to deliver violence within the uniquely 'blurred', and ambiguously justified American and British led 'war on terror' (Degenhardt, 2013; Kramer and Michalowski, 2005; Mythen, 2016). Ultimately, this thesis reveals an entanglement of the embodied 'traces of war' (McGarry and Walklate, 2011), with the socio-political contexts of 'civvy street', to argue that a 'post-conflict' life no longer appears to exist. Instead, the continuum of conflict demonstrated in this thesis, suggests that 'civilian life' in the 21st century is a potential 'no man's land' to be navigated.

Violence perpetrated in the name of ‘honour’ is neither a new phenomenon, nor one associated exclusively with any particular culture or religion. Nevertheless the concept of honour has become a powerful expression through which certain ‘culturalised’ forms of violence have been differentiated from ‘mainstream’ forms of violence against women. Indeed, while the latter is viewed generally as a pattern of individual deviance and desire for power and control, HBV is perceived as symptomatic of deviant and problematic cultures and cultural pathology. Subsequently although there has been increasing academic attention paid to the problem of ‘honour’-based violence within the UK, much of this existing research has focused on urban areas with large South Asian Muslim populations. Problematically, Larasi (2013b) argues, this limited focus can create silos that do not necessarily represent ‘victims’’ real lived experiences of violence and abuse. This thesis is based upon data collected from semi-structured interviews conducted with twenty-six participants – twelve service users and fourteen service providers – from various ‘rural’ locations spanning across five English counties. By re-examining the notion of ‘honour’, this thesis considers the extent to which the culturalisation of HBV has hindered contemporary Western understanding of VAW and our ability to provide services to those seeking help. Although, by drawing upon the lived experiences of service users, it is shown how honour and shame operate as more pervasive features of all intimate personal victimisation, this thesis demonstrates how culturalised perceptions of honour and HBV restricts service provisions – particularly in rural areas which are conceptualised as lacking in ethnic diversity. Ultimately this thesis argues that, given that honour underlies so many forms of gender-based violence, rather than resituating HBV within a broader framework of VAW, we should instead situate VAW within a broader theoretical understanding of honour and shame.

The collation and use of criminal records by the state has conventionally been regarded as essential for the prevention and detection of crime, the administration of justice and the maximisation of public safety. For instance: the police may check the criminal records of suspects to determine whether they are ‘known offenders’; those working in the judicial sphere may investigate the prior ‘form’ of witnesses and defendants to adduce ‘bad character’ or determine an appropriate sentence; and educational authorities and social services departments may conduct criminal background checks to determine the ‘suitability’ of individuals to work with or foster children. Whilst not disputing that these official functions provided the original justification for the state’s development of criminal record repositories during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this thesis argues that other unofficial and quasi-penological functions are now served in the present by the collation, retention and dissemination of criminal background information. This contention is examined through a critical history of legal rehabilitation in England and Wales as introduced under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This legislation determines if, when and under what circumstances a previous criminal record can be deemed ‘relevant’ for a number of purposes. Effectively, it regulates the extent to which a wide range of social actors can permissibly treat people with convictions less favourably than those in society without any criminal background. The thesis argues that legal rehabilitation as a social practice determines the boundaries of redemptive possibility in late-modern society by enacting a discriminatory biopolitics which uses criminal records as a moral apparatus to regulate life chances. Underpinned by neoliberal and authoritarian governmentalities, this biopolitics distinguishes a ‘law-abiding citizenry’ - constructed as deserving of access to social goods - from a ‘denizen class’ of convicted people whose ‘punishment’ is perpetuated through exposure to various exclusionary conducts.

This thesis provides an original investigation into the status of violent veterans in the United Kingdom post 9/11. Drawing upon a series of interviews conducted during 2011-2014, it frames the problem through the focused lens of Veteranality. Veteranality is understood here to be the regulation and rehabilitation of veteran offenders within the criminal justice framework, with a conscious attempt to understand the limitations of governing regimes by foregrounding questions of political agency. It looks directly at the tensions and conflicts veteran offenders experience as they move from a war paradigm to one of criminal justice on domestic soil. Central here is the ethical decision to “give voice” to the veterans by allowing them to narrate their own experiences prior, during and after war, which proves crucial to the study. As violent veterans expose the limits of juridical approaches to their crimes, so they add further empirical weight to the claims that times of war and peace are less easily demarcated and set apart. Embodying the normalisation of violence in new security terrains, their testimonies present significant challenges and demand a thorough rethinking of the violence of warfare in the 21st Century.

Constructing criminals: the creation of identity within criminal mafias This thesis seeks to demonstrate that there has been a change in the social and cultural aspects of established organised criminal sub-cultures by observing the changes that have taken place in how identity is constructed. The literature is comparatively lacking in emphasis when compared to information about specific criminal activities and the threat of the organisations. This study finds that the social and cultural dimensions of established organised criminal sub-cultures can be equally important and indicative of changes in those organisations. This thesis analyses the change in how established organised criminal sub-cultures, or mafias, have perceived and used identity over the last twenty years and asks whether this can be indicative of a change in the social and cultural model of these organisations. The study is comparative and will focus on how identity in four distinct mafias from across the world - the Russian mafiya, Sicilian mafia, the Japanese yakuza and the Chinese triads - is constructed and how this has changed. The Russian mafiya was the first of the established organised criminal sub-cultures to demonstrate this change whereby identity was used in a different way from its criminal underworld roots. The study also analyses the literature available from gang studies to ask whether the recognised focus upon identity can be interpreted with reference to the established organised criminal sub-cultures. This thesis considers that a criminal identity is constructed through a variety of customs and behaviours including mythology and legend, language and oral traditions and the visual image that a group portrays. A contextual approach is proposed, whereby organisations create and negotiate criminal identities at different scales, by which a street level identity might be more distinctive.

This thesis is a study of the sociological significance of crime and punishment discourse in early-nineteenth-century broadsides. Broadsides were a form of street literature and, for almost 300 years until the late nineteenth century, were a forerunner to our modern tabloid newspapers. As such, they were published on a wide range of topics, but by far the most prevalent were those covering violent crime, especially murder, and the public execution of criminals. The publication of this genre of broadside reached a peak in the first half of the nineteenth century and its popular appeal was greatest among the labouring poor. This has led several scholars to propose two prominent, yet contrasting, arguments: namely, that this ‘gallows literature’ should be read as either evidence of attempts at ideological social control or merely as a form of debased, sensationalistic entertainment. However, this thesis proposes that broadsides actually reveal ordinary people’s thoughts and feelings about crime and criminal justice and, as such, reflect common moralities and mentalities. By presenting a detailed discourse analysis of 650 broadsides printed all over Britain between the years 1800-1850, this thesis provides an alternative interpretation as to the form, function and meaning of their narratives of crime. This interpretation is based upon the social theories of Emile Durkheim, who recognised the higher utility of crime and punishment as being one of social integration and the preservation of moral boundaries. The central argument of this thesis, therefore, is that broadsides relating to crime and punishment were a form of moral communication for the masses and that they are examples of how the working class once attempted to bolster a sense of stability and community, during the transitional years of the early nineteenth century, by effectively representing both a consolidation and celebration of their core values and beliefs.

Samaritans volunteers have been visiting prisons since 1991 to select, train and support prisoners to provide confidential emotional support to other prisoners. Despite its existence for approximately two decades, the Listener scheme has received very little research attention other than a few scattered examples of in-house or small scale reviews (for example Davies, 1994; Richman, 2004; Snow & Biggar, 2006; The Samaritans, 2001a; 2001b). This paucity is also reflected in the current lack of knowledge about peer mentoring and support more widely, despite the significant government attention it has received. This thesis explores and analyses the operation of the Listener peer support scheme in four prisons in England. It investigates how prisoners used (or did not use) Listener support in their patterns of coping and helpseeking in prison, how the Listener scheme was perceived and used by prisoners, Listeners and prison staff, and how Listeners described their experiences of conducting their voluntary work in prison. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were adopted, including a survey of prisoners (n=331), and interviews with prisoners (n=14), Listeners (n=16), and prison staff (n=12). This thesis contends that the prison environment shapes and influences help-seeking by prisoners and the operation of peer support schemes in important ways. It is asserted that helpseeking by prisoners is ‘strategic’, that there is a need to recognise the importance of the factors that drive help-seeking in prison, and the impact this has on the spectrum of helpseeking activity that prisoners exhibit. Furthermore, this thesis examines the dilemmas and contradictions that arise, when prisoners attempt to engage as citizens by volunteering and helping their peers, with whom they share the same pains of imprisonment and experience of subordination.

The governance of organized crime has become a prominent feature of law enforcement agendas internationally. According to the intelligence-led policing model, criminal intelligence units perform a vital role in the policing of organized crime through the collection, analysis and dissemination of tactical and strategic intelligence. This research provides an in-depth examination of the operation of criminal intelligence units in Ontario, Canada with respect to the policing of organized crime. In particular, social network analysis concepts and variables are used to develop a better understanding of the current structures and processes through which criminal intelligence operate. In doing so, three principal research questions are examined. First, do criminal intelligence practices follow the principles promoted in the intelligence-led policing model and are there any differences between municipal, provincial and federal police intelligence? Second, how important are informal communication networks to the exchange of information in the intelligence network? Finally, what structural attributes does the intelligence network exhibit and how do these attributes affect criminal intelligence operation? A qualitative participant interview research design was employed to gather data on intelligence officers' perceptions of intelligence-led policing, various attributes of the intelligence network, the primary mechanisms responsible for effective intelligence operation, and perceptions of organized crime and the policing of organized crime. In total, 30 intelligence officers were interviewed from municipal (21), provincial (7) and federal (2) intelligence units throughout central and south-western Ontario. Interviews were conducted between April and September, 2007. The research revealed a number of important findings, including: significant divergence between municipal and provincial intelligence practices and the ILP model; significant differences in the role and function of criminal intelligence at each police level; reliance on informal communication networks rather than formal intelligence systems; intelligence practices and structural attributes restrict creative and innovative thinking; and police continue to perceive and police organized crime according to a hierarchical, 'group oriented' perspective.