Thursday 31 March 2011

Refining and Defining

I met with my supervisor again who picked up my slight stress levels ... smiling, she told me to relax - I've got three years for the project - I don't have to have all the answers (or even the question?) right now! Good - as I'm still very much refining and defining the scope of my research. And it's difficult as, on the one hand as a researcher I should be open and neutral to unexpected findings and possibilities, yet on the other hand, one scheduled research task involves stating my hypothesis and taking a position.

Part of my research involves the impact of technological change upon the underpinning values/principles/philosophies of criminal justice. I need to work out what those values are and are they worth keeping?

Questions for this week:
1. what are the values embedded in the oral tradition of the embodied voice of the criminal justice system?
2. what's happening to that oral tradition in terms of courtroom technology?
3. evaluation and assessment of changes

I also have to start refining my research methodologies e.g. do I want to observe video links between prisoners / corrective services and courts? If so: ETHICS CLEARANCE! The method I use will be dictated by the question I ask; but the method can also help to refine the question.

What type of thesis do I want to write? Purely academic versus one more engaged with current practices (I prefer the latter).

We decided finally that my focus for the next few weeks should be to trace a genealogy of oral testimony in the criminal justice system; explore the philosophy through legal and criminological texts and related fields.

So I'm off doing that, having finally managed to wrangle EndNote into submission (I think).

Wanting to engage with the visual side of my research...

Critical Animals

I like the idea of Critical Animals as part of This is Not Art, Newcastle 30 September - 2 October 2011:

http://criticalanimals.org/

Thursday 10 March 2011

An exercise in frustrating librarians

This week I had an individual research session at the law library ... and I'm amused?/bemused?/frustrated? that two librarians concluded that my area is going to be tricky to research. This was confirmed by a third librarian last night at database training! Yay - 2nd week and I'm already facing a brick wall - or is that a gap in knowledge?
I'm endeavouring to find the basis for the reliance on spoken word evidence from a philosophical perspective, rather than a procedural one (i.e. it provides the opportunity for cross-examination, intimidation and spontaneity).
May have to resort to blending Socrates, Plato, Derrida and others myself ...

Tuesday 8 March 2011

Reflections on the first week of criminology

Hello ... funny to find myself back at Law School .... but here I am at the University of Sydney doing a Master of Criminology ... excited by the prospects of doing some in depth trans-disciplinary research and slightly intimidated by the amount of work that lies before me.

I officially started at university last week, meeting my supervisor and attending the first Legal Research class. My working title is "Viva Voce: Corporeality v Augmented Reality in the Courtroom" and one of my first decisions is to work out if I want to set up a comparative study? - good v bad? - or can I come up with a less loaded question? Should I take a stand immediately or, rather, step back and explore both the traditional model of oral testimony as well as the inclusion of technologies in the courtroom.
I do need to work out what I want to argue or question - hypothesis or research question - what is it that I'm really interested in? what do I want to achieve? And how will I do this?

Where I have started is to research the history of oral testimony. Certainly it seems that the body has always been implicated in truth-seeking discourses, as well as appeals to religious beliefs. I've been reading "Evidence, advocacy and ethical practice: a criminal trial commentary" by Jill Hunter and Kathryn Cronin, and "Criminal Procedure" by John B Bishop. I know Foucault has a lot to say about the body as the locus for the extortion of truth, so must get onto him.

From the Legal Research class, the need to articulate my argument and research methodology upfront was made apparent.

Thursday 3 March 2011

Welcome to the Art of Criminology Blog

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be setting up this blog as a record of my criminology research processes and reflections. My working title is "Viva Voce: Corporeality v Augmented Reality in the Courtroom"... more to follow...