Developing IE in Criminological and Socio-Legal Studies: Contemporary and Future Challenges and Paths
The use of IE to study the experience of people with the civil and criminal justice systems has been continuously in expansion since its creation. The classical studies from Smith (2014), Pence (2001), and Pence & Smith (2004) offered evidence to the needs and benefits to use IE in these fields. However, recent contributions (e.g., Doll & Walby 2019) have more clearly outlined the applications and the advantages produced by IE in the field of criminal justice and socio-legal studies.
Reflecting on how to develop the use of IE in criminological and socio-legal studies concerns not only discussing about what has been done until now in terms of empirical research and what has been envisioned for the future, but also reviewing the methodological tools that have been applied, the peculiar needs of these fields, what the approach of IE can offer also in theoretical/epistemological terms, how IE has been mixed with other approaches, how IE as an alternative sociology is perceived in systems like the civil and criminal justice ones in which the issue of power and power imbalance between institutions and people – such as petitioners, claimants, plaintiffs, appellants, victims, perpetrators, etc. – is prominent and relevant. Moreover, this reflection also includes an analysis of the interdisciplinary, cross-cultural and cross-national applications of IE, and the research impact generated.
This presentation will provide insights on the above mentioned aspects, envision new fields of (interdisciplinary) application, and new challenges for the IE approach in the European context.