SFU Criminology (Simon Fraser University)

As 2024 winds down, SFU’s School of Criminology wishes you a joyful holiday season and a fantastic end to the year! Be sure to check out our 2024 RECAP in the following link: https://ow.ly/L1Oi50UtRmn Here’s to an amazing 2025 ahead!

Associate professor Evan McCuish's latest paper demonstrates "an alternative way of studying the relationship between incarceration and reoffending that addresses selection bias by using a first-differenced fixed effect estimator to examine the relationship between period-to-period within-individual changes in incarceration and future period-to-period within-individual changes in reconvictions." https://lnkd.in/gD8TGNdJ

https://lnkd.in/gD8TGNdJ A fun part of writing this paper was an ode to Denis Villeneuve's movie "Arrival". Most studies in criminology using fixed effect estimators remove between-person differences in time-varying measures by detrending the data via time-demeaning (person mean centering). Time-demeaning involves subtracting a person's mean value across all measurement periods from their value at each measurement period. Time-demeaning uses information from the future to calculate whether someone changed in the present. The issue with time-demeaning is reflected by Denis Villeneuve's (2018) depiction of non-linear orthographic language in the movie Arrival. Aliens Abbott and Costello are aware of both their past and their future when making decisions in the present. Time-demeaning resembles the idea of non-linear orthographic language because, as applied in the current context, it assumes that a person in the present is aware of all past and future events simultaneously. This does not reflect reality. People do not have memories of future events that they use to make decisions in the present. This is why, in the attached paper, we recommended detrending data using first-differencing. First-differencing detrends data by subtracting values at time t-1 from values at time t to indicate period-to-period change. In the Supplemental Material (see Appendix A in the above link) we show how different values result depending on the detrending method used (i.e., time-demeaning versus first-differencing). Period-to-period change examines how current periods of incarceration are interpreted relative to past periods of incarceration. This aligns with how several theories (e.g., labeling, specific deterrence) and policies (e.g., framing, recidivism sentencing premiums) describe the impact of incarceration.

Publication alert! Please check out a new article focused on opioid toxicity deaths among Indigenous People who experienced incarceration in Ontario. Paper highlights: - 2% of all Indigenous People who experienced incarceration during our study time period died from opioid toxicity (2015-2020) - Rates of death are highest in the month after release from custody - Indigenous People who experienced incarceration were 29.7 times more likely to die compared to people with no incarceration history - Rates were similarly high for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who experienced incarceration - While there was a higher absolute number of deaths among Indigenous men, the death rate was much higher among Indigenous women (SMR = 81.0 compared to 23.6). This reinforces calls for attention to the gendered ways in which historical and ongoing settler colonial violence has been enacted in Canada. We are so grateful for the Indigenous Experts with lived experience who supported knowledge exchange and co-authored this paper. The article is open access and published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas.  Fiona Kouyoumdjian

Congratulations to Payten Smith on defending her insightful MA thesis, “Exoneree Reintegration and Resource Access: Examining the Availability, Accessibility and Effectiveness of Post Release Resources”! Her research sheds light on the challenges exonerees face post-release. Great job, Payten! Read more: https://ow.ly/qr7g50Uq8W5

Congratulations to Natalie Beck for successfully defending her MA thesis, “The Gang, the Myth, the Legend: Effects of a Gang Awareness Campaign on Gang-Related Attitudes, Beliefs, and Knowledge Among Youth”! Her research explores the impact of the End Gang Life (EGL) school program on shaping attitudes and beliefs about gangs among youth. https://ow.ly/lk4450Uq7wp Well done, Natalie! We can’t wait to see the incredible things you’ll achieve as you start your PhD journey with us in January!

Exciting yet bittersweet news! After nearly five decades at Simon Fraser University's School of Criminology, professor Curt Griffiths is retiring on January 1, 2025. Renowned for his commitment to fostering critical thinking among students and extensive work with policing services across Canada, he leaves behind an indelible legacy. Here’s to a remarkable journey and an even brighter next chapter! Read more: https://ow.ly/i4Ax50UoMHY

Huge congratulations to Sydney Brown on successfully defending her MA thesis, “Policing sex work online: Sex workers’ views on the risks and benefits of using AI to police online ads for sexual services.” Her thesis explores the potential use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based policing models in law enforcement anti-trafficking initiatives and examines potential impacts of expanding state surveillance through police use of AI-based policing models. Well done, Sydney! https://ow.ly/ofBE50UnYHr

This past week I attended and presented my research on substance use patterns predictive of youth gang involvement conducted by my supervisor, Dr. Martin Bouchard, and I at the American Society of Criminology in San Francisco! This was my first academic conference and I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from so many phenomenonal scholars in the field!

This week, I had the incredible opportunity to present my poster on coercive control and the vital insights and perspectives from victim services caseworkers. Coercive control—a form of intimate partner violence that manipulates and erodes victims’ autonomy—remains a significant challenge, particularly in Canada, where it is not yet recognized as a criminal offense. Through my research, I explored the critical role victim services caseworkers play in supporting survivors, uncovering their nuanced understanding of this complex issue. #CoerciveControl #VictimServices #IntimatePartnerViolence #AmericanSocietyOfCriminology