Claire Fitzpatrick – författare

Tragedy is Trending is written in response to experiences of solidarity shared via the #TheyAreUs hashtag that went viral following the terror attack on Muslim communities in Ōtautahi, Christchurch in March 2019, and questions commonly held assumptions by users about the non-discriminatory nature of Aotearoa New Zealand politics and society. It argues that the use of what the author calls ‘collectivising hashtags’, i.e., hashtags characterised by their use of pronouns to inclusively identify with Others, affords new opportunities for self-expression that may simultaneously empower and compromise affected communities. It explores the clever and imaginative ways that digital counterpublics subvert online interactions through strategic use of digital architecture, labour, visibility, and invisibility when addressing hashtags and social media platforms as racialised performances of self.This book encourages hashtag activists to think critically about the affecting nature of their online practices and privileges, or risk becoming complicit in the wider relations of power in which discrimination, oppression, and violence fester. As privileged users develop new practices of digital reconstitution in which an embodied online praxis is conceived in affective terms, the author argues that they can instead embrace their own vulnerability, alterity, and precariousness, and move towards a fuller conception of what it means to be human both on and offline.As an academic study, this book is of relevance to scholars researching and teaching in digital activists spaces, as well as social media and extremism more broadly. It appeals to audiences in Aotearoa New Zealand, addressing government and civil society responses to the Christchurch Mosque attacks, but also reveals international appeal due to the widespread publicity received by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her empathetic leadership. The concept of ‘collectivising hashtags’ developed in this book has interdisciplinary application across media studies, gender studies, political science and international relations disciplines.

Society holds a popular perception that links children in public care with criminal activity, but this connection is largely assumed. This book addresses the lack of evidence supporting this potentially damaging assumption.It begins by analysing past research, critically examining current policy and combining theoretical insights from the disciplines of childcare and criminology in order to form a theoretical framework for research. The empirical evidence of thirty-nine interviews with young people who have been through the care system is then drawn upon to highlight key findings and conclusions about the relationship between care and crime, and the implications towards current policy. Addressing issues such as:the residential care experiencedeveloping secure attachments in the context of careexperiences of educationlife after care,these powerful examples show the flaws, failures and successes of the various childcare services by offering insight into the reality of young peoples experiences.This book is highly relevant to new legislation and the current political agenda, and will prove an eye-opening read for policymakers and practitioners in the fields of child care and criminology, social workers, and students of social work, social policy and criminology.

The study of criminal careers is of increasing interest in criminology. It is now generally recognised that it is important to try to understand criminal behaviour across the life-course rather than focusing on fragmented incidents which provide only a partial picture. This is an accessible text which clarifies the crucial theoretical and methodological debates surrounding the study of criminal careers. It focuses on some major longitudinal studies discussing the onset, persistence, desistance and the duration of a criminal career. The important topics of prediction, risk and specialisation are addressed. The challenging question of 'When do ex-offenders become like non-offenders?' points a way forward. The book concludes by proposing an even more ambitious approach to the topic of criminal careers.

The study of criminal careers is of increasing interest in criminology. It is now generally recognised that it is important to try to understand criminal behaviour across the life-course rather than focusing on fragmented incidents which provide only a partial picture. This is an accessible text which clarifies the crucial theoretical and methodological debates surrounding the study of criminal careers. It focuses on some major longitudinal studies discussing the onset, persistence, desistance and the duration of a criminal career. The important topics of prediction, risk and specialisation are addressed. The challenging question of 'When do ex-offenders become like non-offenders?' points a way forward. The book concludes by proposing an even more ambitious approach to the topic of criminal careers.