Criminology Research Center(CrimRC)

Report of Asian Criminological Society
12th Annual Conference (ACS2020)

ACS2020 Conference Progress Report

The Asian Criminological Society 12th Annual Conference (ACS2020), hosted by Ryukoku University, was held online for four days from June 18 to 21, 2021. The purpose of the conference, the second of its kind to be held in Japan after the 2014 Osaka conference, was to promote the growth of criminology in Asia and Oceania, and to promote academic exchange with advanced regions of criminology such as the United States and Europe.

○ACS2020 Program

The overall theme of the conference is "Crime and Punishment under Asian Cultures: Tradition and Innovation in Criminology". The aim was to promote understanding of the social systems and culture and measures against crime and delinquency in Japan, which is said to be "the country with the least crime in the world".

The following is an overview of the Keynote Session and Plenary Session, which were live-streamed at the conference.

Keynote Session [KY01] Prof. Shadd MarunaSEE MORE

Rehabilitation and Prison Release during the Pandemic: Perspectives from British Prisons

[Speaker] Shadd Maruna (Professor, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen's University Belfast, UK)
[Chair] Masahiro Tsushima (Professor, Faculty of Sociology, Ryukoku University, Japan)

[Keywords] prison, COVID-19 pandemic, desistance

Keynote Session [KY02] Prof. David GarlandSEE MORE

What's wrong with "penal populism"? Politics, the public, and penological expertise.

[Speaker] David Garland (Professor, School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work, Queen's University Belfast, UK)
[Chair] David Brewster (Senior Lecturer, Kanazawa College of Art, Japan)

[Keywords] Penal Populism, Politics, Public Opinion, Expertise

Keynote Session [KY03] Prof. Lorraine MazerolleSEE MORE

Policing Health Regulations during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Procedural Justice Encounters in Maintaining the Rule of Law and Protecting the Population

[Speaker] Lorraine Mazerolle (Professor of Criminology, University of Queensland, Australia)
[Chair] Mitsuaki Ueda (Associate Professor, Institute for Advanced Research and Education, Doshisha University, Japan)

[Keywords] COVID-19 pandemic, Procedural justice, Police legitimacy, Public confidence

Keynote Session [KY04] Prof. Dennis S. W. WongSEE MORE

Cybercrime Perpetration and Victimization among Adolescents: Prevalence, Risk Factors and Preventive Strategies

[Speaker] Dennis S. W. Wong (Professor, Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)
[Chair] Kana Sasakura (Professor, Faculty of Law, Konan University, Japan)

[Keywords] Cybercrime, Routine Activity Theory, RAPID-IT-CRY, Factor Analysis, Correlation between Perpetration and Harm

Plenary Session [PL01] Prof. Anqi ShenSEE MORE

Internal Migration, Crime, and Punishment in Contemporary China: Migrant women and their involvement in criminality

[Speaker] Anqi Shen (Professor of Northumbria Law School, Northumbria University, United Kingdom)
[Chair] Setsuo Miyazawa (Professor Emeritus, Kobe University, Japan; ACS President)

[Keywords] Chinese domestic migrants, female migrant workers, pyramid scheme crime, neoliberalism, household registration system, tension theory, feminist theory

Plenary Session [PL02] Ass. Prof. Mai SatoSEE MORE

Politics of abolition: international advocacy against the death penalty

[Speaker] Mai Sato (Associate Professor of Criminology, Director, Eleos Justice, Monash University, Australia)
[Chair] Shin-ichi ISHIZUKA (Professor, Faculty of Law, Ryukoku University, Japan)

[Keywords] abolition of the death penalty, sexual minorities, state-sanctioned killings, international organizations and non-governmental organizations, drug policy, data collection, false convictions and false snowflakes

Plenary Session [PL03] Prof. John PrattSEE MORE

Pandemic as an Antidote to Populism: Punishment、 Immobilization and Covid-19

[Speaker] John Pratt (Professor of Criminology, Institute of Criminology, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand)
[Chair] Koichi HAMAI (Professor of Criminology, Ryukoku University, Japan)

[Keywords] penal populism, populist politicians, experts (criminologists), movement restrictions, scientific findings, pandemics, post-pandemics, novel coronavirus (COVID-19), criminal policy, social solidarity

Plenary Session [PL04] Asst. Prof. Adam LyonsSEE MORE

Prison Ministry in Contemporary Japan

[Speaker] Adam Lyons (Assistant Professor of Faculty of Business and Commerce, Keio University, Japan)
[Chair] Shin-ichi ISHIZUKA (Professor, Faculty of Law, Ryukoku University, Japan)

[Keywords] prison, chaplain, dilemma, karma, volunteers, church, buddhism, death row, condemned criminal, fieldwork, karmic connection

Plenary Session [PL05] Prof. Doris C. ChuSEE MORE

The Application of Positive Psychology Intervention to Female Inmates’ Rehabilitation Program

[Speaker] Doris C. Chu (Professor, Department of Criminology, National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan)
[Chair] Mari Hirayama (Professor, Faculty of Law, Hakuoh University, Japan)

[Keywords] positive psychology; intervention; resilience; substance abuse treatment; hope; empowerment

Plenary Session [PL06] Prof. Natti RonelSEE MORE

Spiritual and Positive Criminology - contemporary applications of established knowledge

[Speaker] Natti Ronel (Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Israel)
[Chair] Hiroshi Tsutomi (Professor, the school of International Relations, University of Shizuoka, Japan)

[Keywords] Positive Criminology, Spiritual

Plenary Session [CL] Prof. Koichi HAMAISEE MORE

The paradox of criminology in a ‘safe’ country: The case of Japan – How has Japan maintained a low crime rate?

[Speaker] Koichi HAMAI (Professor of Criminology, Ryukoku University, Japan）
[Chair] Akiko KOGAWARA (Professor, Faculty of Law, Ryukoku University, Japan)