Dr Oscar
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droscaro.bsky.social
Dr Oscar
@droscaro.bsky.social
180 followers 280 following 86 posts
Criminologist, futurist and writer focussing on social inequality and the future of imprisonment (& too much football) | 📍Berlin #academicsky
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droscaro.bsky.social
Dr Oscar @droscaro.bsky.social · Jan 9
🚨 New journal article ‼️

🛌 When you go to sleep this evening, spare a thought (& a few minutes) about what it’s like to sleep somewhere like prison

Sleep is key factor to health and well-being outcomes, but it is neglected.

This commentary explores solutions

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
droscaro.bsky.social
Golf, cricket & (real) Ale…
joemuggs.bsky.social The Ineffable Horror of Joe Muggs @joemuggs.bsky.social · Sep 22
What’s the most Tory-coded thing you actively love?

Me: Essex. Elgar. Country pubs.
September 23, 2025 at 4:20 PM
droscaro.bsky.social
As James McEwan enters HMPPS stage left, Phil Copple exits stage right.

Phil has been a wonderful public servant for 35 years and that is an extraordinary commitment 👏

But now, after decades of mismanagement, HMPPS is ripping up the playbook.

www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article...
HMPPS names next chief executive
MoJ chief operating officer James McEwen will take helm of Prison and Probation Service next month
www.civilserviceworld.com
September 20, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
seanrehaag.bsky.social
A busy week...

My @refugeelab.ca released our report about tech and alternatives to immigration detention, co-authored by @danghez.bsky.social & @petramolnar.com, and co-published with @kaldorcentre.bsky.social and @idcoalition.bsky.social:

www.unsw.edu.au/content/dam/...
Cover image for a report entitled "From Surveillance to Empowerment: Advancing the Responsible Use of Technology in Alternatives to Detention" Accessible text via link
September 16, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
warrcrim.bsky.social
If you work in #Academia, #HigherEducation, or the #Research&Teaching field this is a massively important article.

It brings together many of the issues, critiques around the predatory #Tech of (so-called) #AI and its use in our fields, as well as unpicking the hollowness of the pro-AI rhetoric!
olivia.science Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia.science · Sep 6
Finally! 🤩 Our position piece: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia:
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

We unpick the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and we argue for safeguarding higher education, critical
thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
1/n
Abstract: Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or even imposed on users — in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in the 21st with social media. For these collective blunders, we now regret our involvement or apathy as scientists, and society struggles to put the genie back in the bottle. Currently, we are similarly entangled with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. For example, software updates are rolled out seamlessly and non-consensually, Microsoft Office is bundled with chatbots, and we, our students, and our employers have had no say, as it is not considered a valid position to reject AI technologies in our teaching and research. This is why in June 2025, we co-authored an Open Letter calling on our employers to reverse and rethink their stance on uncritically adopting AI technologies. In this position piece, we expound on why universities must take their role seriously toa) counter the technology industry’s marketing, hype, and harm; and to b) safeguard higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, and scientific integrity. We include pointers to relevant work to further inform our colleagues. Figure 1. A cartoon set theoretic view on various terms (see Table 1) used when discussing the superset AI (black outline, hatched background): LLMs are in orange; ANNs are in magenta; generative models are in blue; and finally, chatbots are in green. Where these intersect, the colours reflect that, e.g. generative adversarial network (GAN) and Boltzmann machine (BM) models are in the purple subset because they are both generative and ANNs. In the case of proprietary closed source models, e.g. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Apple’s Siri, we cannot verify their implementation and so academics can only make educated guesses (cf. Dingemanse 2025). Undefined terms used above: BERT (Devlin et al. 2019); AlexNet (Krizhevsky et al. 2017); A.L.I.C.E. (Wallace 2009); ELIZA (Weizenbaum 1966); Jabberwacky (Twist 2003); linear discriminant analysis (LDA); quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA). Table 1. Below some of the typical terminological disarray is untangled. Importantly, none of these terms are orthogonal nor do they exclusively pick out the types of products we may wish to critique or proscribe. Protecting the Ecosystem of Human Knowledge: Five Principles
September 11, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
mikeflannigan.bsky.social
New study in Nature on the Long-range PM2.5 pollution and health impacts from the 2023 Canadian wildfires

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

'We find that 354 million (277–421 million) people in North America and Europe were exposed to daily PM2.5 air pollution caused by Canadian wildfires in 2023'
figure 3 from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09482-1 –c, Daily PM2.5 exposure in Canada (a), from fire sources in different source regions, anthropogenic sources and other sources (for example, biogenic, dust and sea salt). d–f, Cumulative fire-related PM2.5 exposures in Canada (d), from different source regions.
September 10, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
themarshallproject.org
"Medicaid coverage is especially important for people post-release, because incarceration can wreck their health. One long-term study... found that imprisonment decreased the life expectancy of a 45-year-old person by 13%."
How Trump’s Medicaid Cuts Will Slash Health Coverage for People Leaving Prison
The massive cuts will hit the formerly incarcerated hard — and that could increase crime, experts warn.
www.themarshallproject.org
September 10, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
nicolekapelle.bsky.social
📢 Trinity College Dublin is hiring an Assistant Professor in Sociology. Full-time, fixed-term role (maternity cover).

Early career researchers, including those who’ve just submitted, completed, or are about to complete their PhD are welcome.

🗓️ Deadline: Oct 6, 2025
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOP688/a...
Assistant Professor in Sociology at Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
Recruiting now: Assistant Professor in Sociology on jobs.ac.uk. Click for details and explore more academic job opportunities on the top job board
www.jobs.ac.uk
September 10, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
itsmccarthy.bsky.social
Must read study of class consciousness in class demobilized societies. It reveals more than polls.

"...any understanding of political orientations in the contemporary working class should have ambivalence, contradiction, and heterogeneity at its very heart."

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
August 1, 2025 at 6:29 PM
droscaro.bsky.social
What happened to pressure groups & UK third sector?

It all seems passive & compliant these days.

No vision, little resistance, & minimal public presence.

The ‘noise’ seems to come from MoJ & POA.

Why is no one asking, what are short sentences replaced by? How is Govt. supporting these people?
August 26, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
warrcrim.bsky.social
Hey #Criminology

It lives!

29 chapters. 8 sections. 50+ authors. #ECRs to veterans. Wide range of themes/topics

It's been a labour of over 2 years, but it's forthcoming (release in January 2026)

#CriminalJustice
#Victimology
#Zemiology
#SensoryCriminology

www.routledge.com/The-Routledg...
The Routledge International Handbook of Sensory Criminology
The Routledge International Handbook of Sensory Criminology reimagines what criminology can become when we take the senses seriously. Centring the sensory as fundamental to the experience of harm, jus...
www.routledge.com
July 31, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
mfdeland.bsky.social
The sociology & criminology dept at gonzaga is hiring! We're searching for somebody with a focus on criminology, law, or social control (broadly conceived).

We're a liberal arts teaching university. Very collegial department. Spread the word to interested folks. I'm happy to answer questions!
Assistant Professor, Sociology and Criminology - Gonzaga Main Campus, Washington, United States
Title: Assistant Professor, Sociology and Criminology Area: College of Arts and Sciences Department: Sociology and Criminology Telework Availability: On-campus Position Employee Classification: Tenure...
employment.gonzaga.edu
July 30, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
warrcrim.bsky.social
I think it's part:
1. #TechnoUtopianism - idea that new tech will solve extant problems cheaply
2. Ignorance of the rapacious nature of #SurveillanceCapitalism, the #CodedBias within, and the problems/harms forthcoming
3. Outdated neoliberalism and its desire to both outsource yet maintain control
August 3, 2025 at 10:32 AM
droscaro.bsky.social
Good leadership is knowing when to rip it up and start again

Nov-July 3️⃣0️⃣ Oakhill staff suspended for child misconduct

20/7 Director & 2 Deps suspended

21-25/7 CQC find unsanitary conditions & safeguarding concerns

G4S must be removed & all contracts reviewed

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Youth detention centre in Milton Keynes removes 33 staff members
The chief inspector of Ofsted says children were found to be living in unsanitary conditions.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 1, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
morgansteele.bsky.social
New evaluation of de-escalation training for law enforcement! . This shows that de-escalation training can actually improve officers' ability to handle volatile situations.
doi.org/10.1177/0093...
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
doi.org
July 28, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
pengzell.bsky.social
Turns out plonking a university down in the 1800s was a long-term investment in civic life. Kinda wish current policy makers would take note...
wpmarble.bsky.social Will Marble @wpmarble.bsky.social · Jul 17
Universities often serve as "anchor institutions" that deeply affect the character of their communities. In a new paper, we estimate how (and when) the establishment of a college influences local political and civic life. 🧵

osf.io/preprints/so...
Screenshot of title page. "The Long-Run Effects of Colleges on Civic and Political Life" by Michael J. Andrews, William Marble, and Lauren Russell. Abstract: Social theorists and education advocates have long argued for the civic benefits of education. As large, durable institutions, universities are especially likely to affect the civic life of their communities. We investigate how the establishment of a university alters the civic and political trajectory of the surrounding area. For identification, we leverage historical site selection processes in which multiple locations were considered for new colleges. We bring together data on social capital, political preferences, and elections to assess the long-run impacts of college establishment. Communities with colleges exhibit higher levels of civic engagement and greater social trust today, relative to “runner-up” locations without colleges. These counties are also more politically liberal — a gap that has grown substantially since 2000. Our findings suggest understanding universities as place-based policies that shape the long-run civic and political development of their communities. They also shed light on current political battles over higher education policy.
July 25, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
shamjaff.bsky.social
Former German President Joachim Gauck recently appeared on national television and, through tears, described how painful it is for him to criticize Israel. Again, it's about: German pain, German history, and German discomfort with breaking ranks. And not about Palestinian suffering.
July 25, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
13sarahmurphy.bsky.social
When so much of the media rolls out the comfy red carpet for Farage, Private Eye trips him up and milkshakes him.
Be more Private Eye.
Farage promises to build more jails by Our Reform Correspondent Nick Money BRITAIN'S next prime minister, Nigel Farage, has vowed to expand the prison service to deal with the increasing lawlessness in Broken Britain. Farage said it was imperative that we have more prisons to accommodate law-breakers such as Reform MPs. Said Farage, "No, let me finish! We are looking at hundreds more Reform MPs after the next election, and with our vetting systems we are guaranteed to have a vast number of criminal members of Parliament, who have stolen public money or pushed their girlfriends down the stairs." When asked how much all this would cost, the Reform leader explained in great detail that he didn't have a clue and couldn't care less. Farage also promised to send the worst offenders to El Salvador, following a successful pilot programme sending Reform supporters to live in Dubai.
July 24, 2025 at 6:24 AM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
paulhayward.bsky.social
Doubtless Scottie Scheffler will get hammered for saying this, but it's a lot more interesting than the usual pre-Open chat about the length of the rough and the speed of the greens.
July 15, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
waylon18.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Rachel Reeves in thrall to old discredited myths of trickle down economics and identifying national budget with household. Can’t believe she doesn’t know better but do believe she’s bowing to the power of the wealthy
Reeves to say cuts to City red tape will bring trickle-down benefits to households
Chancellor to announce raft of deregulation changes as City regulators move to pare back transparency rules
www.theguardian.com
July 15, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
nicolacarr.bsky.social
Just Published - Parole Futures. Rationalities, Institutions and Practices. Exploring the future of parole.With fabulous contributions from a world-leading panel of experts who draw upon insights from law, sociology, criminology and political science. www.bloomsbury.com/uk/parole-fu...
July 14, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
richardjgarside.bsky.social
Interesting new research out in the British Journal of Criminology

Homicides in El Salvador rose when tough on crime policies were pursued, and fell when policies based on truces and negotiation with and between gangs were followed

academic.oup.com/bjc/advance-...
Mano Dura v. Uneasy Peace in El Salvador: Effects of Tough-on-Crime and Gang Truce Policies in the Former Murder Capital of the World
Abstract. Until recently, El Salvador had one of the world’s highest homicide rates, largely driven by criminal groups. Since 2003, the government attempte
academic.oup.com
July 11, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
samfr.bsky.social
Another reason Labour should be taking Lords reform more seriously (beyond its intrinsic merits) is that Reform (or a Reform like party) government would be able to pack it with their goons as things currently stand.
iandunt.bsky.social Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · Jul 8
No-one is paying attention. No-one gives a damn. But one man is valiantly trying to make Labour stick by its manifesto commitment on constitutional reform. Tomorrow, we find out if he's succeeded.

iandunt.substack.com/p/this-wedne...
This Wednesday: The last best hope for Lords reform
No-one is paying attention. No-one gives a damn. But one man is valiantly trying to make Labour stick by its manifesto commitment.
iandunt.substack.com
July 8, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Dr Oscar
prisonservicejourn.bsky.social
The new edition 279 of Prison Service Journal is available now!

This general edition includes articles on the importance of air quality in prisons, and the experience of an art project in HMP/YOI Parc.

🔗https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/prison-service-journal-279

#prisonservice #psj
July 8, 2025 at 8:01 AM
droscaro.bsky.social
*Another* heatwave arrives this week and it could be the most intense yet. But prisons are ill-prepared to protect prisoners & staff from environmental harm.

✍️ A new paper examines indoor environmental conditions across multiple prisons

❌ It’s not good.

www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/stale-and-st...
Stale and Still | Centre for Crime and Justice Studies
www.crimeandjustice.org.uk
July 8, 2025 at 12:19 PM