ABSTRACT
At a time when criminal justice systems internationally are facing new challenges surrounding the cost, openness and effectiveness of justice, the interaction between those within the system and those researching their operations is increasingly important. For criminologists, a better understanding of the experiences and perceptions of the professionals operating at all levels of a justice system may yield valuable insights into the practice and operation of the law. By directly engaging those involved in the delivery of justice, criminologists can seek not only to illuminate the ‘hidden’ decisions and processes of the law, but also to examine the influences and views of these institutional gatekeepers. The need to achieve both is apparent in light of the evolution of processes of criminal justice decision making and an abundance of reform over the past three decades across Western justice systems. In particular, there are two features of contemporary criminal justice systems that must be taken into account in qualitative criminological research. First, in the post-9/11 climate, justice is increasingly achieved behind a wall that can be seen as impenetrable to the public and inaccessible to the researcher – a trend which presents unique barriers and challenges to those researching the decisions and operations of closed systems of justice. Second, legislators, advocates and legal professionals at all levels are increasingly required to consider the interests of those previously thought to be outside the bounds of law, such as women, children, the marginalized and the racialized. The extent to which this leads to a meaningful change in practice and access to justice, however, remains a highly contested area of inquiry. Within this liquid climate, criminologists will arguably not be able to fully understand the decisions made in, or the impact of, the criminal justice system in practice if they do not penetrate the barriers and engage the gatekeepers to ‘look’ inside.
