Conversation with Dr Diarmuid Griffin

Conversations with Criminologists

Risk assessment, decision making and parole in Ireland ; Dr Diarmuid Griffin

The issue of practice dominates the perspectives of contributors to this volume, and for Diarmuid Griffin it is no different. His experience working in the USA’s public defender system led him from his legal training towards a career in criminal justice informed by criminological perspectives. Interestingly, like in other chapters, Diarmuid references the influence of theories of social control and power on his work, and mentions the work of Cohen, Foucault and Garland on his academic writing. Linked to this is the notion of risk assessment and Diarmuid speaks about this approach as a tool that underpins decision making in Criminal Justice agencies but also more generally as a means of social control. Diarmuid also prioritises the application of knowledge in the field of criminology, and he references his own work on the analysis of decision making in cases of life imprisonment. Importantly, this research has not only informed policy makers in Ireland, it has also been widely welcomed by the prisoners themselves. This again brings us back to the conversation about hearing marginalised voices and the need for inclusivity in criminological research.