Surveillance as Casework: Supervising Domestic Violence
Defendants with GPS Technology
Ibarra, P. R., Gur, O. M., & Erez, E. (2014). Surveillance as casework: Supervising
domestic violence defendants with GPS technology. Crime, Law and Social Change,
62(4), 417-444.
The author’s topic is directed towards establishing domestic violence defendants through
the use of the GPS technology. According to the author, there has been a continued effort that
ignored the relevance of traditional approaches directed towards supervising humans, an aspect
that critically intrigues the need of a surveillance approach embedded in the judicial system
casework. The author therefore makes an effort to conduct a comparative analysis with the aim
of illustrating the manner in which the problem population differs across different segmented
community correction agencies in the implementation of the surveillance regime. The author
therefore conducts a study to establish the manner in which surveillance styles reflect the
capacity of agencies that are directed towards curbing crime and managing risks, an aspect that
provides assistance and treatment through an observed process. According to the author, the
programmatic element of these systems expresses the manner in which officers relate with
offenders in their cases, as aspect that contrasts to the ambient approach of monitoring
populations and the environment through the inclusion of data bank technology thus highlighting
the essence of the surveillance style in caseworks. The methods depicted by the author in this
material detail how the systems are utilized in collecting personal information that are accessed
through the data banks that are needed by government and market based actors. These efforts
reflect a digitalized form of data that is conducted routinely and silently, an aspect that entails the
visiting of websites, the acquisition of telephone dials, swiping of ID cards on entering a secured
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entity and using the images that are captured from a closed-circuit television (CCTV). The
primary theoretic basis of the study lies on the use of surveillance as an object of inquiry, an
aspect that achieves the objective of applying technology within the criminal justice systems.
The study provides no theoretical framework and extensively reviews existing literature
in validating the views of the author. The author clearly communicates the need to examine the
styles of surveillance among different community correction officers through the use of an EM
through a comparative analysis that establishes the studies objectives through a review of several
literatures, an aspect that uses and builds on the existing literature in establishing the study’s
goal. On the other hand, the material provides a research method that is not fully appropriate
since it only details the data collection method and does not detail the research methodology
used in the collection and analysis of data. The sample size detailed in this study involves the
inclusion of three jurisdictions-West, Midwest and the South criminal justice workforce that are
involved in the dispensation of GPS in DV caseworks either directly or indirectly. The sample
size is therefore appropriate since these agencies have distinct approaches in the operation of
GPS in DV programs, an aspect that enables the study to conduct a comparative analysis of the
surveillance systems and its application. Considering the several biases noted in the research, the
study does not provide adequate control measures in addressing some of the research biases
noted. This depicts the fact that the study did not consider using a paradigm solution in
eliminating the biases, an aspect that intrigues the need for s strategy that handles validity of the
study. This study may therefore be replicable considering the fact that technology evolves and
different surveillance systems are bound to change with time. The limitations of this study are
evident in its inefficiency in establishing the difference between interactive and ambient systems,
an aspect that effaces the responsibility and roles of human labor in the use of surveillance
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systems. This clearly makes the studies objective obscure, thus giving the study a different
interpretation. Lastly, the study’s conclusions are justifiable, in consideration of the fact that the
surveillance regime is quickly gaining prominence within the judicial system. However, the
author does not take into account the different cultural and social contexts since the study is only
based on single research demography.
This source is primarily different in structure as compared to other studies; since it details
the legitimacy of different approaches of interactive surveillance an aspect that denotes the
varying philosophies and approaches of community corrections. To clarify this, the author
addresses the manner in which supervision is conceptualized in the literature review on using
EM technology an aspect that is affirmed by an examination of the surveillance systems in three
U.S based programs. This source therefore informs my future research since it creates a gap in
addressing the roles of human labor in the use of surveillance systems a gap that the material
fails to fill in the study. The application of these methods within my project will be centered on
an effort to enhance security within my work environment considering the constant threats that
the society is currently experiencing from terroristic activities. On the other hand, the study
would be applied in establishing some of the erroneous activities of different individuals who
commit to upheaval activities in the community by detecting their missions and curbing them
before they turn harmful. The article may not be considered universal since the context of the
study varies.