Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Edited by Ashley Hay, Text Publishing, $27.99.
It would not be untrue to say Australia is captivated by tales of crime. Podcasts, docudramas, live newsfeeds and invented stories fuel our fascination, but behind every crime is a story about the human condition.
From fiction to true crime, Griffith Review 65 intensely examines how concepts of law and order impact individuals and institutions, those on the inside to those on the outside, from the incarcerated to the ones that got away. It’s a chronicle of state-sanctioned violence, of justice after decades of systematic failures and betrayals, of truths, lies and assumptions.
Editor Ashley Hay presents a smart, quick-witted quarterly elucidation.
GR65 explores the direct and indirect impact of crime, retribution and rehabilitation.
Today, approximately 43,000 adults are in Australian prisons. More than one-in-four identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Startlingly, approximately one-in-20 children will experience the incarceration of a parent, increasing to one-in- five for Indigenous children.
GR65 explores narratives of those involved in the quest for justice, from offenders to victims, their families and those who advocate on their behalf. It investigates oppressive and costly systems imposed on cultures and communities and looks to celebrate where things have worked well. What is the true cost of justice? Who pays the price?
What is it about crime stories that make people hunger for them? The volume of content produced in these genres – from the pages of mysteries and thrillers to audio and visual dramas and reconstructions – hints at a primal and deeply ingrained fascination with the darker side of human nature.
While crime fiction has long held appeal for the reading public, the ways that crimes play out in the real world are often more intricate, persuasive and outrageous than the most convoluted envisaged plots.
Three decades after the Fitzgerald Inquiry submitted its report on police corruption and the Queensland Government’s administration, the legacies of this investigation run deep. Crimes and Punishments features a triptych of essays reflecting on the lasting impact of the inquiry.
The narratives that have shaped Australia’s contemporary judicial system are as complex as the crimes that underpin them. These stories embody experiences from violation and incarceration to survival and reform; they play out in courtrooms, detention centres and prisons, in native forests and family homes. This provides insightful and robust discussion about the challenges of justice and retribution.
