Fulbright Specialist to speak at Monash
Professor Marjorie Zatz
Immigration policy and its potentially positive effects on crime will be the focus of a public lecture by an academic from the US, this month.
Professor Marjorie Zatz, currently a visiting Senior Fulbright Specialist at Monash University, will present the inaugural Criminological Horizons Public Lecture on Criminalisation, Racialisation, Victimisation: The future of immigration policy in a rapidly changing world.
Professor Zatz will discuss the common belief that the restriction of immigration would lessen crime committed by immigrants and examine whether, and how, the flood of legislation has placed immigrants at greater risk of victimisation and exploitation.
“My research has found a surge in legislation designed to restrict immigration with the belief it will reduce crimes committed by immigrants. However, there is a growing consensus among criminologists in the US that immigration in actual fact reduces crime rates,” Professor Zatz said.
“I will focus primarily on patterns in the United States, but will also discuss the patterns in other regions including Australia and Europe to see if an understanding of social histories has influenced the outcomes."
Dr Leanne Weber from the School of Political and Social Inquiry said the lecture would allow those with an interest in immigration policy reform, criminology, and global change more broadly, to gain an understanding of the consequences of specific laws, policies, and practices.
Professor Zatz is Professor of Justice and Social Inquiry at Arizona State University. Her research and teaching focuses on immigration policy, criminal court processing and sanctioning, and the social issues of race and gender.
The free public lecture will be held at Monash University’s Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale St Melbourne from 6 – 7pm on Tuesday 13 March, 2012.
RSVP is essential to sharon.elliott@monash.edu or by phone on (03) 9905 4698
For full details, please see the Monash website.