Meeting Minutes

Minutes of ASC Workshops and Intensive Meetings, 1992-1996, 2006-20007
Summary of Decisions Made in Business Meetings (1)

Business Meeting Minutes

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1996 Site: Invitations were considered from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Loyola University Chicago, the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, and Rand Corporation in Santa Monica. The consensus was to go to Rand in 1996 and to the FBI Academy in 1997.

Mail Ballot, 1996

The group voted 89 to 13 to contract with Sage to have a Homicide Studies journal , and to raise the dues to include the journal subscription. After lengthy review by a 12-person Publications Committee, the contract was signed on April 13, 1996.

1996: RAND Corporation, Santa Monica

Organized by Alan Abrahamse, Carole Ocken and Peter Greenwood, the Santa Monica meeting had 61 people and took place at the RAND Corporation. It featured discussion sessions with area practitioners and policy makers. To increase the recording of participant discussions, we had a "Recorder" for each session, who recorded the discussions for the Proceedings.

HRWG Status

We had 380 people on the mailing list, and 140 paid members. The newsletter is now being distributed and partially supported by Sam Houston State University. Editors are Kim Vogt and Vicky Brewer. The first and second years of the Proceedings are sold out, but will be scanned and put on the Web. Ottawa proceedings are not ready. Pam Lattimore is coordinating the proceedings for 1996. Dick and Becky Block will organize a Workshop session at the ASC in November, 1996.

Decisions

Dues: The group voted to raise dues to $50. This includes subscription to the journal, which costs US nonmembers $32. Passed with 5 opposed, 2 abstentions.

Editorial board: The members voted to establish an Editorial Board for the Homicide Studies journal. Editorial Board members should be members of the HRWG. However, the editor can waive this rule in exceptional cases.

Student rate: The group considered having a special student rate, but decided against it. We want to be as inclusive as possible, for example, of practitioners as well as academics. Some practitioners and others have low incomes, but are not students.

Tax exempt status: Following a point raised by Pam Lattimore, the members decided that we need to become incorporated in order to obtain tax exempt status. Leigh Bienen and Ann Lee offered to look into this.

Relation between the Proceedings and Homicide Studies: Works published in the Proceedings are works in progress, and not reviewed. Therefore, there is not conflict between publishing earlier and later versions of an article in the two publications.

1997 Site: After considered invitations from Ann Arbor, Florida, the ATF and Huntsville, the group decided to accept the invitation of Joe Vince and Gerry Nunziato to hold the 1997 meeting hosted by the Firearms Division Tracing Center of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in Shepherdstown, WV, pending the answers to questions about accessibility and whether there is space to hold a meeting of 70 people in a circle. A committee headed by John Jarvis will look into these issues and make a decision.

1995: Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada, Ottawa

Organized by Orest Fedorowycz, the meeting held at Statistics Canada had about 60 participants, and featured field trips to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) labs. Innovations this year were a poster/display/literature session in which the displays were "up" for the entire meeting, a long, kick-the-tires session about the development, methods, and policy implications of a single project - the Violence against Women survey, and five-page summaries of presentations mailed to participants prior to the meeting.

HRWG Status

HRWG had 154 members in good standing in June, 1995. Marc Riedel volunteered to edit the Ottawa Proceedings, which will be published by NIJ with Pam Lattimore overseeing the publishing procedures. Kim Vogt continues to edit the newsletter, Dick Block to coordinate the telecommunications network, Cheryl Maxson to act as treasurer, and Becky Block to handle requests for information from members and prospective members. Dick and Becky Block will organize a Workshop session at the ASC in November, 1995.

Decisions

Membership interest surveys: The interest survey database, developed by David Curry, needs to be updated, and it also would be good to develop and send out a revised survey. Neil Weiner has volunteered to do this, and the group approved.

Homicide Workshop: Neil Weiner proposed to coordinate with HRWG to hold a second annual homicide workshop, as part of a proposal to NSF. The group decided that it would be better not to support any specific NSF proposal.

CDC conference on National Violence Prevention: HRWG has been invited to participate in this conference in October, 1995. Reneau Kennedy volunteered to organize the session.

Journal: Dwayne Smith presented a proposal for a journal of Homicide Studies, and reviewed the status of negotiations with Sage. Dwayne was urged to find out about other publications. Sage would probably require HRWG members to buy subscriptions. This would raise membership dues, which might hurt the inclusiveness of the group. The group decided that the committee should draft a proposal to be mailed to all members in good standing for a vote on the issue.

CDC letter: Dan Lockwood raised with the group that political efforts are being made to limit the research the CDC can do on violence. A committee chaired by Roland Chilton and John Jarvis drafted a letter to be sent from the HRWG to John Porter, the chair of the US House Committee on Appropriations, in support of the CDC and the Division of Violence Prevention. Members considered and approved the letter, which was prepared, mailed, and published in the next HRWG Newsletter.

1994 site: We accepted that kind invitation of Jim Mercy and Arthur Kellerman to hold our meeting at Atlanta and the Centers for Disease Control.

1994: Centers for Disease Control and Emory University, Atlanta

Organized by Bob Flewelling and hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and Emory University, this meeting had 90 participants, including many from outside the US. Despite the large number, we sat around a circle and participated in energetic discussions. We had a field trip to CNN as well as a special session on working with the media, and had a poster/display/literature session for the first time this year.

HRWG Status

The 1993 Proceedings were published by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), with Becky and Dick Block editing the volume and Pam Lattimore overseeing the publication. The team will also work on the proceedings for the Atlanta meeting. NIJ continued to provide some start-up funds, but this will end with this year. Kim Vogt continued to edit the newsletter, Dick Block takes care of the network, Cheryl Maxson is the treasurer, and Becky Block works with the membership. Dick and Becky Block will organize a Workshop session at the ASC in November, 1994.

Decisions

Meeting format: Again, members called for more discussion, and voted down concurrent sessions. An innovation in Atlanta was a policy to allow the speakers to present for only half the time of each session.

1995 Site: We accepted the invitation of Orest Fedorowycz to hold our 1995 meeting in Ottawa at the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.

1994 ASC Meeting

Members approved a motion to explore the idea of starting a journal devoted to the study of homicide. A committee, with Dwayne Smith and Jay Corzine as co-chairs volunteered to look into the idea.

1993: FBI Academy, Quantico, Virginia

This meeting, attended by 60 people, was organized by Roland Reboussin. It featured many practical, hands-on workshops and tutorials by FBI Academy staff.

HRWG Status

Kim Vogt volunteered to edit the newsletter. Cheryl Maxson, the treasurer, had established a bank account in the HRWG name. The 1992 Proceedings were edited by Becky and Dick Block and published by NIJ, with Pam Lattimore overseeing the publication. The same team will work on the 1993 Proceedings. Dick and Becky Block will organize a Workshop session at the ASC in November, 1993. David Curry is organizing the membership "interest surveys," and presented a review to the group.

Decisions

Organizational structure confirmed: The principle decisions made as the 1992 meeting, including the goals of the group and the membership policy, were confirmed by acclamation.

Plenary sessions: Discussion continued about ways to increase participation in discussions at the intensive workshops. A suggestion to have one or more consecutive session was strongly opposed by the group. All sessions at the Atlanta meeting should be plenary. In addition, at least half of the session time should be devoted to group discussion.

Press releases: A member suggested that the HRWG publish regular or occasional press releases on key topics. However, after discussions over a span of several days, the members voted not to have press releases, as they would not be in keeping with the goals of the group. We want to encourage free discussion, interaction, and the expression of a variety of views. In addition, we do not want to exclude from membership people whose work would prevent them from being active in a group that might be considered political.

Media tutorial: The group agreed that we should become better educated regarding the media, as well as ways of connecting research to policy. Therefore, we decided to organize a tutorial session of the media at the Atlanta meeting.

1992: Charter Workshop, National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, Ann Arbor

Thirty people attended the charter annual meeting hosted by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD). NIJ also helped to support the meeting, provided support for some startup organizational costs, and agreed to publish the Proceedings of the annual seminars. John Campbell invited HRWG to hold the 1993 seminar at the FBI Academy in Quantico, and the group accepted with enthusiasm. There was considerable discussion at the meeting about how to organize the Quantico meeting so that there would be a maximum amount of group discussion and participation. Cheryl Maxson volunteered to act as treasurer, and Rick Rosenfeld and Scott Decker volunteered to produce the newsletter. In addition, sessions were being planned for the ASC and the ACJS.

Organizational Decisions at the Charter Workshop

Name: The name of the group is the Homicide Research Working Group. In deciding in favor of "homicide" versus "violence," the feeling of the group was that, because lethal violence cannot be studied with data about homicide alone, any investigation of homicide necessarily includes both lethal and nonlethal violence.

Purposes:

• generate a strong working relationship among homicide researchers,

• encourage efficient sharing of techniques for measuring and analyzing homicide

• promote improved data quality, support the linking of diverse homicide data sources, and support the maintenance of databases that are comparable over time and place,

• foster collaborative, interdisciplinary research on lethal and nonlethal violence,

• forge links between research and practical programs to reduce levels of mortality from violence,

• create and maintain a communication network among those collecting, maintaining and analyzing homicide datasets.

Membership: Membership in the Homicide Research Working Group is open to anyone who agrees with the above goals, and pays a ten-dollar annual membership fee.

Affiliation: The HRWG is interdisciplinary, which means that there should be no explicit or implied compulsion for a HRWG member to also be a member of any other group. (2) However, we encourage association between the HRWG and a wide variety of other academic or professional groups. For example, sessions like the HRWG session at the ASC could be held at the meetings of many other organizations, and announcements in our newsletter should include activities of interest from many disciplines.

Structure: The operation of the Homicide Research Working Group is guided by a Steering Committee, consisting of anyone who is willing to do the work. (3)

Sub-Committees: The HRWG formed two subcommittees. A Planning Grant Proposal Committee, coordinated by Margaret Zahn, was to develop a planning grant to make coordinated use of data that have been collected in different studies nationwide. The Data Needs Committee, coordinated by Rick Rosenfeld, was to explore how homicide researchers could participate in the development of the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

In addition to these organizational decisions, Derral Cheatwood recorded three central topics discussed at length in the charter meeting: assessment and prevention, the role of the media, and the need for both acute and chronic intervention. For details, see the 1992 Proceedings, page 139.

1991: Charter Session, ASC

The 70 people attending the charter session of the HRWG, which was held at the American Society of Criminology meetings in November, 1991, represented a wide group of disciplines and included people from Sweden, Canada and Australia as well as the US.

Decisions

Organization: The attendees were strongly in favor of organizing a continuing "Homicide Research Working Group," which would meet twice a year in conjunction with the ASC annual meeting and again in early summer for a sustained two or three day period.

Purpose: The purpose of the Working Group would be to generate a stronger working relationship among homicide researchers, create and maintain a communication network, encourage more efficient sharing of techniques for measuring and analyzing homicide, promote the improvement of data quality and the linking of diverse homicide data sources, and foster collaborative, interdisciplinary and cross-cultural research.

Charter Workshop: Vicki Schneider generously invited the group to meet at the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data in Ann Arbor for an extended period in June, 1992.

Activities: There was a general agreement that the group should establish a telecommunications network, investigate funding, and establish cooperative relationships with agencies such as the Archive and the FBI Academy.

Shortly after the charter workshop, Pamela Lattimore talked informally with group members about the possibility of obtaining NIJ funding for the Ann Arbor meeting. By January, 1992, Richard Block had established a telecommunications network and the membership database included 154 people.

Footnotes

1. Compiled by Carolyn Rebecca Block in June, 1997, from minutes of the meetings.

2. We realize, however, that it was the American Society of Criminology (ASC), which itself is an interdisciplinary organization, that provided the home for our charter meeting in November, 1991, and that the ASC and the HRWG share many purposes and goals. Because of the importance of our interdisciplinary focus, it was decided that the HRWG could not be a "division" of the ASC, but that we would seek a link with the ASC as an affiliated organization. In principal, the HRWG could seek affiliation with other academic and professional groups.

3. The 1992 Steering Committee, with committee responsibilities, was the following: Carolyn Rebecca Block (Working Group coordinator, planning for ASC workshop and Quantico meeting, Proceedings editor, ASC liaison), Richard Block (Working Group coordinator, telecommunications network, membership, Proceedings editor, treasurer for expenditures and grant funds), Paul Goldstein, Jay Corzine, Cheryl Maxson (treasurer for dues), Chris Rasche (planning for ASC workshop and Quantico meeting), Jackie Campbell, Margaret Zahn, Rick Rosenfeld (newsletter, Quantico meeting planning), Scott Decker (newsletter), Derral Cheatwood (recording secretary, Quantico meeting planning).

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