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Subject:Re: Tech Comm and Criminal Justice? From:"Michael A. Lewis" <lewism -at- BRANDLE -dot- COM -dot- AU> Date:Sat, 1 Nov 1997 21:10:36 +1100
Amy Emge wrote:
>
> I would be interested to hear opinions or receive information about the
> relationship between technical communication and criminology. Can
> (does) technical communication serve a purpose within the criminal
> justice system?
The replies I've seen so far restore my faith in human cynicism. I would
add this: _Any_ kind of communication has a part to play in criminology.
Crime is about people and relationships between people. Some of those
relationships have a technical basis (like whose fault is it if I
electrocute myself while following the instructions to replace a
component in an electrical system?) -- though there's often overlap
between tortious (civil) fault and criminal negligence. Most of the
time, analysis of relevant textual materials will be done by forensic
linguists, but TC still lies at the root of the problem. That means that
people like us have a contribution to make to solving problems, as well
as causing them :-).
--
Michael Lewis
Brandle Pty Limited, Sydney, Australia
: PO Box 1249 : Suite 8, The Watertower :
: Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012 : 1 Marian St, Redfern 2016 :
: Tel +61-2-9310-2224 : Fax +61-2-9310-5056 :