This article examines culture, an ambiguous yet prevalent concept in comparisons of crime and justice. It investigates the extent to which culture’s application and meaning across research reflects Western-centric bias in criminological knowledge-production despite it being a concept meant to advance understanding on different groups and places beyond the “Western” worldview. The article extends the discussion on Western-centric bias but also on culture in criminology by tracing the use of this concept on East Asian populations and by identifying patterns of application and meaning in international and comparative research through a scoping review of 230 journal publications. The findings address patterns of culture’s appearance in criminology journals in the past two decades and its meaning. Similar to previous scholarship on Western-centrism in criminology, the article finds that this bias does, too, exist in uses of culture but also shows how culture’s conceptual ambiguity is conducive to this bias, in that some groups and places are given one meaning of culture while others receive another.

Researchers and policy-makers interested in the needs of the frail elderly in community and institutional settings have had limited success in forming policy based on empirical evidence. The reasons for this have included a variety of organizational and political considerations (e.g., lack of effective communication mechanisms), conceptual and methodological issues (e.g., problems with reliability and validity of existing data sources) and limitations in knowledge (e.g., lack of longitudinal data across health care sectors). The Minimum Data Set (MDS) series of instruments may prove useful in dealing with these difficulties. The MDS instruments have multiple uses for different audiences (e.g., care provision, funding and quality improvement). Extensive international testing has shown the MDS to be valid and reliable, and translations are available in 11 different languages. As implementation of the MDS begins in Canada, a number of new concerns will need to be addressed (e.g., confidentiality and access to data).

The interest in preventive approaches to the health problems of older persons has increased substantially in recent years, partly in response to escalating health care costs. The present paper involves a critical examination of the potential usefulness of preventive home visits in the Canadian context in light of demonstration projects in other jurisdictions. The paper concludes with recommendations for Canadian research on the use of preventive home visits.