Doing 'green criminology': methodologies, research strategies and values (or lack thereof?)

Abstract

The development of green criminology has proceeded apace over the last 20 years, with a substantial increase in the number of commentators identifying themselves as working, researching and writing within the field. Evidence of this growth is to be found in the expanding volume of specialist texts, papers and conferences dedicated to the analysis of environmental crime and wider conceptions of environmental harm through a criminological lens. As our understanding of both the causes and the consequences of environmental change develop over the course of the 21st century, the challenges to be met by this still relatively new field can only increase. This being the case, now seems to be an opportune moment to focus reflexively on what it means to ‘do’ green criminological research from a methodological perspective, and such will be the key purpose of the present chapter.