From crime science to the crime of science

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an honest and critical reflection with regard to the damage neoliberalised education systems have had on the “crime science” of criminology in Spain.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a viewpoint based on our experience of teaching criminology and researching crime problems in Spain.FindingsWe argue that the neoliberalisation of education systems results in a “crime of science” in the sense that this produces rampant competition between university institutions which is amplified by the emergence of internal and external corporate enterprises who compete against each other in commodifying knowledge around crime which is largely focussed on a combination of statistical measurements and zonal mapping. This results in the reproduction of misleading conceptions about how crime occurs because the research is not grounded in offenders’ experiences and pays no attention to the political economy, power and corruption and the oscillating relationship between agent and social structure. This has negative implications for the development of critical knowledge which should equip we to reconceptualise how and why social problems occur.Practical implicationsThese infractions have major implications on how we are able to report on crime problems.Social implicationsAs researchers/students, the authors are only able “diagnose problems” and answer questions and lose the capacity to question the answers as well as question the way the authors question.Originality/valueWe do not think that many criminologists would be prepared to write these words (unless it was being published in a high-impact factor journal).