Remembering Hal Pepinsky: the invention of peacemaking criminology

‘European criminology’ obviously means more than simply the collaborative efforts (on drugs, restorative justice, youth gangs) between researchers and scholars from Europe. In this essay, the author compares and contrasts American criminology with criminology in Europe (as it exists in individual countries), without aiming for the essence of ‘European criminology’. She points to differences between the US and Europe with regard to the ‘criminological enterprise’ (such as history, scale, degree of institutionalisation, accessibility, diversity in theory and method, the critical and self-reflexive stance, and focal research questions), and to the differences in ‘doing science’, ‘doing justice’, and ‘doing crime’. American criminology is a powerful influence in Europe, although there may be a tendency to overestimate the importance of American criminology, because of the dominance of English-language publications. American criminology has made many positive contributions to the field of the study of law, crime and social control, and it continues to do so. However, if one defines the essence of American criminology as being policy-oriented, methodologically-driven, and lacking theoretical lustre, diversity, and critical edge, then the fear of ‘Americanisation’ of European criminology is well-placed. It is not the criminological enterprise of the US per se, but rather the notion of ‘Americanisation’ which is really at issue here.

Criminal careers research is one of the bedrocks—if not the bedrock—of criminology. It remains a key focal point of criminological research and has embraced ideas and theories from sociology, psychology, psychiatry and urban and community studies. Despite the widening of the landscape of what might be termed ‘the criminological enterprise’ (to include victimology, prisons research, punishment, deterrence and environmental criminology), criminal careers (now differentiated into studies of onset, persistence and desistance) remains a key plank of criminology. This article critiques the research design of longitudinal studies of criminal careers, arguing that a key explanatory factor has been consistently overlooked in criminal careers research due, in part, to the research design of such studies. In focussing on the role of politically motivated changes to economic policies and the restructuring of the industrial base this produced, I empirically relate individual offending careers to politics in ways very few have done before. The article touches upon a series of suggestions for how empirical studies of criminal careers might be improved.

This chapter focuses on the early history of feminist explorations in criminology in the UK in particular, but with reference to developments elsewhere. The chapter discusses the achievements of early feminist perspectives in criminology and assesses their impact in terms of ‘transforming and transgressing’ the criminological enterprise. In particular, the author focuses on the case for transformations in traditional research methodologies and looks at the different ways in which feminist writers in criminology grappled with the question of how to produce good quality knowledge. The chapter takes a chronological approach, identifying developments pre-1960s in a phase which might be described as an ‘awakening’ and then describing initiatives in the 1960s and 1970s. The discovery that ‘woman’ was a conceptual term which could be incorporated into the criminological framework really took off in the 1970s with the publication of Carol Smart’s pioneering work. Notwithstanding faster developments in other disciplines, slowly, mainstream criminology took stock of feminism’s early claims.

This paper describes the achievements of feminist perspectives in criminology and explores their potential for transforming and transgressing' the criminological enterprise. In particular, the authors focus on the potential for transforming traditional research methodologies. Whilst feminist research methodologies are perhaps closely allied to those adopted by symbolic interactionists, the authors are keen to show how feminist approaches overcome some of the criticisms applied. They are also concerned to examine the validity of knowledge created through feminist perspectives and describe attempts to grapple with the question of how to produce good quality knowledge.

Sage Handbook of Criminological Theory; 'For any criminologist looking to make sense of recent developments in the field, this is the go-to book. In essays by leading specialists, it provides the latest updates on traditional theories whilst charting new directions. It also offers interpretive frameworks for criminology's current flux and fragmentation and closely examines relationships among theory, policy, and criminal justice practice. Invaluable and indispensible' - Nicole Rafter, Professor, Northeastern University. The SAGE Handbook of Criminological Theory re-centres theory in the boldest, most thought-provoking form possible within the criminological enterprise. Written by a team of internationally respected specialists, it provides readers with a clear overview of criminological theory, enabling them to reflect critically upon the variety of theoretical positions - traditional, emergent and desirable - that are constitutive of the discipline at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Each chapter has been specially commissioned to include the following: a brief historical overview of the theoretical perspective; core ideas and key associated concepts; a critical review of the contemporary status of the perspective; and, reflections on future developments. In addition the Handbook features a substantive introduction by the editors, providing a review of the development of criminological theory, the state of contemporary criminological theory and emergent issues and debates. The SAGE Handbook of Criminological Theory is an indispensable international resource for libraries and scholars of all levels studying the rapidly developing, interdisciplinary field of criminology.

An analysis of citations in introductory criminology textbooks: A research note

In July 1999, following charges of age falsification and forgery of university certificates, the Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives Salisu Buhari was impeached from office. What a section of the press called “Buhari-Gate” is emblematic of a wider phenomenon of document forgery, one that continues to be replicated in different forms locally and nationally, and in the public and private sectors in Nigeria. Underlying the numerous scandals is the “Oluwole” phenomenon. While the phenomenon predates 1999, its regularity and currency in the public domain in the aftermath of the return to civilian rule warrants further investigation (Bayart, Ellis, and Hibou, 1999: 109). With a few scattered exceptions, “Oluwole” has on the whole attracted an embarrassing silence from the criminological enterprise,1 except for occasional media sensationalism (13). The lack of systematic research raises suspicions that even members of the intelligentsia could perhaps be caught in the web of the Oluwole phenomenon.KeywordsHuman TraffickerWhite Collar CrimeStreet VendorTransnational CrimeAirline TicketThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

ABSTRACTUnderstandings of punishment within the criminological enterprise have failed to capture the nuances associated with experiencing punishment. Moreover, mainstream academic discourses are inherently anachronistic in their conclusions on punishment, thus leaving significant gaps to be filled. One such gap is that of racialized history. This article attempts to make sense of punishment discourses (past and present) by situating them in their proper context. We argue that punishment, in particular for Blacks, is ideological and longstanding. Moreover, we posit that the prolonged punishment of Blacks is hypermanifested in contemporary society via neoliberal logics that have increasingly disabled race as a central focal point in punishment discourses (in both political and academic contexts). We use established literature to bolster arguments and conclude with suggestions for future research.

Although perhaps useful in inspiring creative inquiries, this essay argues that human agency should not be embraced as criminology’s single background assumption or be its organizing concept. Positivist study of causality cannot be avoided if the criminological enterprise is to be scientific, to take seriously developmental processes across the life course, and to be the basis for progressive interventions. Rather than embrace the limiting conception of human agency, scholars should create the new field of cognitive criminology that explores offender thinking and the subjective side of offending. Ray Paternoster’s many contributions would form a solid foundation for this undertaking.

The Criminological Enterprise: Theories and Perspectives

The number of students studying criminology at university has significantly increased. Yet, criminology students have been all but ignored in research, despite being key stakeholders and ambassadors in the criminological enterprise. Drawing on the analysis of 12 in-depth interviews, we explore why students are motivated to study criminology and how these motivations are linked to their past experiences and future aspirations. Using a narrative inquiry, three types of stories emerged through our analysis: stories about (1) building on existing interests, (2) understanding the ‘self’, and (3) securing ‘justice’ and ‘helping’ others. The stories students tell about their exposure to ‘crime’ help motivate their decision to study criminology, while their engagement with the discipline, enables them to make sense of these previous experiences and of themselves.

The SAGE Handbook of Criminological Theory recenters theory in the boldest, most thought-provoking form possible within the criminological enterprise. Written by a team of internationally respected specialists, it provides readers with a clear overview of criminological theory, enabling them to reflect critically upon the variety of theoretical positions - traditional, emergent and desirable - that are constitutive of the discipline at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Each chapter has been specially commissioned to include the following: A¢â,¬Â¢A brief historical overview of the theoretical perspective A¢â,¬Â¢Core ideas and key associated concepts A¢â,¬Â¢A critical review of the contemporary status of the perspective A¢â,¬Â¢Reflections on future developments In addition, the Handbook features a substantive introduction by the editors, providing a review of the development of criminological theory, the state of contemporary criminological theory and emergent issues and debates.

Crimes of globalization and the criminological enterprise The path to crimes of globalization: underlying

This article examines an entrepreneurial criminology of mass political violencewithin the broader set of criminological communications on this theme, and identifies some troubling dimensions of the criminological closures on which the enterprise rests. The criminological enterprise over mass political violence testifies to ambitions of external expansion at the expense of other social scientific analyses, that are represented as ill-qualified for the study of this particular object, while evacuating from its conception of criminology intellectual traditions averse to the promotion of criminalization as a means to constitute and respond to troubling events. The normative values advanced in enterprising calls seem to have led to a failure to submit certain assumptions to rigorous intellectual (and political) critique. The result is an analytic conservatism that, perhaps unwittingly, reinforces dominant assumptions about crime, as well as an uncritical adoption of liberal internationalism and western cultural dominance.

The Criminological Enterprise: Theories and Perspectives