Concepts for the Revitalisation of Critical Criminology
| Published date | 01 September 2021 |
| Author | VINCENZO RUGGIERO |
| Date | 01 September 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12407 |
The Howard Journal Vol60 No 3. September 2021 DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12407
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 290–303
Concepts for the Revitalisation
of Critical Criminology
VINCENZO RUGGIERO
Professor of Sociology, Middlesex University
Abstract: What survives of the notions, principles and values of critical criminology?
Faced with contexts that could not be more dramatically different from those fostering
critical approaches to crime and its control, what is left of the radical theories and prac-
tical initiatives that characterised it in the 1970s? This article does not offer a history of
critical criminology or a survey of contemporary debates in the area. Rather, it suggests
a number of concepts in the form of variables (or thematic areas) through which novel
critical views of crime and its control can be elaborated. Throughout, the article will refer
to the contribution of early critical criminology only in relation to the concepts proposed.
Keywords: distance; mercy; power; proximity; troublemakers
Critical criminology is said to be more relevant today than it has ever been
in the past decades. Allegedly, this is because of the increasing awareness
that crime and processes of criminalisation are rooted in the core structures
of society (DeKeseredy 2011; DeKeseredy and Dragiewicz 2018). However,
such awareness may be insufficient to connote critical criminologists. Sev-
eral mainstream scholars, in fact, would focus on structural issues and ac-
cept the existence of a link between crime, criminalisation and the social
context in which these take shape.
A recent attempt to revitalise critical criminology has proposed to qualify
this school of theoretical and empirical inquiry with the adjective ‘alterna-
tive’. Hence the proposed distinction between conservative and critical al-
ternative criminology,the latter aiming at the deconstruction of ‘the mean-
ings of crime and criminal justice so as to expose the relationships between
social structural inequalities, criminal justice, laws and human identities’
(Carlen and França 2018, p.4). But again, the term ‘alternative criminol-
ogy’, we are warned, could well apply to reactionary counter-reformers
who advocate savage punishments and gross violations of human rights.
Frequently, the adjective ‘alternative’ is followed by the pluralised ‘crimi-
nologies’, which not only engage in providing competing interpretations
email: V.Ruggiero@mdx.ac.uk
290
C
2021 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
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