NCJ Number
16092
Journal
Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume: 65 Issue: 2 Dated: (JUNE 1974) Pages: 206-213
Date Published
1974
Length
8 pages
Annotation
A DISCUSSION OF RECENT TRANSFORMATIONS OF FUNDAMENTAL PARADIGMS FOR INTERPRETING CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR, AND THE SOURCES, CONSEQUENCES, AND APPLICATIONS OF THIS NEW TREND IN CRIMINOLOGY.
Abstract
THE AUTHOR STATES THAT WHILE CRIMINAL LAW AND CRIMINOLOGY HAD TRADITIONALLY BEEN MAINTAINED AS SEPARATE FIELDS OF STUDY, CRIMINOLOGY HAS RECENTLY EXPANDED ITS SUBJECT MATTER TO THE STUDY OF CRIMINAL LAW. THIS EXPANDED FORM OF CRIMINOLOGY - DEFINED AS CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY BY THE AUTHOR - IS CHARACTERIZED BY SEVERAL NEW THEMES. AMONG THESE ARE A PROFOUND SKEPTICISM OF ANY INDIVIDUALISTIC THEORY OF CRIME CAUSATION, A SHIFT IN THE INTERPRETATION OF MOTIVES BEHIND THE ACTIONS OF THE AGENCIES THAT DEAL WITH CRIME, A QUESTIONING OF THE RIGHTFULNESS AND FOUNDATIONS OF CRIMINAL LAW, AND THE STUDY OF COLLECTION AND DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION ON THE INCIDENCE OF CRIME AS AN IMPORTANT VARIABLE IN ITS OWN RIGHT. AT THE HEART OF THIS ORIENTATION LIES THE PERSPECTIVE OF A STRATIFIED SOCIETY IN WHICH THE OPERATION OF CRIMINAL LAW IS A MEANS OF CONTROLLING THE POWERLESS BY THOSE IN POWER. SOCIAL FACTORS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY ARE TRACED, AND SOME OF THE DEFECTS IN THIS THEORY ARE EXAMINED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)