Paul Walton was a British sociologist and criminologist, best known for his collaboration on The New Criminology and his work in media and cultural studies. A prominent figure in the field of critical criminology, Walton was also a co-author of the influential study Policing the Crisis, which analyzed moral panics and media representations of crime in the UK. He worked at the University of Lancaster and later at the University of Liverpool, where he helped shape progressive criminological thought.
Walton emphasized the role of media, discourse, and moral panics in shaping public perceptions of crime. His work helped bridge criminology and cultural studies, drawing on Marxist theory and interactionism. As part of the New Criminology, Walton contributed to reframing deviance as a politically and ideologically contested concept, embedded in power relations and institutional dynamics.
