Sociology & Criminology for a Changing World
Criminology is built on a set of fundamental concepts that provide the analytical tools to understand crime, criminal justice, and social responses to deviance. These key concepts in criminology form the foundation for both theoretical debates and practical applications in law, policing, and policy-making. They allow us to ask not only why crimes occur, but
With his work Folk Devils and Moral Panics (1972), Stanley Cohen created a classic of critical criminology and media analysis. Building on the Labelling Approach, he examines how societies, in times of perceived threat, symbolically charge, demonize in the media, and politically combat certain groups. Cohen describes these processes as “moral panics” – collective reactions
This section presents key works in criminology that go beyond classical theories of crime. The selected texts are theoretically rich, interdisciplinary, and have had a lasting impact on criminological debate. They cover central themes such as social control, criminal law, policing, surveillance, social inequality, and deviant identities. Classics & Foundational Texts in Criminology W. E.
Frank Tannenbaum’s concept of “tagging”, developed in his 1938 work Crime and the Community, is widely regarded as a foundational contribution to labelling theory. Long before Howard Becker or Edwin Lemert formalized the labelling approach, Tannenbaum argued that crime is not simply a quality of the act itself but emerges through social reactions and the
Biological theories of crime explain criminal behavior by reference to genetic, neurological, physiological, and evolutionary factors at the level of the individual. They focus on individual predispositions and biological processes that may increase the likelihood of offending. Unlike sociological approaches that emphasize social structures or cultural norms, biological theories examine how processes within the body
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is an approach to crime prevention that emphasizes the design and management of built environments to reduce opportunities for crime and increase perceived safety. Rather than focusing primarily on offender rehabilitation or punitive deterrence, CPTED seeks to shape environments in ways that discourage criminal behavior while encouraging legitimate use