Sociology & Criminology for a Changing World
Serial murder fascinates, terrifies—and has dominated pop culture for years: Netflix documentaries like Monster: The Ed Gein Story or Dahmer break viewership records, while podcasts and true-crime formats attract millions. But beyond media sensationalism, what lies behind the phenomenon of serial killing? This article offers a criminological-sociological approach to one of the most extreme forms
Critical criminology is not a single, unified theory but an approach that analyses crime, law, and criminal justice as deeply embedded in social power relations. It challenges conventional criminology’s focus on individual offenders by examining how inequality, state power, and ideological control shape definitions of crime and practices of punishment. At its core, critical criminology
Theories within this category approach crime as a culturally and emotionally meaningful form of social action. Rejecting explanations that reduce crime to structural deprivation, individual pathology, or rational calculation, these perspectives emphasize the situated meanings, symbolic dimensions, and affective dynamics that shape both criminal behaviour and the societal responses to it. Crime is thus understood
Critical, Marxist and Conflict theories in criminology offer a fundamental critique of traditional crime theories that focus on individual pathology or socialisation failures. Instead of asking why individuals offend in isolation, these perspectives explore how definitions of crime, mechanisms of control, and punishment practices are shaped by social inequalities, power structures, and historical conflicts. They
Theories of crime are scientific theories that provide individual or societal explanations for normative deviant behaviour. But what exactly constitutes a scientific theory? What is a theory? The sciences are concerned with theories. But what exactly is a theory? Of course, we all have an idea of what a theory is. In our everyday life
Welcome to SozTheo.com: Criminology and Sociology in English We are pleased to introduce SozTheo.com – a dedicated, fully English-language platform for the study of criminology and sociology. Our mission is to provide students, educators, and researchers worldwide with clear, accessible, and well-structured resources on complex theories, essential concepts, and foundational texts. Why SozTheo.com? Previously, readers