Sociology & Criminology for a Changing World
With Tearing Down the Streets, American sociologist and criminologist Jeff Ferrell published a work in 2001 that is exemplary of Cultural Criminology. In this book, Ferrell examines how urban spaces are transformed into zones of conflict through practices like graffiti, skateboarding, and punk music—spaces where state control, economic interests, and subcultural resistance collide. The book
Goffman’s Perspective: From Visible Deviance to Social Exclusion In Stigma, Erving Goffman explores the mechanisms by which societies mark individuals whose appearance, behavior, or background is considered deviant from social norms. A stigma is not an inherent attribute, but rather a social judgment that is ascribed to a person. Physical stigmas (e.g., visible disabilities) Character-related
White Collar Crime, first published in 1949, is considered a groundbreaking work in criminology. In this study, Edwin H. Sutherland not only coined the term “white collar crime” but also expanded the definition of crime to include offenses committed by upper-class individuals in the context of their professional roles. He criticized the prevailing criminological focus
Introduction Norms and values are foundational concepts in sociology, describing the shared rules, expectations, and moral ideals that guide behavior in society. Values explain what is considered good or desirable, while norms specify how to act in given situations. Together, they shape social order, cohesion, and cultural change. Understanding their definitions, types, and real-world examples
With his essay “Social Structure and Anomie”, published in 1949 in the volume Social Theory and Social Structure, Robert K. Merton presented a key text of modern sociology. The essay first appeared in 1938 in the American Sociological Review, but is best known from its extensively revised versions in Merton’s Social Theory and Social Structure
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