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
Crime is a highly emotional topic. Media reports, political debates, and everyday conversations create images of crime that are often distorted or exaggerated. Criminology, however, shows that many of these perceptions are myths. The following section presents twelve widespread myths about crime and critically discusses them.
Cultural Criminology: An Invitation Cultural Criminology: An Invitation, first published in 2008 by Jeff Ferrell, Keith J. Hayward, and Jock Young, represents the first comprehensive foundational work on cultural criminology. The book functions as a programmatic introduction, a theoretical systematization, and an academic manifesto of a perspective that views crime not merely as a rule
The Politics of the Police (first published in 1985, fourth edition in 2010) is arguably the most influential work by British criminologist Robert Reiner. As the standard English-language reference on policing, the book offers a comprehensive analysis of the British police system—its historical development, political governance, and social function. Reiner’s work exemplifies a critical approach
Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State and Law and Order (1978) by Stuart Hall and his co-authors is a groundbreaking work in critical criminology and cultural studies. In their analysis of the “mugging” discourse in 1970s Britain, the authors compellingly demonstrate how crime operates as a social construct—politically manufactured, amplified by the media, and ideologically
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