Sociology & Criminology for a Changing World
Sanctions are central to criminology as they represent society’s formal response to crime and deviance. They include a broad range of measures, from fines and community service to imprisonment and the death penalty. Sanctions not only aim to prevent and punish offending but also reflect deeper questions of justice, legitimacy, and social control. This article
Prisons are among the most visible and contested institutions of modern societies. They represent the state’s ultimate power to deprive individuals of liberty, justified in the name of justice, order, and security. Yet the prison is not a timeless or natural institution: it emerged historically under specific social, political, and cultural conditions. In criminology and
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.
Thinking About Crime, published in 2004 by American criminologist Michael Tonry, offers a scathing critique of punitive crime control policies in the United States. Building on decades of policy analysis and empirical research, Tonry dismantles the assumptions underpinning the “tough on crime” agenda and argues for a more rational, evidence-based approach to criminal justice. The
Crime Control as Industry: Towards GULAGS, Western Style? is one of the most influential works in critical criminology. Published in 1993 by Norwegian criminologist Nils Christie, the book delivers a stark critique of modern penal systems, particularly the alarming growth of incarceration in Western democracies. Christie likens the penal apparatus to a profit-oriented industry and
The Illusion of Free Markets (2011) is a seminal work in critical legal studies and penal policy. Legal scholar and political theorist Bernard E. Harcourt reveals how the notion of the “free market” is ideologically constructed—and how closely this neoliberal order is intertwined with a repressive penal system. Harcourt exposes the idea of a minimally