Sociology & Criminology for a Changing World
Defensible Space Theory is an influential approach within environmental criminology that argues architectural design and urban planning can significantly influence crime and social control. Developed by architect and urban planner Oscar Newman in the early 1970s, the theory proposes that residential environments can be designed in ways that encourage territoriality, natural surveillance, and collective responsibility,
At first glance, children’s television appears harmless: colorful characters, simple narratives, clear conflicts. From a sociological perspective, however, children’s TV series are anything but trivial. They construct model worlds in which children learn what is considered “normal” – which family forms, occupations, conflicts, gender roles, and forms of authority are taken for granted. Children’s series
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
Policing does not simply mean the police. While the police are the most visible and influential agents of policing, the term refers more broadly to the diverse practices and institutions through which authority is exercised to maintain security, enforce laws, and regulate everyday life. Social order, in turn, describes the stability of social interactions, guided
Criminal justice refers to the institutions, processes, and practices by which societies respond to crime, including policing, courts, and corrections. Due process, by contrast, is the principle that ensures the protection of individual rights and liberties against arbitrary state power. Together, they reflect one of the central tensions of modern legal systems: the balance between
Against Prediction: Profiling, Policing, and Punishing in an Actuarial Age (2007) is one of the key works by Bernard E. Harcourt and a foundational analysis of contemporary actuarial justice. Harcourt critiques the growing reliance on statistical risk assessment in criminal justice—particularly through police profiling, predictive policing, and risk-based sentencing. The book is a sharp critique