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 seeks to reveal and contest the role of criminal justice systems in maintaining social hierarchies and marginalising vulnerable groups.
Key Points
Critical Criminology
Main Proponents: Ian Taylor, Paul Walton, Jock Young, Richard Quinney, Fritz Sack, Carol Smart
First Published: 1970s
Country: United Kingdom, United States, Germany
Core Idea: CrimeActs or omissions that violate criminal laws and are punishable by the state. is not an objective fact but a social construct shaped by power relations, inequality, and conflict. The criminal justice system maintains social hierarchies by defining and controlling deviance.
Foundation for: Marxist CriminologyThe scientific study of crime, criminal behavior, prevention, and societal reactions to deviance within and beyond the criminal justice system., Feminist CriminologyA criminological perspective that examines how gender and patriarchy shape crime, justice, and social control., Labelling Approaches, Green CriminologyA branch of criminology that examines environmental harm and ecological justice., Postcolonial Criminology, Abolitionist Perspectives
Theory
Critical criminology emerged in the late 1960s and 1970s as a response to the limitations of mainstream criminology, which it saw as overly focused on individual pathology and supportive of the status quo. Influenced by Marxist theory, conflict sociology, and critical theory more broadly, critical criminologists argue that crime is not simply a violation of objective norms but the result of social processes that reflect and reinforce existing power structures.
Unlike positivist approaches, which aim to identify individual or social causes of offending, critical criminology interrogates how laws are created, enforced, and interpreted in ways that serve dominant interests. It analyses how state institutions exercise power, how the media shapes public perceptions of crime, and how criminal justice systems systematically target and marginalise the poor, racialised groups, and other subordinated populations.
Critical criminology also integrates insights from labelling theory, but goes beyond its original symbolic interactionist focus on social reactions and attributions. While classic labelling theory highlighted how deviant identities emerge through processes of social definition and stigma, critical criminology examines who has the power to define deviance, whose interests these definitions serve, and how labelling reproduces structural inequalities. In this way, critical criminology connects the micro-level insights of labelling theory to macro-level analyses of class conflict, state power, and ideology.
Over time, critical criminology has diversified into multiple intersecting strands:
- Marxist criminology analyses crime in the context of capitalist exploitation, class relations, and ideological control.
- Feminist criminology examines the gendered dimensions of crime, victimisation, and criminal justice, highlighting patriarchy and intersectionality.
- Green criminology explores environmental harms, corporate crimes, and the failure of legal systems to address ecological destruction.
- Postcolonial criminology interrogates the legacy of imperialism, racism, and global inequality in shaping crime definitions and control practices.
- Abolitionist perspectives advocate for dismantling punitive institutions and envision transformative alternatives to punishment and incarceration.
These approaches share a commitment to exposing how the criminal justice system serves to maintain existing social orders, and to imagining more just and equitable ways of responding to harm and conflict.
Left RealismLeft Realism emerged in the UK in the 1980s as a critical response both to mainstream criminology and to earlier radical criminology. While sharing the radical critique of inequality and power relations, Left Realists argued that earlier critical approaches neglected the real, everyday impact of crime on working-class communities.
Key figures like Jock Young, John Lea, and Roger Matthews insisted that crime is not only a social construction imposed by the powerful, but also a material problem that disproportionately harms the disadvantaged. Left Realism calls for a “square of crime” approach, examining the relationships between offenders, victims, the state, and the public to understand crime holistically.
Left Realists advocate for practical, democratic crime control policies that address both social inequalities (which generate offending) and community safety (which reduces victimisation). This includes measures like community policing, improved social services, and policies to reduce poverty and marginalisation—rejecting both punitive “law and order” politics and radical criminology’s tendency to dismiss crime as merely ideological.
Critical Appraisal & Relevance
Critical criminology has been praised for bringing power, inequality, and social conflict into the centre of criminological analysis—issues that mainstream criminology often ignored. It has broadened the scope of inquiry to include state crime, corporate crime, environmental harms, and systemic racism. By asking whose interests are served by criminal law and punishment, it offers essential tools for understanding the role of criminal justice in maintaining social divisions.
Notably, concepts that were once considered radical—such as the idea that crime is not an objective given but the result of social definitions and labelling processes—have become widely accepted in contemporary criminology. Today, recognising the socially constructed nature of crime is almost common sense in academic discourse, demonstrating the lasting influence of critical perspectives even as debates continue over their interpretation and scope.
However, critics argue that critical criminology can become overly theoretical and vague about practical reforms. Some warn that its focus on ideology and structural critique risks losing empirical grounding. Others note that calls for systemic transformation face significant political and institutional resistance. Despite these tensions, critical criminology remains highly relevant in the context of mass incarceration, racialised policing, global inequality, and environmental crisis.
Further Reading & Resources
- Quinney, Richard (1974). Critique of Legal Order: Crime Control in Capitalist Society. Boston: Little, Brown.
- Taylor, Ian; Walton, Paul; Young, Jock (1973). The New Criminology: For a Social Theory of Deviance. London: Routledge.
- Friedrichs, David O. (2009). Critical Criminology: Understanding Crime in Its Global Context. Waveland Press.
- Smart, Carol (1976). Women, Crime and Criminology. London: Routledge.
- Tittle, Charles (1975). “Whose Side Are We On?” Criminology 13(3): 316–326.
- DeKeseredy, Walter S. (2010). Contemporary Critical Criminology. Routledge.
Videos & Podcasts
External Resource: For readers who want an accessible yet academically grounded introduction, this Open University module offers an excellent overview of critical criminology. It covers key concepts, debates, and historical developments, making it a valuable starting point for anyone exploring how power, inequality, and social conflict shape crime and justice.
