Reece Walters

Crime, Deviance and Society: An Introduction to Sociological Criminology offers a comprehensive introduction to criminological theory. The book introduces readers to key sociological theories, such as anomie and strain, and examines how traditional approaches have influenced the ways in which crime and deviance are constructed. It provides a nuanced account of contemporary theories and debates, and includes chapters covering feminist criminology, critical masculinities, cultural criminology, green criminology, and postcolonial theory, among others. Case studies in each chapter demonstrate how sociological theories can manifest within and influence the criminal justice system and social policy. Each chapter also features margin definitions and timelines of contributions to key theories, reflection questions and end-of-chapter questions that prompt students reflection. Written by an expert team of academics from Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, Crime, Deviance and Society is a highly engaging and accessible introduction to the field for students of criminology and criminal justice.

Criminology has focused mainly on problems of crime and violence in the large population centres of the Global North to the exclusion of the global countryside, peripheries and antipodes. Southern criminology is an innovative new approach that seeks to correct this bias.This book turns the origin stories of criminology, which simply assumed a global universality, on their head. It draws on a range of case studies to illustrate this point: tracing criminology’s long fascination with dangerous masculinities back to Lombroso’s theory of atavism, itself based on an orientalist interpretation of men of colour from the Global South; uncovering criminology’s colonial legacy, perhaps best exemplified by the over-representation of Indigenous peoples in settler societies drawn into the criminal justice system; analysing the ways in which the sociology of punishment literature has also been based on Northern theories, which assume that forms of penalty roll out from the Global North to the rest of the world; and making the case that the harmful effects of eco-crimes and global warming are impacting more significantly on the Global South. The book also explores how the coloniality of gender shapes patterns of violence in the Global South.Southern criminology is not a new sub-discipline within criminology, but rather a journey toward cognitive justice. It promotes a perspective that aims to invent methods and concepts that bridge global divides and enhance the democratisation of knowledge, more befitting of global criminology in the twenty-first century.

Criminology has focused mainly on problems of crime and violence in the large population centres of the Global North to the exclusion of the global countryside, peripheries and antipodes. Southern criminology is an innovative new approach that seeks to correct this bias.This book turns the origin stories of criminology, which simply assumed a global universality, on their head. It draws on a range of case studies to illustrate this point: tracing criminology’s long fascination with dangerous masculinities back to Lombroso’s theory of atavism, itself based on an orientalist interpretation of men of colour from the Global South; uncovering criminology’s colonial legacy, perhaps best exemplified by the over-representation of Indigenous peoples in settler societies drawn into the criminal justice system; analysing the ways in which the sociology of punishment literature has also been based on Northern theories, which assume that forms of penalty roll out from the Global North to the rest of the world; and making the case that the harmful effects of eco-crimes and global warming are impacting more significantly on the Global South. The book also explores how the coloniality of gender shapes patterns of violence in the Global South.Southern criminology is not a new sub-discipline within criminology, but rather a journey toward cognitive justice. It promotes a perspective that aims to invent methods and concepts that bridge global divides and enhance the democratisation of knowledge, more befitting of global criminology in the twenty-first century.

Water, Crime and Security in the Twenty-First Century represents criminology’s first book-length contribution to the study of water and water-related crimes, harms and security. The chapters cover topics such as: water pollution, access to fresh water in the Global North and Global South, water and climate change, the commodification of water and privatization, water security and pacification, and activism and resistance surrounding issues of access and pollution. With examples ranging from Rio de Janeiro to Flint, Michigan to the Thames River, this original study offers a comprehensive criminological overview of the contemporary and historical relationship between water and crime. Coinciding with the International Decade for Action, “Water for Sustainable Development,” 2018–2028, this timely volume will be of particular relevance to students and scholars of green criminology, as well as those interested in critical geography, environmental anthropology, environmental sociology, political ecology, and the study of corporate crime and state crime.

The GM debate has been ongoing for over a decade, yet it has been contained in the scientific world and presented in technical terms. Eco Crime and Genetically Modified Food brings the debates about GM food into the social and criminological arena.This book highlights the criminal and harmful actions of state and corporate officials. It concludes that corporate and political corruption, uncertain science, bitter public opposition, growing farmer concern and bankruptcy, irreversible damage to biodervisty, corporate monopolies and exploitation, disregard for social and cultural practices, devastation of small scale and local agricultural economies, imminent threats to organics, weak regulation, and widespread political and biotech mistrust – do not provide the bases for advancing and progressing GM foods into the next decade. Yet, with the backing of the WTO, the US and UK Governments march on – but at what cost to future generations?

The GM debate has been ongoing for over a decade, yet it has been contained in the scientific world and presented in technical terms. Eco Crime and Genetically Modified Food brings the debates about GM food into the social and criminological arena.This book highlights the criminal and harmful actions of state and corporate officials. It concludes that corporate and political corruption, uncertain science, bitter public opposition, growing farmer concern and bankruptcy, irreversible damage to biodervisty, corporate monopolies and exploitation, disregard for social and cultural practices, devastation of small scale and local agricultural economies, imminent threats to organics, weak regulation, and widespread political and biotech mistrust – do not provide the bases for advancing and progressing GM foods into the next decade. Yet, with the backing of the WTO, the US and UK Governments march on – but at what cost to future generations?

In this important and original book, Reece Walters examines the politics of criminology and the ways in which criminological knowledge is generated. It includes an overview of the politics and practice of conducting criminological research (drawing upon material from Britain, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the USA), and the ways that regulatory and governing authorities set research agendas, manipulate the processes and production of knowledge and silence or suppress critical voices through various techniques of neutralisation. The book argues for 'knowledges of resistance' - a position that promotes critique, challenges concepts of power and social order, wrestles with notions of truth and adheres to intellectual autonomy and independence. It provides invaluable insights into the relationship between the criminological researcher, public officials and corporate representatives. Drawing upon a wide range of interviews with academics and administrators from government and business, the book provides rare insights into the ways that knowledge about crime and criminal justice is produced and consumed, revealing why certain topics of criminological enquiry are rarely funded and why others receive ongoing political and governmental support. The book will be essential reading for anybody interested in the development of criminological theory and research, and the context and influences that shape it.

In this important and original book, Reece Walters examines the politics of criminology and the ways in which criminological knowledge is generated. It includes an overview of the politics and practice of conducting criminological research (drawing upon material from Britain, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the USA), and the ways that regulatory and governing authorities set research agendas, manipulate the processes and production of knowledge and silence or suppress critical voices through various techniques of neutralisation. The book argues for 'knowledges of resistance' - a position that promotes critique, challenges concepts of power and social order, wrestles with notions of truth and adheres to intellectual autonomy and independence. It provides invaluable insights into the relationship between the criminological researcher, public officials and corporate representatives. Drawing upon a wide range of interviews with academics and administrators from government and business, the book provides rare insights into the ways that knowledge about crime and criminal justice is produced and consumed, revealing why certain topics of criminological enquiry are rarely funded and why others receive ongoing political and governmental support. The book will be essential reading for anybody interested in the development of criminological theory and research, and the context and influences that shape it.