Public criminology

Criminology and penology
Theory Anomie Biosocial criminology Broken windows Collective efficacy Crime analysis Criminalization Differential association Deviance Expressive function of law Labeling theory Psychopathy Rational choice Risk & actuarial criminology Social control Social disorganization Social learning Strain Subculture Symbolic interactionism Victimology
Types of crime Against Humanity Person State Class Blue-collar White-collar Cold case Perfect Corporate Juvenile International Organized Political Public-order State State-corporate Victimless War
Methods Comparative Profiling Critical theory Ethnography Uniform Crime Reports Crime mapping Positivist school Qualitative Quantitative BJS NIBRS
Penology Denunciation Deterrence Incapacitation Trial Prison abolition open reform Prisoner Prisoner abuse Prisoners' rights Rehabilitation Recidivism Justice in penology Participatory Restorative Transformative Retributive Solitary confinement
Schools Anarchist Chicago Classical Conflict Critical Environmental Feminist Integrative Italian Marxist Neo-classical Positivist Postmodernist Realism Left Right
Subfields American Anthropological Biosocial criminology Conflict Criminology Critical Culture Cyber Demography Development Environmental Experimental Organizational Political Public Radical criminology
Browse Index Journals Organizations People
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Public criminology is an approach to criminology that disseminates criminological research beyond academia to broader audiences, such as criminal justice practitioners and the general public.^[1] Public criminology is closely tied with “public sociology”,^[2] and draws on a long line of intellectuals engaging in public interventions related to crime and justice.^[3][4][5][6] Some forms of public criminology are conducted through methods such as classroom education, academic conferences, public lectures, “news-making criminology”,^[7] government hearings, newspapers, radio and television broadcasting and press releases.^[8] Advocates of public criminology argue that the energies of criminologists should be directed towards "conducting and disseminating research on crime, law, and deviance in dialogue with affected communities."^[3] Public criminologists focus on reshaping the image of the criminal and work with communities to find answers to pressing questions.^[9] Proponents of public criminology see it as potentially narrowing "the yawning gap between public perceptions and the best available scientific evidence on issues of public concern",^[3] a problem they see as especially pertinent to matters of crime and punishment.^[10][11]

The general response to public criminology has been positive,^[12][13] however several authors have voiced a number of concerns: one set of concerns focuses on the ability of public criminologists to effectively impact policy decisions;^{[14][15][13][16][17]} another set of concerns suggests that initial forays into public criminology have been blind to the political-economic structures that shape Criminal Justice Systems;^[18][19] a third concern centers on the barriers that remain for participating in public criminology.^[3][20][21]