12. Cultural Criminology
Summary and Review
Dr. Steven Kohm
✅ Summary
- Cultural criminology is a critical perspective that examines social and economic shifts in the era of late modernity.
- Cultural criminology tries to bring the experience of crime to life by focusing on the foreground, rather than abstract background factors, like age and social class.
- Cultural criminology borrows from several sociological theories of deviance, including the Chicago School of Sociology, the new deviance theory (which included subcultural theory and labelling theory), Matza and Syke’s techniques of neutralization, and Young and Cohen’s moral panic theory.
- The four key features of cultural criminology are: the concept that culture is foundational and is about collective meaning and identity; the concept that culture is dynamic; the idea that we are living in an era known as late modernity; and the commitment to critical and politically engaged research.
- Cultural criminology shifts the analysis of criminology to the immediate feelings and experiences of the criminal event itself, such as excitement.
- Boredom and pleasure are key concepts that cultural criminology uses to make sense of actions that appear senseless.
- Methods used by cultural criminologists include instant ethnography; other sensory data and approaches are also used in their work.
- Media and pop culture are important sites for cultural criminology to analyse the collision of culture, crime and control.
- Cultural criminologists employ the concept of loops and spirals to encapsulate the complex and non-linear way meaning flows through media and popular culture and the dynamic interplay between crime, control and media representation.
- Criticisms of cultural criminology include: romanticising crime by portraying criminals as cultural heroes; placing less emphasis on wider social structures; and giving more attention to individual human action. Another critique is that cultural criminology is primarily the view of White male academics from a Western-centric point of view.
- While cultural criminology could be a valuable approach to analysing the way art and culture are used to both further the project of colonialism and to promote social change, cultural criminological analysis of colonialism and anti-colonial protest has yet to be written.
🖊️ Key Terms
culture: a general term used to describe all aspects of a society related to individual and collective identity and meaning. Culture can be expressed in the material items of a particular society, such as clothing and other consumer goods, as well as in the ideas and beliefs that circulate and shape the way individuals and groups understand themselves and the surrounding world. Culture can more narrowly refer to aspects of creative output such as art, music and literature, and is often divided into high culture and low culture. While high culture is found in art galleries, museums and opera houses, low culture, or popular culture, can be found all around us and is the stuff of TV, popular music and graffiti art. Cultural criminologists view culture as arising from broader economic and social relations, and therefore tends to reflect dominant ideas related to crime and crime control.
cultural criminology: a critical criminological theory that emphasises the immediate pleasures and experiences of those who break the law, with a particular focus on the era of late modernity.
ethnography: a method of field research pioneered in cultural anthropology that involves immersive and lengthy interaction with cultural groups in order to learn about their ways of life and beliefs. Ethnography is a favoured method of cultural criminology, but it is not the only approach in this perspective.
late modernity: the time period beginning in the late twentieth century and extending to today. Social theorists like Anthony Giddens and Zygmunt Bauman argue that the defining features of the modern era were transformed in significant ways in the late twentieth century. Capitalism, communications, and conceptions of the self were markedly altered in this period. However, these theorists dispute the notion that there has been a complete break from modernity heralding a new post-modern era. Instead, they see the present time period as being characterised by an intensification of modernity. Cultural criminology does not completely disavow the ideas and insights of postmodernism, but generally prefers the term late modernity to denote the present era marked by widespread interactive digital communications, commodification of crime and violence, rapid global flows of capital, goods and people, and an intensification of feelings of insecurity and anxiety (e.g. Young, 2007).
loops: the non-linear way meaning flows through media and popular culture.
spirals: a concept that describes the dynamic interplay between crime, control and media representation, whereby those labelled deviant are made to become more entrenched in behaviour deemed troubling by authorities and news reporters because of their ongoing coverage and treatment of the behaviour.
🧠 Chapter Review
Crossword
Fill in the term in the right-hand column and it will display in the crossword puzzle. Be sure to include spaces where appropriate.
Discussion Questions
- Can you think of a crime that went viral on social media? What made that crime interesting or entertaining?
- Imagine your typical daily commute to work or school. How many examples of crime or acts of resistance to authority can you identify along the way?
- It is said that history is written by the victors. If the history of the residential school era was different, and those responsible for abuse and genocide were criminally charged, would contemporary culture look different today? For example, what kinds of statues would stand in front of our government buildings? Would activists be arrested for defacing public monuments to convicted murders and abusers?
- How often do you feel bored in your day-to-day life? Do you think that boredom is more common now than in previous time periods? Why or why not?
- Most types of violence are against the law, but some forms of violence are celebrated in society and can even be viewed as entertainment. What are some examples of acceptable violence
- Imagine you are a Hollywood producer pitching a new idea for a reality TV show about crime and justice. What is your pitch?
- Would you stay in hotel housed in a former prison or jail? Why or why not?
- What could each of the five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell) tell us about the experience of being imprisoned?
