Cultural criminology

Cultural criminology is about placing crime and control in the context of its culture. (Hayward and Young, 2004) Deviants not influenced by upbringing or social background but by their surroundings, culture i.e. Streetlife, peers

Rational choice theory, as described by Hayward and Young (2004), portrays deviance and crime as being boring, mundane and lacks adrenaline

Cultural criminology is the idea that people turn to crime and deviance for the hedonistic pleasures that they receive from these acts. It looks at the adrenaline and thrills that offenders get when committing illegal acts

Deviants look at the media representation of a lifestyle and think that is how they need to act and behave “Cultural criminology strives to place this interplay deep within the vast proliferation of media images of crime and deviance, where every facet of offending is reflected in a vast hall of mirrors.” (Ferrell, 1999)

• The Lens of Adrenaline: Act of committing crime bears little relationship to the rewards gained. For example, as ex-con John McVicar (1979) once remarked, could make more money as a day labourer.

• The Soft City: people can mould the city to how they want it to be. The soft city is where all possibilities are on offer – but it is an environment for crime. The appearance of the city is changeable, i.e. by graffiti

• Transgressive Subject: people commit crime just to break the rules not particularly for gain, for example: joy riding.

• Attentive Gaze: Criminological Verstehen.

Criminological Verstehen

– method of research by cultural criminologists

Criminological verstehen interested in causation of crime at the moment of crime. Interested in the emotions that drive crime.

Weber’s definition of verstehen is “empathetic understanding” “inner sociology that concerns itself with the interpretive understanding of social action…empathetic or appreciative accuracy is attained when, through sympathetic participation, we can adequately grasp the emotional context in which it took place.” (Weber, 1978)

It is not just ethnography or watching people do what they do; it is actually taking part in the deviant and criminal activities. That way they can feel the adrenaline rush of committing crime, being chased by the police, being caught e.t.c... to better understand why criminals commit crime.

E.g. Ferrell spray painting with gang members and then being caught and prosecuted

Pros

o Can appreciate the experiences of criminals, crime victims and control agents o Gives access to criminal groups o Teaches us more about crime as abstract analysis: you can only see so much from statistics

Disadvantages

o Researcher has a different lifestyle from the people being studied. E.g. probably been to uni e.t.c… o Emotions may be an individual experience o The risks involved can limit the research. E.g. a lot of crimes can not be researched in this way, unless the researcher is willing to murder e.t.c… o The consequences of this research can have a negative affect on professional and personal life, can lose academic credibility