Suchergebnisse

The authors analyze the challenge faced by criminology in the present century, marked by political, social and economic transformations, which constitutes a space of great theoretical challenges that can not be ignored. New criminal misconduct needs to be observed and understood to reorient objectives in criminological politics. They aim to determine if the theoretical and methodological systems of specific criminologies adequately explain the contemporary dynamics of crime and criminal justice, in order to determine if criminology needs adjustments to face a new reality. ; Los autores analizan el desafío que afronta la criminología en el siglo actual, marcado por las transformaciones políticas, sociales y económicas que constituye un espacio de grandes retos teóricos que no pueden ser soslayados. Las neoconductas criminales aparecidas requieren observarse y comprenderse para redireccionar los objetivos en política criminológica. Pretenden dilucidar si los sistemas teóricos y metodológicos de las criminologías específicas explican adecuadamente la dinámica contemporánea del delito y la justicia penal con la finalidad de determinar si la criminología necesita ajustes para enfrentar una nueva realidad.

This volume's contention that regulations have a powerful role in crime control contradicts the prevailing positivism of criminology—that is, the contention that criminality is largely explained by criminals' past experiences. This article draws upon recent critiques of positivism and explains the implications for contemporary criminology. It begins by describing the ideas of a London magistrate, Patrick Colquhoun, about the determinants of crime and the best means of its control. Colquhoun's writings were the first developed discussion of regulating crime, but they were soon eclipsed by positivist thinking. I list numerous weakness of positivism and argue that, instead of seeing offenders' behavior as determined by their past, greater account should be taken of the situational inducements and opportunities to commit crime that they encounter in their everyday lives. Instead of positivism, the dominant model of criminology and crime control should be a neoclassicist, bounded rational choice model, which would introduce situational design and management changes to restrict offenders choices and modify behavior. That change in orientation would open limitless opportunities for criminologists.

This paper addresses the following questions: (1) How did the ideals and beliefs of Martin Luther King Jr. shape his vision of a just society and world? (2) How did he believe this could be accomplished? (3) How do his idea(l)s compare to those of contemporary "critical criminologists"? The paper closes with a proposal and strategy for progressive nonviolent social action to make social justice a reality in and outside of the classroom environment.