Crime as Pollution? Theoretical, Definitional and Policy Concerns with Conceptualizing Crime as Pollution

Lynch, Michael, Barrett, Kimberly, Stretesky, Paul, Long, Michael, Jarrell, Melissa and Ozymy, Joshua (2015) Crime as Pollution? Theoretical, Definitional and Policy Concerns with Conceptualizing Crime as Pollution. American Journal of Criminal Justice, 40 (4). pp. 843-860. ISSN 1066-2316

[img]
Preview
PDF (The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12103-015-9294-6)
AJCJ_ACCEPTED_2014.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (351kB) | Preview
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12103-015-9294-6

Abstract

Criminologists have advocated understanding ‘crime as pollution’ to argue for market based crime control policy initiatives that mirror pollution control policy initiatives. However, the concept of crime as pollution is misleading, and threatens to give rise to misguided policy initiatives in efforts to control street crime. Crime as pollution risks reproducing and reinforcing race, ethnic, and class-based inequalities that are characteristic of pollution control responses. Alternatively, we suggest that criminologists adopt an understanding of ‘pollution as crime.’ Pollution as crime recognizes the importance of previous well-established criminological theory as well as interdisciplinary work on pollution. Pollution as crime is a more promising direction for criminal justice research and policy by responding to the excessive forms of victimization pollution generates.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Published online first.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Crime policy, green criminology, ‘pollution as crime’
Subjects: L300 Sociology
Department: Faculties > Arts, Design and Social Sciences > Social Sciences
Depositing User: Professor Paul Stretesky
Date Deposited: 23 Feb 2015 11:18
Last Modified: 17 Dec 2023 16:18
URI: https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/21485

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics