Future Directions in Criminology
“you can never plan the future by
the past” – Edmund Burke (17291797)
Introduction
 Criminology’s
attempt to bridge theory and
practice
 Post-positivism and post-modernism, and the
discipline in a state of flux
 ? Can we merge criminal justice and
criminology
 Continuing challenge of being relative and
evolutive
 Frame
of Reference
 Ultimate objective “controlology”
 Utilitarian
 FOUR
principles
approaches:
conservative
Liberal
Radical
 Integrated and interdisciplinary

 Conservative
approach:
 Social control over individual freedoms,
policing, just deserts, focus on conventional
crime…
 ? Not ‘humanistic’
 Greater emphasis in political and power-based
issues
 Can law and order control crime?
Liberal approach:
 Crime the product of social and economic
circumstances, lack of opportunities, emphasize
treatment and rehabilitation…
 Although popular in recent years only marginally
successful
 Radical approach:
 Reliance on unofficial sources, role of media and
competing interest groups, power of capitalism, shift
from offender to system…
 Short on solutions but helps to draw attention to
broader issues

Interdisciplinary:
 Crime a product of human behaviour… individual and
his/her environment, ‘soft-determinism’,
 Attempt to reconcile differences between C, L, and R
approaches
 Bridge current fragmentation
 BUT ‘growing pains’
 Can we move from legalistic to humanistic-based
discipline?

Criminology and Prediction
 The
price of prediction… risky
 Complexity of human behaviour
 ? Need for fundamental paradigm
And theoretical shifts
 Can an integrated and interdisciplinary offer a
clearer direction?
Comparative Criminology
 Practicalities
 Advances
 Fattah
being overcome
in technology and methodology
and our ‘provincial attitudes’ slow to
fade
 Transnational crimes and price of
globalization
 Move beyond descriptive to a theoretical
framework
 “Standard
Minimum Rules for the
Administration of Juvenile Justice” and
Interpol examples of international co-operation
 Justification:
 Experience
of others;
 Broaden our understanding; and
 International co-operation to common concerns
 Will
comparative criminology play a primary
role in the future?
The Knowledge Explosion
 An
expansive discipline…
“criminological enterprise”
 Number of disciplines with
vested interest growing
 Growing number of theories
 Number of textbooks (CDN) and journals
 Relative soundness of the discipline
 The
disciplines ‘growth’ has NOT been matched
by a decrease in crime rates!
 Is there a need for a paradigm shift?
 Causes of crime and criminality linked to
multicausality…integrated and interdisciplinary
The Future of Crime
 Automobiles vs. credit cards… and the role of
technology and opportunity for ‘new’ crimes
 E.g.: debit cards and ‘crime wave’
 Possible
future trends….
 Computer
based crimes
 International sex trade, organ trade, smuggling
of illegal foreigners
 Transnationally based organized crime
 Transnational corporate crime
 International terrorism, money laundering,…
 Will
our current theories suffice to explain the
new trends/
Social Control: Prevention or
Punishment
 Crime
costs up; victim expenses up; and
incarceration up… need for cost-effective
strategies
 Figure 14-1 “what works”
 Communities:
community-based mentoring
 Family-based prevention: early infant & pre-school
programs
 School-based programs: innovative programs
 Policing:
presence at “hot spots’
 CJS: rehabilitation
 Importance
of multiple risk factors
 Developmental pathways
 Opportunity reduction and social
development
 Primary
 Bridging
vs. secondary vs. tertiary prevention
theory and practice… e.g., shaming,
restorative justice, etc.
Criminology and Criminal Law
 Definition
of crime dependent on its legal
definition
 How did criminal law evolve and how will it
evolve?
 Criminal law minimal impact on curbing crime
 Does the law inflate crime statistics?
 We need to rethink the role of law in crime
prevention
Expanding the Scope of Criminology
 Role
of science and technology vs. the role of
criminal law
 Expanding opportunities
 Crime: The Elusive Enigma
 Crime waves “mental filters through which
social issues are filtered”
 Must learn to discern myths from reality
Restorative Justice
 An answer to punishment?
 Shift from moral to social responsibility… respect ALL
parties
 An old concept in new attire!? Will it work this time?
 SUMMARY
 “…the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and
the unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind”, and
search for spiritual growth.
 Constructive social policy with a global social context

… the gauntlet before you