Ebook: A Science of Otherness?: Rereading the History of Western and US Criminological Thought

‘Positivist criminology’ attributes the reason people commit crimes to external or psychological factors – for example, lack of parental care rather than a calculated decision. This theory has played a crucial role in the criminal justice systems of the Global North for more than a century, guiding policy programmes and research agendas, even in times of budgetary austerity. Proponents of positivist criminology perceive their theory as objective and value-free, but this book presents a fresh historical and theological analysis of this system of thought as an ideology. Mehozay considers the role that it can play in a progressive penal agenda, complemented by social movements and grassroots activism.