9.3 Subfields and Specializations within Criminology
Beyond the established crime and victimization topics criminologists will continue to study going forward, there are also some important and emerging subfields within criminology that bring attention to different issues. The sub-disciplines discussed here differ from those already covered in this textbook. They are not the only important or emerging areas of study, but rather a sample of those that will be part of the field’s future. They include:
- victimology
- green criminology
- rural criminology
- queer criminology
- convict criminology
- space law and criminology
Victimology
Victimology is the scientific study of victimization within society. It is a grounded social science derived from the narratives and experiences of survivors of crime. Like criminology, it explores broader social questions about how people come to experience violence, how those experiences are understood within society, and the imbalance of power between the various actors in the criminal justice system. Victimology should not be defined as the study of victims. This would be akin to describing criminology as the study of criminals without acknowledging the value-laden nature of the word and the power dynamics that shape its use.
Victimology is often understood as emerging as a sub-discipline of criminology, and later emerging as a distinct yet overlapping discipline exploring a different set of questions than criminologists (Spencer & Walklate, 2016; Wemmers, 2017). Victimology research often identifies and defines types of victimization, explores how they are measured, examines relationships between victims and perpetrators, and analyzes the experiences of survivors in the criminal justice system, victim services, and society (Karmen, 2020). This sub-discipline is incredibly important for illuminating the needs of those who are at risk or have been victimized (figure 9.6).
Supplemental Resources
- If you are curious about victim services in Oregon, check out the Oregon Department of Justice’s Crime Victim and Survivor Services Division [Website].
- If you are interested in learning about career options in the field of victimology, check out victim services careers at the FBI [Website].
Green Criminology
Green criminology refers to:
the study of environmental crimes and harms affecting human and nonhuman life, ecosystems, and the biosphere. More specifically, green criminology explores and analyzes: the causes, consequences, and prevalence of environmental crime and harm, the responses to and prevention of environmental crime and harm by the legal system (civil, criminal, regulatory) and by nongovernmental entities and social movements, as well as the meaning and mediated representations of environmental crime and harm (Brisman & South, 2019, p. 1).
Much of traditional criminology is anthropocentric (human-centered), as theories and research focus on humans both as perpetrators of criminal actions as well as victims of crime. In contrast, green criminology broadens this view to include the environment – water, land, air, and plants – as well as nonhuman animals, including wild, farmed, and domestic animals. Green criminology moves away from a strictly anthropocentric perspective to a more encompassing view of who could be a victim of crime or harm.
Regarding crime, green criminology not only looks at breaches of law, but also who is breaking the law and how the justice system responds to such breaches. Green criminology is a critical perspective and calls attention to the role that power plays in determining both the laws and who is deemed to have violated those laws. As part of the focus on harm, green criminologists ask “Who determines what is harmful?” and “Who defines what is criminal?” These questions center the issue of power, as in who has the power to construct definitions of environmental crime, who has the power to resist definitions of harm, and who and what are harmed by these actions (figure 9.7).
Supplemental Resources
- Consider reviewing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals [Website] from the United Nations (UN).
- For an example of the types of environmental harms that are prosecuted and the police role in enforcing environmental laws, see the research article “The Green Police in the Golden State” [Website].
Rural Criminology
Rural criminology refers to the study of crime, victimization, justice, safety, and legal systems in rural communities (figure 9.8). In the simplest terms, rural describes non-urban spaces with lower populations and lots of undeveloped land. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 66 million people or 20% of the population live in rural areas in the United States (U.S. Census, 2023). Rural people and places are historically underrepresented in research and policy. However, there has been growing interest in studying crime and justice in rural communities over the past few decades.
The rural environment creates unique challenges for victims, people who commit offenses, and actors in the criminal justice system. These locations tend to have fewer educational and career opportunities, are geographically remote or isolated, lack public transportation and welfare services, and suffer from fewer overall resources. Criminal justice system agencies and justice-related organizations in rural communities suffer from a lack of funding and resources, understaffing, and the challenges brought on by geographic isolation. All of these disadvantages are especially challenging for already marginalized populations in these communities. Furthermore, as populations grow and people leave rural areas to move to cities and metropolitan areas, the residents who are left behind can face further disadvantages. The field of rural criminology seeks to lift these unheard voices and bring attention to issues of access to justice, accountability in rural justice agencies, funding and resource deficits, and more.
Learn More: Legal Deserts
Many rural communities struggle to attract and retain individuals who work in the criminal justice system. Salaries are often less competitive, opportunities may be fewer, and distance from city amenities can drive people away. When rural areas lack judges and attorneys, residents’ access to justice can be severely impacted.
The term legal desert refers to areas that have few or no lawyers. Almost every state in the United States has stretches or rural areas and counties that face this problem. For example, Georgia’s 154 counties outside of Atlanta hold 65% of the population but only 30% of the state’s lawyers, according to the American Bar Association (ABA) (2020). This means that people in need of an attorney may have to travel long distances for their legal needs, such as wills, divorces, custody issues, or help with criminal and civil cases. Many rural areas suffer from high rates of poverty and do not have public transportation, making long-distance travel nearly impossible.
Some states have established initiatives to help solve this problem. In South Dakota, Project Rural Practice was established to support young lawyers in small towns and rural areas (ABA, 2020). The Rural Law Opportunities Program in Nebraska provides scholarships to Nebraskan students that enables them to obtain a bachelor’s degree at certain partner universities, a law degree through the University of Nebraska College of Law, and then practice in rural areas of Nebraska (University of Nebraska, 2024).
If small-town living is your vibe, opportunities like these can support you in getting your legal education and ultimately help provide legal services to underserved rural communities.
Supplemental Resources
- If you want to connect with rural criminologists and practitioners who work in rural spaces across the globe, reach out to the International Society for the Study of Rural Crime (ISSRC) [Website].
- If you want to learn more about stereotypes and the exploitation of rural communities, check out the documentary Hillbilly [Streaming Video].
- If you are interested in learning more about unique rural crime and rural policing, check out “The Inside Scoop on Hive Theft in California with Investigator Rowdy Freeman” [Streaming Video] for an example.
Queer Criminology
Queer criminology emerges from the field of critical criminology and aims to place the LGBTQIA+ population at the center of criminological inquiry (figure 9.9). Similar to that of feminist criminology, queer criminology recognizes that identities within the LGBTQIA+ population are complex and have not been adequately included in traditional criminological research. Simply tacking sexual orientation or gender identity onto a list of demographics does not capture the nuances of the ways people in this population experience victimization, offending, or the criminal justice system.
Researchers in the field of queer criminology point out that the LGBTQIA+ population has been understudied in the field for decades, noting how curious this is since same-sex sexual conduct and marriage were illegal across much of America for most of the 20th century (Panfil & Miller, 2014). Current movements and legislation targeting transgender children, hate crime victimization, and the murder of transgender individuals are particularly important for modern criminologists to address. A critical understanding of homophobia, transphobia, and other sociocultural elements are important to the study of these issues.
Another component of queer criminology focuses on the ways in which components of the traditional criminal justice system, especially police, are used as tools to uphold heteronormativity, cisgender superiority, and gender roles. Relatedly, it is important that the voices of queer scholars (especially those with system involvement) be elevated in these discussions. Research from this subfield can help criminal justice practitioners, such as police, lawyers, judges, or correctional officers who work with the queer population (as coworkers or as clients) better understand or address the needs of LGBTQIA+ people.
Supplemental Resources
- If you want to learn a bit more about this sub-discipline’s history and direction, check out “Young and Unafraid: Queer Criminology’s Unbounded Potential” [Website].
- If you are interested in studying queer criminology, find a list of graduate programs from the American Society of Criminology’s Division on Queer Criminology [Website].
Convict Criminology
Convict criminology is an approach to criminology that privileges the voices and standpoints of persons who have been criminalized or who have been affected by the criminal justice system (Richards & Ross, 2001). People with justice system experience combine their time inside prisons with their academic knowledge to provide new insights into the operation of the criminal justice system. Convict criminology began two decades ago (Jones et al., 2009) and was initially a largely U.S.-based approach that brought together scholars who had experience behind bars or experience being criminalized (figure 9.10). The insights of these scholars were used as a platform for analyzing the criminal justice system and exploring the power relations involved in the criminal justice apparatus. Using ethnographic methods and empirical research, they highlighted the destructive impact of prisons and punishment from an experiential position.
Convict criminology has now branched out and become a global phenomenon (Ross et al., 2014). What is important about this expansion is that convict criminologists in different countries are uniquely positioned to shed light on and investigate the criminal justice system in each country and to provide comparative insights. Rather than providing a deductive armchair approach, convict criminology provides a more inductive and immanent understanding of criminal justice processes. This is important because scholarly criminological work that is more or less based on deductive academic concepts can not only be wrong but also be harmful and alienating to people who have directly experienced the harms of the criminal justice system. The Journal of Prisoners on Prisons is the official journal publication of convict criminology. Today, it is almost impossible to think about what critical criminology would be without including convict criminologists and the kinds of inquiries they provide.
Supplemental Resources
- The Ear Hustle [Website] podcast gives a voice to those currently and previously incarcerated.
- To learn about one of the founders of convict criminology and his subsequent work to help those with criminal records, read this article, “Criminal Turned Criminologist John Irwin Dies” [Website], written after John Irwin’s passing.
Space Law and Criminology
This realm of criminology might sound silly and fake at first, but space criminology will likely continue to grow in our near future (figure 9.11). The Space Force, the sixth and newest branch of the U.S. military, was authorized by Congress and signed into law by former President Trump in December 2019 (United States Space Force, n.d.). However, the initiative was not new. Rather, it had been taking shape within the armed forces and Congress over the previous 25 years based on the premise that as satellite and space technologies evolved, America’s military organizations had to change as well. When you think about it, our social world, our work world, and really everything in our modern lives is quite dependent on satellites in orbit. Military intelligence, surveillance, communications, operations, missile detection, digital mapping, navigation, and banking have all come to rely on links to orbiting satellites. Satellite imaging is even used by farmers to help them detect soil moisture levels, variations in temperature, and overall crop health. This is essential to large-scale agricultural management and the production of food for large masses of people.
To sustain our way of life, it is increasingly important to protect space-based satellites from being destroyed or altered. Such a feat is not inconceivable as Russia recently tried to disrupt Ukraine’s space-borne communication systems. Additionally, as space travel, including commercial space travel, continues, questions of legal rights and ownership related to mining, research, and more could pose significant legal and criminological questions. Universities and law schools across the United States are already implementing programs to address these questions. For example, the University of Washington School of Law has a Space Law, Data and Policy program. There is even a textbook on space criminology! While it might sound like an episode of Black Mirror, it is a field that will grow as our exploration of outer space grows.
Supplemental Resources
- To learn more about all things related to space criminology and research in this field, check out Space Criminology [Website].
- If you are interested in studying in this field, check out the University of Washington School of Law Space Law, Data and Policy Program [Website].
- You have the option to learn more about the U.S. Space Force [Website].
Check Your Knowledge
Licenses and Attributions for Subfields and Specializations within Criminology
Open Content, Original
“Subfields and Specializations within Criminology” by Jessica René Peterson is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Figure 9.10. “Prison to Ph.D.” created via Canva by Jessica René Peterson is licensed under CC BY 4.0.
“Sub-Fields and Specializations within Criminology Question Set” was created by ChatGPT and is not subject to copyright. Edits for relevance, alignment, and meaningful answer feedback by Colleen Sanders are licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Open Content, Shared Previously
“Victimology” is adapted from “Victimology“, Introduction to Criminology by Dr. Jordana K. Norgaard and Dr. Benjamin Roebuck, which is licensed under CC BY 4.0, except where otherwise noted. Modifications by Jessica René Peterson, licensed under CC BY 4.0, include shortening for clarity and brevity and tailoring to the American context.
“Green Criminology” is adapted from “What is Green Criminology?“, Introduction to Criminology by Dr. Gregory Simmons; Dr. Mark Vardy; and Dr. Rochelle Stevenson, which is licensed under CC BY 4.0, except where otherwise noted. Modifications by Jessica René Peterson, licensed under CC BY 4.0, include shortening for clarity and brevity, tailoring to the American context, and adding italics for emphasis.
“Convict Criminology” is adapted from “Emergent Elements of Critical Criminology“, Introduction to Criminology by Kevin Walby and Kelly Gorkoff, which is licensed under CC BY 4.0, except where otherwise noted. Modifications by Jessica René Peterson, licensed under CC BY 4.0, include shortening for clarity and brevity and tailoring to the American context.
Figure 9.6. Image by Brett Jordan is licensed under the Unsplash License.
Figure 9.8. Image by Scott Goodwill is licensed under the Unsplash License.
Figure 9.9. “A non-binary person injecting testosterone” by person from The Gender Spectrum Collection is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
Figure 9.11. “STS115 Atlantis undock ISS edit2” by NASA is in the Public Domain.
All Rights Reserved Content
Figure 9.7. “Environmental Racism” by Sociology Live! is licensed under the Standard YouTube License.
legal term describing the violation of a criminal law
the study of crime and why it happens
a subfield of criminology that focuses on victimization and centers the experiences of those who have survived criminal victimization
a subfield of criminology that focuses on harm to the environment, humans, and nonhuman species
a subfield of criminology that focuses on rural settings and how the rural context impacts the study of crime, victimization, and the criminal justice system
a subfield of criminology that centers the LGBTQIA+ community in studying crime, victimization, and the criminal justice system
the system that deals with crime and its consequences
areas or counties, typically in rural settings, where few or no lawyers are working
a perspective or collection of theories that centers social inequality and focuses on the way society defines crime, power, and punishment
a perspective or collection of theories that centers gender, along with other aspects of identity, in studying crime, victimization, and the criminal justice system
a subfield of criminology that focuses on outer space-related crimes, security, and justice