LAW581

The course offers a critical examination of theories on the etiology of crime and criminalization, focusing on basic criminological and sociological theories, and on the links between criminology and criminal justice policy. Among other issues, the course will include the following: The Enlightenment Era, classicist and neo-classicist criminology; positivism (biological and psychological); crime, environment and organization; functionalism and crime; socio-historical macro-theories on the evolution of crime over time; crime and criminal justice as social control; labeling theory; structural conflict theories, particularly Marxism, feminism, and critical race theory; situational crime prevention; the impact of law and economics on criminological theories; law and order theories; governmentality and risk assessment.