Disciplining Criminology?

This essay discusses the current state of criminology and raises some questions about the subject's nature, its relationship to government, and its location in the academic field. The author argues that criminology is best conceived not as an independent subject but as a bridging subject that addresses a practical field using the intellectual resources of more basic disciplines such as sociology, psychology and law. He warns against recent institutional developments that threaten to distance criminological research and training from those disciplines that provide its intellectual energy and distinction. Against these tendencies, the author argues for a dialogic conception of criminology and for the institutional conditions that make that conception possible.