Critical Criminology and Race: Re‐examining the Whiteness of US Criminological Thought

Abstract

Race and racism are defining features of criminal justice systems in the United States. Race is also a defining feature of criminological theory. There have been robust efforts to address racism within theories and institutional practices pertaining to crime, law, and institutions of formal social control, but whiteness remains at the core of criminological knowledge production. The current article provides empirical support for showing how whiteness conditions the academic discourses of criminology and criminal justice (CCJ) in the United States. CCJ research plays an important role in discussions of racial justice and public policy. By studying the racialised (that is, white) nature of the CCJ research industry, we can better understand where critical criminology ‘fits’ in the broader struggle for social, racial and epistemological justice.

Anti-racism in Criminology: An Oxymoron or the way Forward?

“…Without actual, resource-backed commitments and actions to make changes within our departments, our classrooms, our syllabi, our policies and practices, our mentoring, our admissions practices, our promotion practices, and our service allocation practices, we will continue to maintain the status quo to our detriment (Blount -Hill, et al, 2022;Carter & Craig, 2022;Casellas Connors & McCoy, 2022;Hattery, et al, 2022;León, 2021;McCoy, 2021;Montgomery, 2020;Parmar, et al, 2022a;Russell-Brown, 2021;Stockdale & Sweeney, 2022;Sykes, 2021;Taylor Greene, et al, 2018)…”

“…How are we intentionally incorporating policies and practices to retain who we admit to our graduate programs? How are we training the next generation of researchers to consider how racism – and other manifestations of oppression – affect what we decide to study, how we conduct our research, who are considered experts, how we interpret our findings, and how we disseminate our research? How are we combatting implicit and explicit biases that white faculty possess toward Black students/colleagues and other students/colleagues of color? In what ways are we unnecessarily “gatekeeping” instead of “groundskeeping” in academic mentorship? (see Montgomery, 2020) To what extent is invisible service of minoritized faculty made visible, or how can service load allocation be more equitable for minoritized faculty in your department? How are we allocating resources to back up any university or departmental statements with promises to make changes toward anti-racist practice? How are we disrupting and addressing hostile environments for students and faculty of color? Without actual, resource-backed commitments and actions to make changes within our departments, our classrooms, our syllabi, our policies and practices, our mentoring, our admissions practices, our promotion practices, and our service allocation practices, we will continue to maintain the status quo to our detriment (Blount-Hill, et al, 2022; Carter & Craig, 2022; Casellas Connors & McCoy, 2022; Hattery, et al, 2022; León, 2021; McCoy, 2021; Montgomery, 2020; Parmar, et al, 2022a; Russell-Brown, 2021; Stockdale & Sweeney, 2022; Sykes, 2021; Taylor Greene, et al, 2018). It is up to us to make a new status quo, where it is clear - and not questioned – whether Black Lives Matter in our discipline (Russell-Brown, 2021).…”

“…Critical criminology is a sub-field where conversations about anti-racism and criminology occur (León, 2021), but given the centrality of racism in the areas of criminological study, what would it take to center these conversations? As León (2021) argues: "What we claim to know and understand about crime, criminality and criminalization is a function of who gets to make these claims, and the underlying ideologies and frameworks that influence knowledge brokers" (p.391). Without addressing the discipline's silence about racism, we are complicit as we are the "experts" people turn to when they want to know how to prevent or respond to harms by individuals or systems.…”

“…already in "action" or "maintenance" phases, of course, but many individuals in our discipline more broadly were in a "precontemplation" or "contemplation" phase (León, 2021;Russell-Brown, 2021;Taylor Greene, et al, 2018). The protests and public conversations in the aftermath of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor's deaths moved many people who were new to conversations about racism from "precontemplation" to "contemplation," "preparation," or "action" phases.…”

“…If we apply Prochaska & Velicer’s (1997) transtheoretical model of behavior change to anti-racist action, people in our discipline must move from precontemplation (not ready to take anti-racist action), to contemplation (considering pros and cons of taking anti-racist action), to preparation (getting ready to take anti-racist action), to action (taking anti-racist actions), to maintenance (sustaining taking anti-racist actions), to termination (avoiding returning to old behaviors) (see Table 1). Before the uprisings in 2020, many of our colleagues, especially colleagues of color, were already in “action” or “maintenance” phases, of course, but many individuals in our discipline more broadly were in a “precontemplation” or “contemplation” phase (León, 2021; Russell-Brown, 2021; Taylor Greene, et al, 2018). The protests and public conversations in the aftermath of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor's deaths moved many people who were new to conversations about racism from “precontemplation” to “contemplation,” “preparation,” or “action” phases.…”