Shakespeare and criminology

Abstract

This paper suggests that Shakespeare's plays offer an embryonic version of criminology, and that they remain a valuable resource for the field, both a theoretical and a pedagogical resource. On the one hand, for criminology scholars, Shakespeare can open up new avenues of theoretical consideration, for the criminal events depicted in his plays reflect complex philosophical debates about crime and justice, making interpretations of those events inherently theoretical; reading a passage from Shakespeare can be the first step in building a new theory of criminology. On the other hand, for criminology students, Shakespeare can initiate and sustain an intellectual transition that is fundamental to their professionalization, namely the transition from what I call a "simplistic" to a "skeptical" model of criminology. For this reason, I recommend that criminologists try what the Shakespearean scholar Julia Reinhard Lupton has called "thinking with Shakespeare." Thinking with Shakespeare is particularly valuable for criminologists because Shakespeare coded ancient philosophical ideas about crime and justice into the words and deeds of his characters: interpreting the drama takes us into the philosophy, and the philosophy provides us with the conceptual equipment for a better criminology.Shortly after receiving my PhD in English, having written a dissertation on Shakespeare, I was hired to teach rhetoric and writing classes in-of all places-a Department of Criminal Justice. Writing had recently become a priority in the department, I was told, because employers in our area wanted their workers to be better writers. There were, I came to understand, two key reasons for this request. First, writing was probably not the sexy, sensational, highly televised aspect of the field that inspired students to pursue a career in criminal justice, but it would be a major part of their jobs, a skill set without which they would be simply unemployable, whether they saw themselves working out on the street, in an office, or on a campus. Second, given the always intricate nature of crime and justice, our cops, officers, agents, counselors, advocates, lawyers, and criminologists need to know how to interpret complex problems, and academic writing is, at its

The past, present, and future of narrative criminology: A review and an invitation

“…Stone (2015) focused on substance-using pregnant women and mothers, and how they used redemption narratives to resist stigma, and Wright (2016) described the narrative impact of “good mothers” on changes in the criminal justice system. Colvin (2015) changed focus from personal storytelling to fiction, and discussed how literature was used in prisons (see also Wilson 2014). Fiander et al (2015) explored the narratives of penal history museums, and Joosse et al (2015) studied stories that restrain harm in groups at risk of radicalization.…”

Narrative Criminology as Critical Criminology

“…Colvin 2015, a literary and language scholar, considers the productive use of literature in prisons (see also Wilson 2014). Brisman (2017) argues for scholarly attention to fiction given its consequences for real-world environmental harm.…”

Study of Criminal Psychology in Indonesian Literature

“…Criminological studies in the literature related to segmentation of war crimes (Ruggiero, 2018), crime and justice (Wilson, 2014), white-collar crime (Ahmadi, 2019a), crime with violence and sadism behavior (Alshiban, 2012), police and context crime sciencefiction (Wood, 2019), literature and learning criminology (Pérez, Linde, Molas-Castells, & Fuertes-Alpiste, 2019;Bowman, 2009;Engel, 2003;Frauley, 2010), author and criminology (Burney, 2012). Among these criminological and literary studies, no researcher from Indonesia has linked criminal psychology and literature.…”