Abstract
The notion of social harm has sporadically interested critical criminologists as an alternative to the concept of crime. In particular, it has been viewed as a means to widen the rather narrow approach to harm that criminology offers. More recently, the publication of Beyond Criminology: Taking Harm Seriously has renewed interest in the notion of social harm. The book asserted a number of very valid reasons for a social harm approach that provoked a number of interesting critical responses. The article seeks to respond to five recurring questions: Should the social harm perspective move beyond criminology? If so, where should the perspective locate itself? From this position, how will the perspective continue to engage within ‘law and order’ debates and address the concerns of those affected by crime? If the notion of crime is problematic, how will the perspective form an alternative definition of harm? Moreover, without a notion of crime and the accompanying concept of criminal intent, how would the perspective allocate responsibility for harm? The article is not offering definitive answers to these questions, but possible directions for the perspective’s future development.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alvelsalo, A., & Tombs, S. (2002). Working for criminalisation of economic offending: contradictions for critical criminology? Critical Criminology, 11, 21–40.
Bowling, B. (1999). The rise and fall of New York murder: Zero tolerance or crack’s decline. British Journal of Criminology, 39, 521–554.
Box, S. (1983). Power, crime, and mystification. London: Tavistock.
Brownlee, I. (1998). ‘New labour–new penology’ punitive rhetoric and the limits of managerialism in criminal justice. Policy. Journal of Law and Society, 25, 313–335.
Carter, P. (2003). Managing offenders, reducing crime: a new approach. London: Cabinet Office.
Cohen, S. (1993). Human rights and crimes of the state: The culture of denial. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 26, 97–115.
Dorling, D. (2004). Prime suspect in Britain. In P. Hillyard, C. Pantazis, S. Tombs, & D. Gordon (Eds.) Beyond criminology: Taking harm seriously (pp. 178–191). London: Pluto Press.
Doyal, L., & Gough, I. (1984). A theory of human need. Critical Social Policy, 4, 96–135.
Doyal, L., & Gough, I. (1991). A theory of human need. London: MacMillan.
Drover, G., & Kerans, P. (1993). New approaches to welfare theory. Aldershot: Edward Elgar.
Fraser, N. (1997). Justice interruptus: Critical reflections on the ‘postsocialist’ condition. London: Routledge.
Gordon, D. (2004). Poverty, disease and death. In P. Hillyard, C. Pantazis, S. Tombs, & D. Gordon (Eds.) Beyond criminology: Taking harm seriously (pp. 251–266). London: Pluto Press.
Gordon, D., & Pantazis, C. (1997). Breadline Britain in the 1990s. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Hillyard, P., & Tombs, S. (2004). ‘Beyond criminology’. In P. Hillyard, C. Pantazis, S. Tombs, & D. Gordon (Eds.) Beyond criminology: Taking harm seriously (pp. 10–29). London: Pluto Press.
Hillyard, P., Sim, J., Tombs, S., & Whyte, D. (2004). Leaving a ‘Stain upon the Silence’: Critical criminology and the politics of dissent. British Journal of Criminology, 44, 369–390.
Hillyard, P., Pantazis, C., Tombs, S., & Gordon, D. (2004). Beyond criminology: Taking harm seriously. London: Pluto Press.
Hughes, G. (1996). Book review: ‘Beyond criminology: Taking harm seriously’. Social and Legal Studies, 15, 157–159.
Hulsman, L. (1986). Critical criminology and the concept of crime. Contemporary Crises, 10, 63–80.
Jones, C., & Novak, T. (1999). Poverty, welfare and the disciplinary state. London: Routeledge.
Jones, H. (2004). Opportunities and obstacles: The rape crisis federation in the UK. The Journal of International Gender Studies, 8, 55–71.
Mathieson, T. (1974). The politics of abolition—Essays in political theory. London: Martin Robertson.
Mathieson, T. (1986). The politics of abolition. Contemporary Crises, 10, 81–94.
Milanovic, B. (2003). Two faces of globalisation: Against globalisation as we know it. World Development, 31, 667–683.
Muncie, J. (2000). Decriminalising criminology. In G. Lewis, S. Gerwitz, & J. Clarke (Eds.) Rethinking social policy (pp. 217–228). London: Sage.
Muncie, J. (2005). Book review: ‘Beyond criminology: Taking harm seriously’. Crime, Law and Social Change, 43, 199–201.
Nelken, D. (1994). Reflexive criminology? In D. Nelken (Ed.) The futures of criminology (pp. 7–42). London: Sage.
Nutt, D., King, L., Saulsbury, W., & Blakemore, C. (2007). Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse. Lancet, 369, 1047–53.
Pantazis, C. (2004). Gendering harm from a life course perspective. In P. Hillyard, C. Pantazis, S. Tombs, & D. Gordon (Eds.) Beyond criminology: Taking harm seriously (pp. 192–216). London: Pluto Press.
Pantazis, C. (2006). Crime, disorder, insecurity and social exclusion. In C. Pantazis, D. Gordon, & R. Levitas (Eds.) Poverty and social exclusion in Britain: The millennium survey (pp. 249–284). Bristol: Policy Press.
Pemberton, S. (2004). A theory of moral indifference: Understanding the production of harm by capitalist society. In P. Hillyard, C. Pantazis, S. Tombs, & D. Gordon (Eds.) Beyond criminology: Taking harm seriously (pp. 67–83). London: Pluto Press.
Pemberton, S. (2004). The production of harm in the United Kingdom: A social harm perspective. Dissertation, University of Bristol.
Pemberton, S. (2005). Moral indifference and corporate manslaughter: Compromising safety in the name of profit? In S. Tully (Ed.) Research handbook on corporate legal responsibility (pp. 174–193). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Reiman, J. (1979). The rich get richer and the poor get prison: Ideology, class, and criminal justice. Chichester: Wiley.
Reiman, J. (2006). Book review: ‘Beyond criminology: Taking harm seriously’. British Journal of Criminology, 46, 362–364.
Schwendinger, H., & Schwendinger, J. (1970). Defenders of order or guardians of human rights. Issues in Criminology, 5, 123–157.
Social Exclusion Unit (2002). Reducing re-offending by ex prisoners. London: Cabinet Office.
Sim, J. (2000). Against the punitive wind: Stuart Hall, the state and the lessons of the great moving right show. In P. Gilroy, L. Grossberg, & A. McRobbie (Eds.) Without guarantees: In honour of Stuart Hall (pp. 318–334). London: Verso.
Slapper, G., & Tombs, S. (1999). Corporate crime. London: Longman.
Soper, K. (1993). A theory of human need. New Left Review, 197, 113–128.
Stiglitz, J. (2002). Globalization and its discontents. London: Penguin.
Tao, J., & Drover, G. (1997). Chinese and Western notions of need. Critical Social Policy, 17, 5–25.
Tift, L., & Sullivan, D. (2001). A needs-based, social harm definition of crime. In S. Henry, & M. Lanier (Eds.) What is crime? (pp. 179–206). Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.
Wetherly, P. (1996). Basic needs and social policies. Critical Social Policy, 16, 45–66.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
I would like to thank those who contributed to and attended the Social Harm stream at the ASC 2006 meetings which led to the development of this article. Also, I would like to the British Academy for the Overseas Conference Grant (OCG 44594), which enabled me to take part in the stream. Finally, I would like to extend my appreciation to Marty Schwartz and David Friedrichs for their patience and support.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pemberton, S. Social harm future(s): exploring the potential of the social harm approach. Crime Law Soc Change 48, 27–41 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-007-9078-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-007-9078-0