Conservative Criminology

History

The most prominent conservative thinkers in criminology, such as James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling, have sparked a revival of certain “positivist” thinkers within the classical sphere of the field. Most notably, the 1876 writings of the Italian military doctor Cesare Lombroso provided a blueprint for the incapacitation of “evil” criminals from “moral individuals” in society; the use of specific punishments fit to the offender (not the offense) to separate the offender from the rest of society are central to the conservative criminology movement. Wilson in particular emphasized a marked nostalgia for the importance of 1950s-era family- and religious-centered values. He believed such a reversion would help galvanize better parenting and informal social controls, which he believed had fallen by the wayside since the “free-spirited” idealism of the 1960s. In addition, conservative criminologists display ideologically centered thinking often not based on valid empirical research of any kind with solutions coming by way of a flashy rhetoric as opposed to sound facts. For example, many of the social welfare programs that aided Americans from many social classes, such as the New Deal and the G.I. Bill, are dismissed by conservative criminologists as too expensive and overused by the poor and minorities. However, much evidence exists to the contrary, and those within the conservative movement tend to simply ignore facts invalidating or debunking their central tenets.

Many politicians now stake electoral campaigns on the omnipresent promise to reduce crime and protect the public. Politicians across the political spectrum have favored the infamous “three strikes” laws as well as measures that require prisoners to serve the majority of their prison time—these policies represent an emphasis on deterrence and incapacitation rather than rehabilitation or ameliorating social woes. Many of these policies fell under the banner of conservative criminology and the main tenets espoused by its followers.

Conservative Criminology and the Sociological Tradition