When the world was bracing for a technological winter thanks to the “millennium bug” the University of Northampton was setting up a degree in Criminology.  Twenty-five years later and we are reflecting on a quarter of a century.  Since then, there have been changes in the discipline, socio-economic changes and wider changes in education and academia. 

The world at the beginning of the 21st century in the Western hemisphere was a hopeful one.  There were financial targets that indicated a raising level of income at the time and a general feeling of a new golden age.  This, of course, was just before a new international chapter with the “war on terror”.  Whilst the US and its allies declared the “war on terror” decreeing the “axis of evil”, in Criminology we offered the module “Transnational Crime” talking about the challenges of international justice and victor’s law. 

Early in the 21^st century it became apparent that individual rights would take centre stage.  The political establishment in the UK was leaving behind discussions on class and class struggles and instead focusing on the way people self-identify.  This ideological process meant that more Western hemisphere countries started to introduce legal and social mechanisms of equality.  In 2004 the UK voted for civil partnerships and in Criminology we were discussing group rights and the criminalisation of otherness in “Outsiders”. 

During that time there was a burgeoning of academic and disciplinary reflection on the way people relate to different identities.  This started out as a wider debate on uniqueness and social identities.  Criminology’s first cousin Sociology has long focused on matters of race and gender in social discourse and of course,  Criminology has long explored these social constructions in relation to crime, victimisation and social precipitation.  As a way of exploring race and gender and age we offered modules such as “Crime: Perspectives of Race and Gender” and “Youth, Crime and the Media”.  Since then we have embraced Kimberlé Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality and embarked on a long journey for Criminology to adopt the term and explore crime trends through an increasingly intersectional lens.  Increasingly our modules have included an intersectional perspective, allowing students to consider identities more widely. 

The world’s confidence fell apart when in 2008 in the US and the UK financial institutions like banks and other financial companies started collapsing.  The boom years were replaced by the bust of the international markets, bringing upheaval, instability and a lot of uncertainty.  Austerity became an issue that concerned the world of Criminology.  In previous times of financial uncertainty crime spiked and there was an expectation that this will be the same once again.  Colleagues like Stephen Box in the past explored the correlation of unemployment to crime.  A view that has been contested since.  Despite the statistical information about declining crime trends, colleagues like Justin Kotzé question the validity of such decline.  Such debates demonstrate the importance of research methods, data and critical analysis as keys to formulating and contextualising a discipline like Criminology.  The development of “Applied Criminological Research” and “Doing Research in Criminology” became modular vehicles for those studying Criminology to make the most of it.

During the recession, the reduction of social services and social support, including financial aid to economically vulnerable groups began “to bite”!  Criminological discourse started conceptualising the lack of social support as a mechanism for understanding institutional and structural violence.  In Criminology modules we started exploring this and other forms of violence.  Increasingly we turned our focus to understanding institutional violence and our students began to explore very different forms of criminality which previously they may not have considered.  Violence as a mechanism of oppression became part of our curriculum adding to the way Criminology explores social conditions as a driver for criminality and victimisation.    

While the world was watching the unfolding of the “Arab Spring” in 2011, people started questioning the way we see and read and interpret news stories.  Round about that time in Criminology we wanted to break the “myths on crime” and explore the way we tell crime stories.  This is when we introduced “True Crimes and Other Fictions”, as a way of allowing students and staff to explore current affairs through a criminological lens.

Obviously, the way that the uprising in the Arab world took charge made the entire planet participants, whether active or passive, with everyone experiencing a global “bystander effect”.  From the comfort of our homes, we observed regimes coming to an end, communities being torn apart and waves of refugees fleeing.  These issues made our team to reflect further on the need to address these social conditions.  Increasingly, modules became aware of the social commentary which provides up-to-date examples as mechanism for exploring Criminology.

In 2019 announcements began to filter, originally from China, about a new virus that forced people to stay home.  A few months later and the entire planet went into lockdown. As the world went into isolation the Criminology team was making plans of virtual delivery and trying to find ways to allow students to conduct research online.  The pandemic rendered visible the substantial inequalities present in our everyday lives, in a way that had not been seen before. It also made staff and students reflect upon their own vulnerabilities and the need to create online communities. The dissertation and placement modules also forced us to think about research outside the classroom and more importantly outside the box! 

More recently, wars in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia have brought to the forefront many long posed questions about peace and the state of international community.  The divides between different geopolitical camps brought back memories of conflicts from the 20^th century. Noting that the language used is so old, but continues to evoke familiar divisions of the past, bringing them into the future.  In Criminology we continue to explore the skills required to re-imagine the world and to consider how the discipline is going to shape our understanding about crime.

It is interesting to reflect that 25 years ago the world was terrified about technology.  A quarter of a century later, the world, whilst embracing the internet, is worriedly debating the emergence of AI, the ethics of using information and the difference between knowledge and communication exchanges.  Social media have shifted the focus on traditional news outlets, and increasingly “fake news” is becoming a concern.  Criminology as a discipline, has also changed and matured.  More focus on intersectional criminological perspectives, race, gender, sexuality mean that cultural differences and social transitions are still significant perspectives in the discipline.  Criminology is also exploring new challenges and social concerns that are currently emerging around people’s movements, the future of institutions and the nature of society in a global world. 

Whatever the direction taken, Criminology still shines a light on complex social issues and helps to promote very important discussions that are really needed.  I can be simply celebratory and raise a glass in celebration of the 25 years and in anticipation of the next 25, but I am going to be more creative and say…

To our students, you are part of a discipline that has a lot to say about the world; to our alumni you are an integral part of the history of this journey.  To those who will be joining us in the future, be prepared to explore some interesting content and go on an academic journey that will challenge your perceptions and perspectives.  Radical Criminology as a concept emerged post-civil rights movements at the second part of the 20^th century.  People in the Western hemisphere were embracing social movements trying to challenge the established views and change the world.  This is when Criminology went through its adolescence and entered adulthood, setting a tone that is both clear and distinct in the Social Sciences.  The embrace of being a critical friend to these institutions sitting on crime and justice, law and order has increasingly become fractious with established institutions of oppression (think of appeals to defund the police and prison abolition, both staples within criminological discourse.  The rigour of the discipline has not ceased since, and these radical thoughts have led the way to new forms of critical Criminology which still permeate the disciplinary appeal.  In recent discourse we have been talking about radicalisation (which despite what the media may have you believe, can often be a positive impetus for change), so here’s to 25 more years of radical criminological thinking!  As a discipline, Criminology is becoming incredibly important in setting the ethical and professional boundaries of the future.  And don’t forget in Criminology everyone is welcome!