The idea behind this book is straightforward. It is that an important way to approach
criminology
is to think of it as an academic discipline and not just as a field of study. To
approach criminology in this way means that we must recognize that criminology’s history
is written, not only in the questions it asks, its methods, and theories, but by its organizational
structure and tasks as well. The study of the cause of crime then is carried out in
institutional settings such as universities and research centers. Its organizational tasks, as
Garland (2011) argues “are carried out by various institutions – peer?reviewed journals,
professional associations, conferences, funding agencies and so on – which make up the
material infrastructure of the enterprise” (pp. 302–303). To approach criminology in this
manner allows us to have a conversation about the way in which the ideas that characterize
criminology are shaped by the organizational structure within which they appear.