Reaching beyond criminal justice to justice : Orienting criminology and criminal policy toward harm

Abstract

In past publications, we have demonstrated harm’s centrality to crime, by presenting evidence on their relationship that dates to ancient legal systems and spans centuries via Beccaria, Smith, and Mill. In this article, we argue that binding criminology and criminal policy more firmly and explicitly to harm would benefit criminology and criminal policy, not just for the sake of criminal justice, but also for that of justice writ large. We show how doing so can, with support from a newly developed harm assessment framework, promote justice and we point to evidence of progress and feasibility. Our understanding of justice draws from Sen’s work, which conceives of justice largely as a matter of social realizations, capabilities, and freedom. We recommend expanding criminology’s mission to embrace the study of harm and targeting harm reduction in criminal policy to solidify their connection to justice.