The Material Culture of Crime: Recovering the Lost Theory of Forensics

• In Event: From Historic Forensics to Contemporary Criminology: State Control, Crime Prevention, and Disaster

Abstract

The intellectual environment of late nineteenth century Europe in which criminology was born included what we now refer to as forensic science. Alexandre Lacassagne, Hans Gross, R.A. Reiss and others contributed to the formation of criminology although their work has been forgotten. This essay examines texts by these forgotten founders. Much of this literature, if referenced at all, has been neglected as description of obsolete techniques for forensic analysis. Yet a closer reading reveals theory and concepts of significance for contemporary criminology, including crime scene reconstruction, trace evidence, individualization and identification. These concepts contribute to an understanding of physical objects related to crime as material culture and not merely debris for forensic analysis. The relationship between human action and physical objects represents a major contribution to criminological thought, linking such diverse fields as cultural criminology, the criminology of place, routine activities theory, and situational crime prevention.

Author

• Paul Knepper, University of Sheffield