Studying Activism around Extreme Punishment in Criminology and Criminal Justice

• In Event: Lightning Talk: Public Criminology and Social Change: Approaching Activism in the Social Sciences

Abstract

Life-without-parole sentences (LWOP) and the death penalty are uniquely situated in the American penal landscape. They are the most extreme punishments in the U.S., each intended to result in one's social and actual death. Social movements consisting of activists, lawyers, researchers, policymakers, and system-impacted individuals have long been dedicated to reform and abolition of these punishments. In this lightning talk, I use my experiences in studying these movements as a lens for describing the importance of research on activism in criminology and criminal justice. Further, I discuss the impact that scholarship surrounding collective action has on public criminology more broadly.

Author

• Clayton B. Drummond, George Mason University