A zemiological framework for the study of disability and social harm

• In Event: Critical Criminology 1: Social Harm and Zemiology

Abstract

Criminology has largely neglected the social harms experienced by disabled people, both within and beyond the criminal justice system. The discipline frequently pathologises disability, framing disabled people as either victims or offenders while failing to engage with broader structural inequalities. Zemiology—the study of harm beyond legal definitions of crime—offers a valuable framework for examining systemic harms affecting marginalised groups, however has yet to be fully applied to disability. To address this gap, we apply a zemiological framework to the harms experienced by disabled people. We introduce dis/ableist criminology, a framework that integrates zemiology with disability studies to highlight disablist practices, ableist cultures, and the embodied experiences of alienation and marginalisation, offering a more comprehensive understanding of disability, crime, and victimisation.

Authors

• Donna Peacock, Birmingham City University

• Stephen J Macdonald, Durham University