Queer criminology

Queer people 1 experience the criminal legal system in a way that is unique and worthy of criminological inquiry, hence the emergence of queer criminology. Queer criminology, simply put, is “a theoretical and practical approach that seeks to highlight and draw attention to the stigmatization, the criminalization, and in many ways the rejection of the Queer community… as both victims and offenders, by academe and the criminal legal system” (Buist and Lenning, 2016, p. 1). Queer criminology also considers the experiences of criminal legal professionals working in the field, such as in law enforcement, courts, and corrections systems. More recently, queer criminologists have expanded their scope of inquiry to include engaging “queer theoretical critiques to not only identify heteronormativity within criminal justice institutions, but also to question whether, in fact, the reform of such institutions can ever hope to address the injustices experienced by LGBTIQ people” (Ball, 2016, p. 8). Arguably, it is the latter focus that has placed queer criminology under the broader rubric of critical criminology. Indeed, contemporary queer criminology is differentiated from previous criminological work that simply considered Queer people as subjects particularly because of its disruptive and challenging nature (Dwyer, Ball, and Crofts, 2016). Additionally, queer criminology mirrors the variety of perspectives that fall under the umbrella of critical criminology (feminist criminology, cultural criminology, green criminology, and so on) - while there are countless ideas about what makes a particular criminology “critical,” so are there many notions about what makes queer criminology “queer.” This chapter is meant to provide a sampling of the varied topics of inquiry, theoretical perspectives, and research that currently dominate criminological work that we might consider “queer.