Queer Criminology New Directions in Critical Criminology Series

Winner of the 2016 Book Award from the American Society of Criminology, Division of Critical Criminology.

In this book, Carrie L. Buist and Emily Lenning reflect on the origins of Queer Criminology, survey the foundational research and scholarship in this emerging field, and offer suggestions for the future. Covering topics such as the criminalization of queerness; the policing of Queer communities; Queer experiences in the courtroom; and the correctional control of Queer people, Queer Criminology synthesizes the work of criminologists, journalists, legal scholars, non-governmental organizations, and others to illuminate the historical and contemporary context of the Queer experience.

Queer Criminology offers examples of the grave injustices that Queer people face around the world, particularly in places such as Russia, Kyrgyzstan, England, India, Thailand, Nigeria, and the United States. These injustices include, but are not limited to, selective enforcement, coerced confessions, disproportionate sentencing, rape, extortion, denial of due process, forced isolation, corporal punishment, and death. By highlighting a pattern of discriminatory, disproportionate, and abusive treatment of Queer people by the criminal legal system, this book demonstrates the importance of developing a criminology that critiques the heteronormative systems that serve to oppress Queer people around the world.

Buist and Lenning argue that criminology is incomplete without a thorough recognition and understanding of these Queer experiences. Therefore, Queer Criminology is a vital contribution to the growing body of literature exploring the Queer experience, and should be considered a necessary tool for students, scholars, and practitioners alike who are seeking a more just criminal legal system.

1. Queering Criminology 2. Criminalizing Queerness 3. Queer Criminology & Law Enforcement 4. Queer Criminology & Legal Systems 5. Queer Criminology & Corrections 6. Future Directions in Queer Criminology.

Carrie L. Buist is an Assistant Professor of Criminology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Her research interests include Queer issues in criminology and criminal justice, media and crime, policing, feminism, and the sociology of pop culture. She has published in several peer-reviewed journals and served as co-editor for Critical Criminology: An International Journal’s special edition on Queer(ing) Criminology.

Emily Lenning is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Fayetteville State University. Her publications cover a diverse range of topics, from state-sanctioned violence against women to creative advances in pedagogy. Her accomplishments in and out of the classroom have been recognized by several awards, including the North Carolina Criminal Justice Association’s Margaret Lang Willis Outstanding Criminal Justice Educator Award and the American Society of Criminology Division on Women & Crime’s New Scholar Award.