Criminalization

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I’m considering proposing a heading for the concept of criminalization which is defined as the process by which activities or people become crimes or criminals. This usually occurs when the law itself changes but can also be related to increased or disproportionate enforcement of existing laws. My library (law school) has books from the past decade that discuss the criminalization of: disability, homosexuality/LGBT people, migration, forced marriage, company fraud, environmental violations, and abortion. (Not a complete list of things or people that can be criminalized but gives a good sampling).

Some of these things would be covered by specific laws (e.g. company fraud). In other cases, the criminalization is more indirect and refers to the unequal enforcement or impact of laws, usually as a form of systemic discrimination against various groups of people. In my own cataloguing, I tend to use legal headings and subdivisions for the first type and for the second I use “social” headings and subdivisions (e.g. Social control, Discrimination headings, –Social aspects, etc.) I’m not sure if a distinction between these two should be made, especially since many topics are a mix of both.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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