What is Popular Criminology?
I mean, I know criminology is “popular” right now, but what does “popular criminology” mean? I’m sure you all have seen, at some point, some form of “crime show,” whether it was a Netflix documentary or a crime drama that’s been on for forever (I see you Law and Order: SVU!). Do you watch films that focus on crime (e.g., The Godfather, The Silence of the Lambs), or read books in which crime is the main plot point (e.g., In Cold Blood, Sharp Objects). Do you love true crime and watch documentaries or listen to podcasts that retell the story of a particularly heinous crime? Have you played video games where crime is the central focus of the game, like Red Dead Redemption or the Grand Theft Auto franchise?
Crime is everywhere in our culture. We study it in our classrooms and argue about in in our courtrooms, but we also binge it, stream it, listen to it, and pretend to engage in it for entertainment’s sake. That’s where popular criminology comes in.
What do we mean by “popular criminology?”
When people hear the word “criminology,” this likely conjures up images of research articles, crime statistics, policy briefs—stuff not everyone has access to or maybe even wants to read (sometimes me included!). This is academic criminology.
But crime stories can be found everywhere, and the public tends to get most of their information about crime from the media and other popular culture artifacts. Honestly, the audience for popular criminology is bigger. To paraphrase Nicky Rafter—even a box office flop will reach more people than a research article. Popular criminology is the study of how crime and justice are represented in the media and popular culture, and how these images and stories shape public opinions of both crime and the way to respond to and prevent it. Popular criminology also allows us to engage with the emotional, philosophical, and psychological aspects of crime and punishment—something we really aren’t able to do with academic criminology.
how do we “Do” Popular Crimiology?
According to Steven Kohm, popular criminology can take on a variety of forms.
Crime Stories as Culture
📚 Books, true crime bestsellers, and even novels that weave criminology into storytelling.
Think of it as crime explained through narratives—whether by journalists, popular authors, or academics writing for a mass audience. I actually do popular criminology through CrimComics—more on that later!
Public Attitudes as Criminology
💭 How everyday people think about crime, and how those beliefs loop back into policies, laws, and justice debates.
This is the “what the public believes → what the system does” feedback loop.
Academic Meets Pop Culture
🗣️Where scholarly conversations about crime collide with the cultural ones—from TV shows and films to podcasts and comics.
This is the most common version: the ongoing dialogue between academic criminology and popular storytelling about crime.
CrimComics: Popular Criminology in Action
When I talk about popular criminology, I’m not only talking about Netflix documentaries or horror films, I’m also talking about projects like my own CrimComics.
These comics were designed to bring academic criminology into the language of popular storytelling. Instead of a textbook chapter, you get illustrations, dialogue, and narrative arcs that explain complex criminological ideas in a way that feels familiar and engaging.
CrimComics sit right at the crossroads of Steven Kohm’s forms of popular criminology:
They’re crime stories as culture that teach through art and narrative.
They shape public attitudes by making criminology accessible to students, fans, and the wider public.
And they’re a clear case of academic meets pop culture because it’s scholarly content presented in a comic book format.
This is why I see CrimComics as more than just teaching tools. They’re a way of practicing popular criminology by showing that academic ideas can live and breathe in the same spaces as the crime stories people already love.
why popular criminology matters
The crime stories we consume influence how we think about real crime. For example:
The CSI effect has jurors expecting high-tech forensic evidence that rarely exists in real trials.
Streaming platforms have turned true crime into a shared obsession, sparking debates about justice, victims, and ethics.
Horror movies mirror our anxieties about violence, gender, and survival. They also portray crimes and the criminal justice system in a way that generates fear.
And recently, the appearance of bodies in Houston’s bayous have made the public believe there is a serial killer in Houston. Check out my blog post (see below) about it as well as the news stories about it on my Media/Press page.
These examples show that media isn’t harmless background noise. It shapes the way we imagine crime, justice, and punishment. Popular criminology helps us see those patterns clearly and ask harder questions about their impact.
A Nod to Nicky Rafter
I also want to honor one of my mentors, Nicole (Nicky) Hahn Rafter. She was a pioneer in this area, insisting that criminologists pay attention to novels, films, and television as important sources of cultural meaning about crime. She wrote some phenomenal works, including Shots in the Mirror: Crime Films and Society and Criminology Goes to the Movies with her colleague Michelle Brown.
Her work made it possible for scholars like me to approach popular culture as serious material for criminological study. This project, The Pop Culture Criminologist, grows directly from that legacy.
My Lens: Criminology Meets Pop Culture
As a criminologist and the author of CrimComics (Oxford University Press), I’ve spent years experimenting with new ways to teach and talk about crime. I use comics, horror films, and true crime analysis to make criminology engaging, relatable, and fun.
This space is where I’ll:
Break down how crime is represented in pop culture and media.
Explore the overlap between horror and criminology.
Analyze true crime with a critical lens.
Share teaching tools and insights to incorporate popular culture into the classroom (including CrimComics!).
Where We’re Going Next
This is just the starting point. My next post will dig into:
🤔 Why we crave the serial killer story—and what that says about how pop culture can create a perceived boogeyman.
If you’re interested in crime, horror, or pop culture, this is the conversation you’ll want to follow.
💌 Join the mailling list (to stay updated)
🎥 Watch my launch video on YouTube (coming soon!)
📚 Explore CrimComics
💬 What about you? What’s the last crime show, movie, or podcast you couldn’t stop thinking about? Tell me in the comments—I might feature it in a future post!
