National Deviancy Symposium
Encyclopedia
The National Deviancy Symposium (or National Deviancy Conference) consisted of a group of British Criminologists dissatisfied with Orthodox British Criminology, many of them later involved with Critical criminology
and/or Left realism
. According to Roger Hopkins-Burke (discussing Critical Criminology):
, Stan Cohen
, David Downes, Mary McIntosh, Paul Rock
, Ian Taylor
and Jock Young
.
Sir Leon Radzinowicz
, one of the most important figures in post-war criminology in Britain, recounts the formation of the National Deviancy Symposium:
As Radzinowcz's account shows National Deviancy Conference was initially "deeply critical of the medico-psychological assumptions, social democratic politics, and atheoretical programme of what they termed 'positivist criminology'."
The group also tried to provide a financial support and a forum for campaign groups around criminal justice, such as "the gay, women's, mental patients' and prisoners' movements" such as Preservation of the Rights of Prisoners
(PROP), Radical Alternatives to Prison (RAP) and People not Psychiatry.
Of the group's biggest successes was helping to set up in 1974 the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Control.
. Ian Taylor
, Jock Young
and Paul Walton wrote the goundbreaking The New Criminology in 1973, following that with the edited collection, Critical Criminology in 1975 writing on the need for a marxist, "fully social" theory of deviance. Whereas those around Stuart Hall
, at the Birmingham
Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies
focussed on "sub-cultures of imagination and resistance". David Downes and Paul Rock put forward an interactionist approach in response to the neo-marxists in their 1979 compilation, Deviant Interpretations.
Their penultimate conference was entitled, Permissiveness and Control, and was held in 1977, where the NDC announced its end.
In January 1979 they held their last conference, a joint conference with the Conference of Socialist Economists
Law and the State Group under the title 'Capitalist Discipline and the Rule of Law', the book Capitalism and the Rule of Law a product of this work. In his contribution in this book, Jock Young
first coined the term left idealism and is said to have been converted to left realism
.
. Many of the original contributors attended, including Jock Young
, Stanley Cohen
and Tony Jefferson. New blood mixed with the old, and speeches from scholars such as Robert Reiner, Steve Hall
, Keith Hayward, Simon Hallsworth, John Lea
, Simon Winlow
, Kevin Stenson and Mark Horsley called for new theories to analyse crime and control in today's world. The conference was organized by Simon Winlow
and Rowland Atkinson.
Critical criminology
Critical criminology is a theoretical perspective in criminology which takes a conflict perspective, such as marxism, feminism, political economy theory or critical theory. The focus of critical criminology is the genesis of crime and nature of ‘justice’ within a structure of class and status...
and/or Left realism
Left realism
Left Realist Criminology emerged out of Critical Criminology as a reaction against what was perceived to be the Left's failure to take a practical interest in everyday crime, leaving it to the Right Realists to monopolize the political agenda on law and order...
. According to Roger Hopkins-Burke (discussing Critical Criminology):
Notable practitioners in this field emerged from a series of meetings held by the New Deviancy Conference at York University in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Those involved included Paul RockPaul RockPaul Rock is British sociologist and criminologist, and is Professor of Social Institutions at the London School of Economics.He was a founder member of the National Deviancy Conference.-Publications:...
, David Downes (sociologist)David Downes (sociologist)David Downes is a British sociologist and criminologist and is currently Professor Emeritus of Social Administration at the London School of Economics.Downes was one of the founder members of the National Deviancy Conference.-1970s:...
, Laurie TaylorLaurie Taylor (sociologist)Laurence John "Laurie" Taylor is an English sociologist and radio presenter originally from Liverpool.-Academic career:After attending Roman Catholic schools including the direct grant grammar school St Mary's College in Crosby at the same time as Liverpool poet, Roger McGough, Taylor first...
, Stan CohenStanley Cohen (sociologist)Professor Stanley Cohen is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics.-Life:Cohen was born in Johannesberg, South Africa in 1942. He grew up in South Africa and was an undergraduate at the University of Witwatersrand, studying Sociology and Social Work. He came to London in...
, Ian TaylorIan Taylor (sociologist)Ian Taylor was a British sociologist. He was born in Sheffield.- National Deviancy Symposium and Critical Criminology :...
and Jock YoungJock YoungThis article is about the sociologist. For the rapper, see Yung JocJock Young is a British sociologist and criminologist.He began teaching at Enfield College of Technology....
.
Foundation
The NDC was formed in July 1968, as a radical breakaway from the Third National Conference of Teaching and Research on Criminology at the University of Cambridge by seven individuals. These seven were Kit CarsonKit Carson
Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson was an American frontiersman and Indian fighter. Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 and became a Mountain man and trapper in the West. Carson explored the west to California, and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married...
, Stan Cohen
Stanley Cohen (sociologist)
Professor Stanley Cohen is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics.-Life:Cohen was born in Johannesberg, South Africa in 1942. He grew up in South Africa and was an undergraduate at the University of Witwatersrand, studying Sociology and Social Work. He came to London in...
, David Downes, Mary McIntosh, Paul Rock
Paul Rock
Paul Rock is British sociologist and criminologist, and is Professor of Social Institutions at the London School of Economics.He was a founder member of the National Deviancy Conference.-Publications:...
, Ian Taylor
Ian Taylor (sociologist)
Ian Taylor was a British sociologist. He was born in Sheffield.- National Deviancy Symposium and Critical Criminology :...
and Jock Young
Jock Young
This article is about the sociologist. For the rapper, see Yung JocJock Young is a British sociologist and criminologist.He began teaching at Enfield College of Technology....
.
Sir Leon Radzinowicz
Leon Radzinowicz
Sir Leon Radzinowicz was an academic criminologist and the founding director of the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge.He was born in Łódź, Poland and arrived in Cambridge in the late 1930s...
, one of the most important figures in post-war criminology in Britain, recounts the formation of the National Deviancy Symposium:
"I do not wish to end this account without mentioning a rather amusing episode. Right in the middle of the Third National (CriminologyCriminologyCriminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
) Conference, taking place in CambridgeCambridgeThe city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
in July 1968, a group of seven young social scientists and criminologists, participants of the Conference, met secretly and decided to establish an independent 'National Deviancy Conference' and soon afterwards they duly met in York. At the time, it reminded me a little of naughty schoolboys, playing a nasty game on their stern headmaster. It was not necessary to go 'underground' because we were not in any way opposed to discussing new approaches to the sociology of deviance ... Although not invited to their conference in York I asked one of my senior colleagues in the Institute to go there as an observer.
"My attitude was by no means hostile or patronizing. As I stated at the time, movements in ideas, like life in general, often lead to seeming unexpected baffling results. Those were the years of dissent, protest and ferment in the United States with their unmistakable echoes in Britain. They affected not only the ways people acted, but also their thinking on many matters relating to social life and its reinterpretations. But it was also a reaction to some extent inevitable and to some extent misguided of the new generation of British criminologists against what appeared to be the stolid establishment of CriminologyCriminologyCriminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
as personified by the Cambridge Institute and probably also by its first Director."
As Radzinowcz's account shows National Deviancy Conference was initially "deeply critical of the medico-psychological assumptions, social democratic politics, and atheoretical programme of what they termed 'positivist criminology'."
Early days
The group proceeded to organise 13 conferences between 1968 and 1973, publishing three sets of conference papers in the process.The group also tried to provide a financial support and a forum for campaign groups around criminal justice, such as "the gay, women's, mental patients' and prisoners' movements" such as Preservation of the Rights of Prisoners
Preservation of the Rights of Prisoners
Preservation of the Rights of Prisoners was a prisoner's rights organisation set up in the early 1970s in the United Kingdom, which organised more than one hundred prison demonstrations, strikes and protests.-Formation:...
(PROP), Radical Alternatives to Prison (RAP) and People not Psychiatry.
Of the group's biggest successes was helping to set up in 1974 the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Control.
Divergence
However, by the mid-70's conferences began to be held less regularly, and academics worked on their own individual branch of Critical criminologyCritical criminology
Critical criminology is a theoretical perspective in criminology which takes a conflict perspective, such as marxism, feminism, political economy theory or critical theory. The focus of critical criminology is the genesis of crime and nature of ‘justice’ within a structure of class and status...
. Ian Taylor
Ian Taylor (sociologist)
Ian Taylor was a British sociologist. He was born in Sheffield.- National Deviancy Symposium and Critical Criminology :...
, Jock Young
Jock Young
This article is about the sociologist. For the rapper, see Yung JocJock Young is a British sociologist and criminologist.He began teaching at Enfield College of Technology....
and Paul Walton wrote the goundbreaking The New Criminology in 1973, following that with the edited collection, Critical Criminology in 1975 writing on the need for a marxist, "fully social" theory of deviance. Whereas those around Stuart Hall
Stuart Hall (cultural theorist)
Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist and sociologist who has lived and worked in the United Kingdom since 1951. Hall, along with Richard Hoggart and Raymond Williams, was one of the founding figures of the school of thought that is now known as British Cultural Studies or The Birmingham School of...
, at the Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies
Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies
The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies was a research centre at the University of Birmingham, England. It was founded in 1964 by Richard Hoggart, its first director...
focussed on "sub-cultures of imagination and resistance". David Downes and Paul Rock put forward an interactionist approach in response to the neo-marxists in their 1979 compilation, Deviant Interpretations.
Their penultimate conference was entitled, Permissiveness and Control, and was held in 1977, where the NDC announced its end.
In January 1979 they held their last conference, a joint conference with the Conference of Socialist Economists
Conference of Socialist Economists
The Conference of Socialist Economists describes itself as an international, democratic membership organisation committed to developing a materialist critique of capitalism, unconstrained by conventional academic divisions between subjects....
Law and the State Group under the title 'Capitalist Discipline and the Rule of Law', the book Capitalism and the Rule of Law a product of this work. In his contribution in this book, Jock Young
Jock Young
This article is about the sociologist. For the rapper, see Yung JocJock Young is a British sociologist and criminologist.He began teaching at Enfield College of Technology....
first coined the term left idealism and is said to have been converted to left realism
Left realism
Left Realist Criminology emerged out of Critical Criminology as a reaction against what was perceived to be the Left's failure to take a practical interest in everyday crime, leaving it to the Right Realists to monopolize the political agenda on law and order...
.
The New Deviancy Conference
The conference was revived in 2011 and held at the University of YorkUniversity of York
The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...
. Many of the original contributors attended, including Jock Young
Jock Young
This article is about the sociologist. For the rapper, see Yung JocJock Young is a British sociologist and criminologist.He began teaching at Enfield College of Technology....
, Stanley Cohen
Stanley Cohen
Stan Cohen may refer to:* Stanley Cohen , American Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology and Medicine* Stan Cohen , British Labour politician...
and Tony Jefferson. New blood mixed with the old, and speeches from scholars such as Robert Reiner, Steve Hall
Steve Hall
Steve Hall born 10 July 1979 in St Helens, Merseyside, England is a rugby league player.Hall's position of choice is on the wing. He played for London Broncos, St. Helens and Widnes Vikings in the Super League and also French club Saint-Gaudens Bears....
, Keith Hayward, Simon Hallsworth, John Lea
John Lea
John Lea is a left realist criminologist based at the Crime and Conflict Research Centre, Middlesex University in the United Kingdom.He graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London with a BSc in Economics in 1967, before gaining MSc's in Economics and...
, Simon Winlow
Simon Winlow
-Biography:Dr Simon Winlow is a British sociologist and criminologist working at the University of York, UK. Specialising in crime, violence, masculinity and criminology, he is an internationally respected ethnographer and theorist who produces 'qualitative sociology at its best'. His recent work...
, Kevin Stenson and Mark Horsley called for new theories to analyse crime and control in today's world. The conference was organized by Simon Winlow
Simon Winlow
-Biography:Dr Simon Winlow is a British sociologist and criminologist working at the University of York, UK. Specialising in crime, violence, masculinity and criminology, he is an internationally respected ethnographer and theorist who produces 'qualitative sociology at its best'. His recent work...
and Rowland Atkinson.
Members of the National Deviancy Symposium/Conference
- Ian TaylorIan Taylor (sociologist)Ian Taylor was a British sociologist. He was born in Sheffield.- National Deviancy Symposium and Critical Criminology :...
- Jock YoungJock YoungThis article is about the sociologist. For the rapper, see Yung JocJock Young is a British sociologist and criminologist.He began teaching at Enfield College of Technology....
- Paul RockPaul RockPaul Rock is British sociologist and criminologist, and is Professor of Social Institutions at the London School of Economics.He was a founder member of the National Deviancy Conference.-Publications:...
- Stan CohenStanley Cohen (sociologist)Professor Stanley Cohen is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics.-Life:Cohen was born in Johannesberg, South Africa in 1942. He grew up in South Africa and was an undergraduate at the University of Witwatersrand, studying Sociology and Social Work. He came to London in...
- Laurie TaylorLaurie Taylor (sociologist)Laurence John "Laurie" Taylor is an English sociologist and radio presenter originally from Liverpool.-Academic career:After attending Roman Catholic schools including the direct grant grammar school St Mary's College in Crosby at the same time as Liverpool poet, Roger McGough, Taylor first...
- David Downes
- Kit CarsonKit CarsonChristopher Houston "Kit" Carson was an American frontiersman and Indian fighter. Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 and became a Mountain man and trapper in the West. Carson explored the west to California, and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married...
- Mary McIntosh
- Roy BaileyRoy BaileyRoy Bailey may refer to:*Roy Bailey , Canadian Progressive Conservative politician from Saskatchewan*Roy Bailey , British socialist folk singer...
- Stuart HallStuart Hall (cultural theorist)Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist and sociologist who has lived and worked in the United Kingdom since 1951. Hall, along with Richard Hoggart and Raymond Williams, was one of the founding figures of the school of thought that is now known as British Cultural Studies or The Birmingham School of...
- Mike Hepworth
- Gail ArmstrongGail Armstrong-ARTISTS EDUCATION:Gail Armstrong a British illustrator initially trained at Sheffield Polytechnic where she did her foundation. She then moved onto Glasgow School of Art where she received a BA hons in Graphic Design and Illustration in 1987 and finally received a Postgraduate Diploma in the same...
- Mike Smith
- Paul Walton
- Maureen CainMaureen CainMaureen Cain, PhD received her Bachelors Degree from London School of Economics in 1959, and she attained her PhD from the London School of Economics in 1969. After graduating from LSE, Dr Cain became a professor.Dr...
- Roger MatthewsRoger MatthewsRoger Matthews is a British criminologist. He is currently Professor of Criminology at the University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom.Matthews is one of the key figures in left realism, a criminological critique of both the dominant administrative criminology and the left...
- John LambertJohn LambertJohn Lambert may refer to:*John Lambert , English Protestant martyred during the reign of Henry VIII*John Lambert , Parliamentary general in the English Civil War...
- Dermont Walsh
- Phil Strong
- Eric Colvin
- Maxwell Atkinson
- Mike Brake
- Ken Plummer
- Mary WilsonMary WilsonMary Wilson may refer to:* Mary Wilson, Baroness Wilson of Rievaulx , British poet, widow of former British prime minister, Harold Wilson* Mary Wilson , American singer, member of The Supremes...
- Margaret Voysey
- Jim Kemeny
- Peter Lassman
- Paul Wiles
- Frank PierceFrank PierceFrank C. Pierce was an American track and field athlete who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics.In 1904 he did not finish in marathon competition. Pierce became the first Native American to compete for the United States in the Olympic Games.-External links:*...
- Mike Phillipson
- John McKinlayJohn McKinlayJohn McKinlay , was a grazier and explorer of Australia and leader of the search party for the Burke and Wills expedition .-Early life:...
- Phil Cohen
- Paul CorriganPaul CorriganPaul David Corrigan CBE is a Labour politician, and was health adviser to Tony Blair. He is married to Hilary Armstrong.Born in Woolwich, London on 11 April 1948, Corrigan gained his BSc in sociology, London School of Economics in 1969; PhD in juvenile delinquency and secondary education,...
- Simon Maddison
- Jeff Coulter
- Ken Nuttall
- Colin CampbellColin Campbell-Scottish history:*Cailean Mór , also known as Sir Colin Campbell, or "Colin the Great"*Colin Iongantach , also known as Colin Campbell, self-styled Lord of Argyll, see Clan MacFarlane...
- Graham Murdock
- Jerry Palmer
- Bob Roshier
- Iain Manson
- Paul WillisPaul Willis (cultural theorist)Paul Willis is a leading British cultural theorist.He was born in Wolverhampton and received his education at the University of Cambridge and at the University of Birmingham. He worked at Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies and subsequently at the University of Wolverhampton. He was a...
- Gerry Stimson
- Steve Alwyn
- David WidgeryDavid WidgeryDavid Widgery was a British Trotskyist writer, journalist, polemicist, physician, and activist.Widgery was born in Barnet and grew up in Maidenhead, Berkshire...
- Richard Daventry
- Peter Archard
- Peter Sedgewick
- Carol Riddell
- Bernie Simons
- Jeremy SmithJeremy SmithJeremy James Smith is a New Zealand professional rugby league player that currently plays halfback for Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, and previously for Salford City Reds of Super League.-Playing career:...
- Thomas MathiesenThomas MathiesenThomas Mathiesen is a Norwegian sociologist.Mathiesen studied sociology at the University of Wisconsin . He graduated as M.A. in 1958 from the University of Oslo, where he did his doctorate in 1965...
- Geoff Mungham
- Geoff Pearson
- David Woodhill
- Andy Tudor
- Charles Smith
- Bob Fryer
- John GagnonJohn GagnonDr. John Gagnon of the State University of New York at Stony Brook is a sociologist and sexologist. Gagnon and William S. Simon developed the concept of sexual scripts, which posits that a person's sexual behavior and experience of that behavior is influenced by their subjective understanding of...
- John Auld
- Peter ManningPeter ManningPeter Manning FRSA is internationally respected as a British conductor and violinist.Manning's conducting career includes work with the Royal Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Edsberg Chamber Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Musica Vitae and the Soloists of The Royal...
- Peter Leonard
- David LewisDavid Lewis-Academics:*David Lewis , civil lawyer and first Principal of Jesus College, Oxford*David Lewis , English author and psychologist*David C...
- Peter Hughman
Publications of National Deviancy Conferences
- Cohen, S. ed. (1971) Images of Deviance, Harmondsworth: Penguin
- Taylor, I. & Taylor, L.Laurie Taylor (sociologist)Laurence John "Laurie" Taylor is an English sociologist and radio presenter originally from Liverpool.-Academic career:After attending Roman Catholic schools including the direct grant grammar school St Mary's College in Crosby at the same time as Liverpool poet, Roger McGough, Taylor first...
, eds. (1972) Politics and Deviance: Papers from the National Deviancy Conference, Harmondsworth: Penguin - Bailey, R. & Young, J.Jock YoungThis article is about the sociologist. For the rapper, see Yung JocJock Young is a British sociologist and criminologist.He began teaching at Enfield College of Technology....
eds (1973) Contemporary Social Problems in Britain, Farnborough: Saxon House - Fine, B. eds. (1979) Capitalism and the Rule of Law: From Deviancy Theory to Marxism London: Hutchinson
- National Deviancy Conference (eds) (1980) Permissiveness and Control, London: Macmillan