Abstract

Increasingly, as the forces of globalization have developed, criminologists have been called upon to examine crime and criminal justice issues in a so-called comparative context – that is to say, gathering information and data from each jurisdiction and comparing such phenomena between countries. Whilst at the outset this may seem a relatively straightforward task, many countries, broadly speaking, experience similar kinds of crime problem and utilize similar kinds of criminal justice responses, and though comparative work has many advantages over limiting research to a single jurisdiction, it can bring particular complications. This chapter will open with some discussion of globalization in relation to criminal justice and how that process has increasingly put the onus on criminologists to consider the criminal justice realms beyond their own national borders. The chapter will then focus on some of the methodological approaches that have been taken to comparative study, drawing on methodological literature from this field and delving into the specifics and the complexities of carrying out comparative research. The following section will then draw on a number of studies as exemplars of comparative research in action: commenting on both the positive aspects of these studies as well as their limitations. The section will draw on issues of policing, crime and victimization as key examples of areas in which comparative study has taken place. The chapter will also look ahead to what has been called the slowing down or even the ‘death’ of globalization to question what issues this may raise for comparative criminological research in the coming years.