What is Zemiology?

“The process of criminal justice mystifies rather than clarifies what is harmful in society and what might be done about it” (Roberts, 2011: 13).

What is Zemiology?

Almost nine out of ten major injuries known to the Health and Safety Executive are not investigated.

(Tombs and Whyte, 2008:12)

What is Zemiology?

“… we are led to believe that the criminal justice system is protecting us against the gravest threats to our well-being when, in fact, the system is protecting us against only some threats and not necessarily the gravest ones” (Reiman, 2007: 294).

For every one homicide in the UK there are…

“three times as many deaths from road traffic accidents…

four times as many deaths from hospital infections…

five deaths caused by individuals intentionally killing themselves…

forty-five people [who] die from deaths related to excess pollution in the atmosphere”

(Pantazis and Pemberton, 2012: 43).

“What is Zemiology?” was produced by students on year 1 of the FdA Criminology & Criminal Justice at the University Centre at Blackburn College, 2013-14:

Karl Baldwin, Nathaniel Bennison, Hayley Bury,

Catherine Darby, Charlotte Fishwick, Leanne Gallagher,

Dean Haslam, Muniba Hussain, Alexandra Isherwood, Sonal Kana,

Chelsea Logue, Gaynor Lang, Kayleigh Moorhouse, Natalie Shafiq,

Irem Naser, Danielle Newsham, Andrew Nicholson, Amy Rhodes,

Paul Rimmer, Karen Rishton, Daisy Royle, Anisa Seedat,

Kiran Shabir, Jade Steele, Carl Turner, Katie Unthank, Dale Walker, Michaela Walker.

ReferencesPantazis, C. and Pemberton, S. (2012) “Harm audit: the collateral damage of economic crisis and the Coalition’s austerity programme”, Criminal Justice Matters, 89: 42-45.

Reiman, R. (2007) The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class, and Criminal Justice. London: Pearson.

Roberts, R. (2011) “The hall of mirrors: criminal justice myths uncovered”, Criminal Justice Matters, 83: 13-14.

Tombs, S. and Whyte, D. (2008). A crisis of enforcement: The decriminalisation of death and injury at work. Available at: www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/acrisisofenforcement.html (last accessed 21 February 2014).