Inventing the Criminal: A History of German Criminology, 1880-1945 (Studies in Legal History) [Hardcover]

Richard F. Wetzell (Author)

Book Description

Series: Studies in Legal History | Publication Date: August 2, 2000

Recent years have witnessed a resurgence of biological research into the causes of crime, but the origins of this kind of research date back to the late nineteenth century. Here, Richard Wetzell presents the first history of German criminology from Imperial Germany through the Weimar Republic to the end of the Third Reich, a period that provided a unique test case for the perils associated with biological explanations of crime.

Drawing on a wealth of primary sources from criminological, legal, and psychiatric literature, Wetzell shows that German biomedical research on crime predominated over sociological research and thus contributed to the rise of the eugenics movement and the eventual targeting of criminals for eugenic measures by the Nazi regime. However, he also demonstrates that the development of German criminology was characterized by a constant tension between the criminologists' hereditarian biases and an increasing methodological sophistication that prevented many of them from endorsing the crude genetic determinism and racism that characterized so much of Hitler's regime. As a result, proposals for the sterilization of criminals remained highly controversial during the Nazi years, suggesting that Nazi biological politics left more room for contention than has often been assumed.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Wetzell's book is solidly researched and clearly organized and written.

American Historical Review

Inventing the Criminal provides a well-researched overview of the development of German criminological thought.

Bulletin of the History of Medicine

No serious researcher in the area can afford to ignore it.

Journal of Modern History

Inventing the Criminal makes a major contribution to our knowledge of criminological discourse.

Andrew Lees, Rutgers University

Wetzell's elegantly argued book offers a provocative but convincing history of the fate of biological determinism in Germany.

Suzanne Marchand, Louisiana State University

From the Inside Flap

The first history of German criminology from Imperial Germany through the Third Reich. Exploring the interaction between law, social science, and medicine, Richard Wetzell reveals a constant tension between the criminologists' hereditarian biases and an increasing methodological sophistication that prevented many of them from endorsing the crude genetic determinism and racism of Hitler's regime.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (August 2, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807825352
• ISBN-13: 978-0807825358
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,889,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard F. Wetzell is a Research Fellow and Editor at the German Historical Institute in Washington DC. He received his B.A. from Swarthmore College and did his graduate work in modern European history at Columbia University (M.A.) and Stanford University (Ph.D.). He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University and has taught at the University of Maryland at College Park and Georgetown University. His research focuses on the intersection of law, science, and politics in modern Germany as well as the history of deviance.