What does criminalization mean?
Criminalization is the act or process of turning a particular behaviour into a crime — that is, making it punishable by law. A government criminalizes an activity when it passes legislation prohibiting it and attaching penalties such as fines or imprisonment. The term appears constantly in legal and political discussion: debates over the criminalization of drugs, prostitution, homelessness, or protest all concern not whether these things happen, but whether the state should punish them. Sociologists also use the word more broadly to describe how certain groups become labelled as criminals through policing and public attitudes. Criminalization usually implies deliberate state action, so it differs subtly from mere disapproval of a behaviour. Its natural opposite is decriminalization — removing conduct from the scope of criminal law — and legalization, which permits it outright. The word is formal in register and frequently carries a critical edge, since to speak of criminalization often means questioning whether punishment is the right response to the conduct in question.
nounThe act or process of making an activity illegal, or of treating someone as a criminal. In sociology it can also refer to the process by which a person or group comes to be labelled as criminal.
- The act or process of making an activity or behaviour illegal under law.
- (Sociology/labelling theory) The social process by which individuals or groups come to be defined and treated as criminals.
"The criminalization of drug possession has filled prisons without reducing addiction rates."
"Critics argued that the criminalization of homelessness punished people for being poor rather than helping them."
"Labelling theorists examined how the criminalization of youth subcultures deepened rather than reduced delinquency."
Every crime you know was invented: at some point in history, a legislature decided to 'criminalize' something that had previously been merely frowned upon.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of criminalization
Criminalization derives from the Latin crimen (genitive criminis), meaning accusation or charge, which passed through Old French as 'crime' and gave English both 'crime' and 'criminal'. The verb 'criminalize' formed in the nineteenth century by adding the '-ize' suffix, itself borrowed via Greek -izein through French and Latin, and the noun 'criminalization' followed as its action noun. It belongs to a large family of Latinate abstract nouns ending in '-ization' (such as legalization and decriminalization), and shares its root with cognates including incriminate, recrimination, and criminology.
How criminalization is actually used
A formal, academic term most common in law, political debate, and sociology; rare in casual conversation. Often carries critical connotations when writers question whether a behaviour ought to be a crime at all.
Easily confused with criminalization
Decriminalization is the opposite process — the removal of criminal penalties from an activity that was previously treated as a crime.