Nils Christie
Nils Christie
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Full Name and Common Aliases
Nils Johan Sundnes Christie is a Norwegian criminologist and sociologist known for his influential work on the sociology of crime and punishment.
Birth and Death Dates
Born: December 27, 1928
Died: February 2, 2015 (age 86)
Nationality and Profession(s)
Norwegian
Criminologist
Sociologist
Nils Christie spent most of his career at the University of Oslo, where he held various positions, including professorships in criminology and sociology.
Early Life and Background
Christie was born in Norway to a family that valued education. He developed an early interest in social issues and began writing about crime and punishment during his teenage years. Christie's academic pursuits took him to the University of Oslo, where he earned degrees in law and sociology.
Major Accomplishments
Christie's work focused on the consequences of labeling people as "criminals" and the effects of punishment on individuals and society. He argued that traditional notions of crime and punishment were based on flawed assumptions about human behavior and that alternative approaches to justice could be more effective.
One of Christie's most significant contributions was his concept of "visible crimes," which highlights how societal attention is drawn to certain types of offenses while ignoring others. This idea challenged the conventional wisdom that serious, violent crimes are inherently more deserving of public concern than minor infractions.
Notable Works or Actions
Christie published numerous articles and books throughout his career, including:
Limits to Pain (1981), a book that critiques traditional notions of punishment and proposes alternative approaches.
Crime Control as Industry: Confronting the Spectre in Law-Making (2004), which examines how governments use crime control policies to shape public opinion.
Christie's research also addressed issues like juvenile delinquency, prison reform, and the role of media in shaping public perceptions of crime.
Impact and Legacy
Nils Christie's work has had a lasting impact on criminological theory and practice. His ideas have influenced scholars, policymakers, and social activists worldwide, who seek to reform the justice system and promote more humane approaches to dealing with offenders.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
Christie's writings are widely quoted because they challenge readers to think critically about the consequences of labeling people as "criminals" and the effects of punishment on individuals and society. His ideas continue to inspire scholars, policymakers, and social activists working towards a more just and humane justice system.
As a prominent figure in criminology, Christie's work remains relevant today, offering insights into the complexities of crime and punishment that continue to shape public discourse and inform policy debates.
Quotes by Nils Christie
In the 1960′s, Labour had gained some power, or at least respectability. Spokesmen for the working class – but of course not necessarily coming from that class or belonging there except through ideology – were upset by the exposed inequalities and abuses disguised as treatment. It did not exactly strengthen the credibility of these measures that most receivers of this type of treatment for crime turned out to belong to just those classes supposed to be in political power.
We have torn down the worst slums. The natural meeting-points for the lumpenproletariat have been eliminated, converted into pleasant, dull, clean blocks for dull, clean, adapted families. In the absence of ghettos for the losers, they gather around the centres of pride. If Harlem and its equivalents did not exist, they would gather outside the Rockefeller Center.
In the 1960's, Labour had gained some power, or at least respectability. Spokesmen for the working class - but of course not necessarily coming from that class or belonging there except through ideology - were upset by the exposed inequalities and abuses disguised as treatment. It did not exactly strengthen the credibility of these measures that most receivers of this type of treatment for crime turned out to belong to just those classes supposed to be in political power.
We have distant democracy, well suited to a distant penocracy, well suited to serve a large-scale society using taximeters to control the price of all acts.
If pain is too bad to be executed by everybody, and seen by everybody, is it not because it is too bad?
The liberal state was not all that liberal when it came to the establishment of the external conditions for the free flow of economic entrepreneurship. Roads, railroads and regulating the poor became essential.
We know, all of us, that there is more to our lives than markets and calculation. We have friends for friendship, fall in love for no rational reasons, behave as beasts or heroes even when we know it will not profit us.
The offender must be able to give something back. But criminals are most often poor people. They have nothing to give. The answers to this are many. It is correct that our prisons are by and large filled with poor people. We let the poor pay with the only commodity that is close to being equally distributed in society: time.
The most dangerous place for your life is in your home, as you probably know. Most people are killed by family or those they are relatively close to. Refuges for women are important to deal with this. But in the end there are certain risks you take – when you walk in the streets you might be hit by a car.