ABSTRACT
Over sixty years ago, in 1940 to be precise, and roughly two years after he had settled in Cambridge at the age of 32, Leon Radzinowicz and his friend and supporter, the noted criminal lawyer J.W. Cecil Turner, published in the Cambridge Law Journal an article entitled ‘The Language of Criminal Science’ (Radzinowicz and Turner 1940a). Its purpose (along with their Introduction to the first volume of English Studies in Criminal Science, published in the same year (Radzinowicz and Turner 1940a: 9–12)) was to define the subject matter of criminology and to draw a distinction, as well as the connections, between it and the subject matter of criminal policy and criminal law: all three being elements of what they called ‘criminal science’. The essence of their position, indeed vision for criminology, was summed up as follows:
The study of criminal science has been until recently very neglected in England. On the practical side, however, in the general treatment of crime and criminals this country has made noteworthy progress, especially in the past half-century. This illustrates the national characteristic of recognising practical needs before theoretical principles are developed, or even appreciated. A scientific body of principle must however be ultimately established, and it has at last come to be realised that the problem of crime cannot be understood and solved merely by acting on philanthropic impulse, or a desire for progress. Crime must be studied scientifically in the light of tested facts, practical achievements, controlled experiments, and comparative investigations. Like all other sciences, criminal science must advance by method and system … It has first of all to explain the origins of crime; this involves intensive biological and social investigations … including the personality of the delinquent and the conditions of society in which he is placed and acts; the influences of social conditions on the machinery of criminal justice; the origins, functions, and evolution of criminal law and punishment, all of which are the product of various social needs and attitudes. We have called this part of criminal science ‘criminology’. Secondly, it has to ascertain on the basis of these investigations how best to fight against crime. We have called this part of criminal science ‘criminal policy’ … which has as its immediate aim the study and systematisation of all measures to be taken against crime in the sphere of prevention, of legislation, and of punitive treatment, and its ultimate aim the coordination of the whole into the organised system of state activity.
(a composite of Radzinowicz and Turner 1940a: 19 and 25 and Radzinowicz and Turner 1940b: 9–10).