After providing an overview of some important theories that build cultural criminology’s intellectual foundation, this chapter discusses three competing accounts of how culture and crime/deviance are connected. Following this, the chapter elucidates a handful of concepts that are central to how cultural criminologists analyse media portrayals and representations of crime and crime control. Finally, it takes a brief look at the problem of punishment, which has been a longstanding concern among critical criminologists. Specifically, the chapter discusses how a cultural approach can help us understand concrete modes of punishment as enacted by the state.
