Criminology as religion? Profane thoughts about sacred values

The terrain in and around academia is being transformed. Criminology has no t been exempt, with dwindling government funding forcing greater emphasis o n contract research, consultancies and even direct programme management. Va rious commentators have expressed concern about the future of the disciplin e-but what is it that is being changed ? This paper explores the nature of criminology and argues that it always has been as much a moral as an empiri cal science. Using Weber's sociology of religion as a model we argue that c riminology has generated a variety of types, including magicians' (whose pr imary concern is with 'what works?'); 'priests' (guardians of doctrine); 'g urus' (distillers of current expertise); and 'prophets' (bearers of 'fresh visions'). The paper also explores tensions and paradoxes inherent in crimi nology's religious dimension: in particular the possibility that desire for 'moral virtuosity' (often disguised as a concern for 'theoretical purity') can lead to rejection of worldly involvement on the grounds that it will c loud insight. In this context the paper argues that the consequences of a s hift towards market concerns need not be entirely negative.