Cultural criminology comes as a reaction and interpretive alternative to normative analyses of social problems. Rather than ask questions about root causes of crime, cultural criminologists seek to explore the processes through which ascriptions of crime and criminality, and reactions to these ascriptions are promulgated within particular social and cultural contexts. The course will offer a comparative perspective contrasting North American ‘cultures of control’, with other ‘welfare’ and ‘disciplinary welfare’ contexts, including Hong Kong.