Bringing law back into penal policy research

Johanna Nickels

Chapter 21 in Research Handbook on Penal Policy, 2026, pp 405-428 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Although legal aspects are central to penal policy, their significance has often been overlooked in previous research. Chapter 21 addresses these blind spots and makes the case for more context-sensitive socio-legal inquiry. Focusing on France and Germany, it offers a contribution to fill these gaps both conceptually and empirically. It first demonstrates how prevailing analytical frameworks – largely shaped by the US and UK contexts – fail to adequately capture the specific features of the French and German legal landscapes. It then highlights underexplored strands of socio-legal scholarship from both countries that offer promising alternative perspectives. Building on these insights, the chapter presents a systematic analysis of 25 years of criminal legislation in France and Germany. The fine-grained data illuminate distinct legislative patterns and trends in each country and reinforce the broader potential of more context-aware socio-legal research.

Keywords: Criminal legislation; Comparative penal policy; Socio-legal research; Comparative law; Germany; France (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035308521
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