Biosocial Criminology through the Lens of Field Theory. The Resources and Strategies Used in a Dominated Field of US Criminology

 This article investigates American biosocial criminology, a research field that crystallised in the 2000s, through the lens of Bourdieu’s field theory. Mixing biological with sociological variables, the biosocial movement offers a form of crime science extended to antisocial behaviour. A controversial criminology, it is mainly undertaken by researchers who are dominated in their criminological field by sociology. Although heterogeneous, this current of research is generally identified by a ‘vocal’ minority of academics who graduated from less prestigious criminology and criminal justice university departments. An analysis of the discourses and practices of this minority led to the unearthing of an array of more or less subversive strategies vis-à-vis the dominant socio-criminology that are aimed at increasing their volume of scientific and academic capital.