THE (LACK OF) SCIENTIFIC AUTONOMY OF CRIMINOLOGY

Abstract

This article presents a summary of the results of an investigation that aimed to question the scientific autonomy of criminology as an interdisciplinary science. In this sense, a qualitative study was developed, which was based on a literature review and an interview interview with informants specialized in the area under analysis. The results obtained indicate that it makes no sense to justify the scientific autonomy of criminology on the basis of its interdisciplinary character, as criminology only produces knowledge, with a great degree of certainty about the criminal phenomenon, in the light of this crossing of knowledge. The present investigation also contributes to mitigate the uncertainties that criminology faces, presenting a proposal to modify the status of the profession of criminologist in Portugal in the perspective of doing justice to the interdisciplinary core of criminology.