Systematic Review Study: A Comparative Analysis of the State of the Art of Green Criminology

Abstract

Understanding the complex phenomena related to environmental damage requires multidisciplinary analyzes capable of producing different scientific perspectives. Based on the problems arising from issues involving environmental damage to natural resources, Flores, Konrad and Flores (2017) evaluated the studies about green criminology globally, using articles retrieved from indexed publications and available in digital databases. The present study aimed to survey the contributions that were added since the previous survey, to contribute to the understanding of what constitutes the essence of green criminology. To meet this purpose, we analyzed scientific articles published after the period investigated by Flores, Konrad and Flores (2017), which also allowed the comparison with the existing data. We employed a qualitative approach and the methodological procedure was a systematic bibliographic review. We concluded that in the last three years there has been an advance in studies about green criminology. Still, there has been a limited number of studies published in this area. Research on the theory may be limited by political and geographical issues that inhibit the plurality of spatial and local perceptions regarding the theme. Also, they restrict preventive actions to environmental damage due to lack of knowledge and research, as the theory acts directly on preventive measures and protection of nature.