11 ©฀2010฀American฀Society฀of฀Criminology Criminology฀&฀Public฀Policy฀•฀Volume฀9฀•฀Issue฀1 Vollmer Award Commentary Elliott฀Currie’s฀contribution฀ to฀public฀criminology฀ An appreciation and a lament Malcom M. Feeley University of California at Berkeley T he฀frst฀article฀I฀read฀by฀Elliott฀Currie฀might฀have฀been฀the฀frst฀thing฀he฀ever฀published— “Crimes฀without฀criminals:฀Witchcraft฀and฀its฀control฀in฀Renaissance฀Europe,”฀published฀ in the Law & Society Review฀(Currie,฀1968).฀It฀fascinated฀me฀then,฀and฀it฀continues฀ to฀fascinate฀me฀now.฀It฀is฀impressive฀for฀many฀reasons;฀erudition—a฀study฀of฀witchcraft฀in฀the฀ Renaissance;฀scope—a฀comparative฀historical฀study฀that฀covers฀changes฀in฀two฀locations,฀which฀ span฀more฀than฀three฀centuries;฀acknowledgments—Howard฀Becker,฀Egon฀Bittner,฀Fred฀Dubow,฀ David฀Matza,฀Shelly฀Messinger,฀and฀Philip฀Selznick;฀and฀theoretical฀mentors—Becker,฀Erikson,฀ Kitsuse,฀Goffman,฀and฀Lemert.฀It฀is฀impressive฀indeed.฀ In฀the฀introduction,฀Currie฀(1968:฀8)฀wrote,฀“In฀this฀paper,฀I฀attempt฀to฀add฀to฀the฀rather฀ small฀body฀of฀research฀on฀kinds฀of฀social฀control฀systems฀and฀their฀impact.฀The฀subject฀is฀witch- craft฀in฀Renaissance฀Europe,฀and฀in฀particular,฀the฀way฀in฀which฀the฀phenomenon฀of฀witchcraft฀ was฀different฀in฀England฀than฀in฀Continental฀Europe,฀as฀a฀result฀of฀differences฀in฀their฀legal฀ systems.”฀He฀then฀explained฀(1968:฀8),฀“I฀will฀show฀that฀the฀English฀and฀the฀continental฀legal฀ systems฀during฀this฀period฀represented฀the฀two฀ends฀of฀a฀continuum฀along฀which฀different฀ social฀control฀systems฀may฀be฀placed,฀and฀I฀will฀suggest฀some฀general฀ways฀in฀which฀each฀kind฀ of฀control฀system฀affects฀the฀deviant฀behavior฀systems฀in฀which฀it฀is฀involved.”฀The฀article฀goes฀ on฀to฀take฀us฀on฀a฀tour฀of฀witchcraft฀law฀enforcement฀and฀trial฀proceeding฀on฀the฀Continent฀ and฀in฀England฀between฀the฀15th฀and฀18th฀centuries฀that฀reveals฀and฀explains฀why฀witches฀were฀ much฀more฀common฀and฀treated฀much฀more฀harshly฀on฀the฀Continent฀than฀in฀England.฀ But฀it฀was฀Currie’s฀(1968)฀conclusions฀and฀his฀assessment฀of฀these฀topics฀that฀has฀interested฀ me.฀One฀conclusion฀was฀that฀“witchcraft฀in฀Renaissance฀Europe฀strongly฀reinforces฀.฀.฀.฀the฀ argument฀that฀deviance฀is฀what฀offcial฀say฀it฀is,฀and฀that฀deviants฀are฀those฀so฀designated฀by฀ offcials.”฀But฀his฀conclusion฀went฀beyond฀reconfrming฀this฀key฀insight฀of฀labeling฀theory.฀His฀ study฀examined฀variations฀and฀sought฀to฀explain฀why฀witchcraft฀as฀well฀as฀the฀prosecution฀and฀ Direct correspondence to malcom m. Feeley, Jurisprudence and social Policy Program, school of law, university of California at berkeley, berkeley, Ca 94620 (e-mail: mfeeley@law.berkeley.edu).