Final answer:
Visual criminology is a field that challenges neoliberal ideologies, focusing on inequality and the marginalized in matters of crime and justice. It seeks to create a discourse that promotes equality through critical perspectives on visual culture and its relation to structural violence.
Step-by-step explanation:
Visual criminology is an interdisciplinary field that intersects with subjects such as sociology, criminology, and visual arts to analyze the role of visual culture in the understanding of crime and justice. It is a space for cultivating moral perspectives and ways of seeing that often counteract the narratives provided by neoliberal discourses prevalent in many socio-political institutions. By focusing on the vulnerable and invisible, visual criminology challenges the status quo, which is typically reinforced by symbolic violence and structural violence inherent in systems influenced by neoliberalism. This critical approach values imagery and seeks to create a more inclusive discourse around crime and punishment, one that does not simply perpetuate the ideologies that uphold social inequalities but rather promotes equality and the wellbeing of marginalized groups. In the context of neoliberalism, a term that describes an economic and political ideology that favors privatization and free-market capitalism, visual criminology examines how this ideology often leads to increased inequality. Neoliberal policies have been critiqued for contributing to structural violence, which is the societal harm that results when institutions and practices perpetuate disparities. Visual criminology therefore contributes to the broader discussions about not only the representation of individuals and communities but also the structural and systemic issues that affect them.