What is CRIMINOLOGY? Etymological Definition -Criminology (from Latin crīmen ,"accusation "; and Greek - λογί α, -logia)is the scientific approach to studying criminal behavior. The term was coined in 1885 by Raffaele Garofalo , an Italian law professor. Classic Definition – According to Edwin Sutherland and Donald Cressey : Criminology is a body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon . It includes within its scope the processes of making laws, of breaking of laws , and of reaction toward the breaking of laws.
Objectives of Criminology The development of a body of general and verified principles and of other types of knowledge regarding this process of law, crime, and its control and prevention, and the treatment of the offenders.
Nature of Criminology Criminology continues to bring together in a very amorphous manner people who do the following kinds of work: 1. Academicians (often sociologists) who teach students a subject called criminology, including those criminologists who also do research and write on the subject; 2. Teachers who train other people for professional roles in crime control and criminal justice work ; 3 . Those who are involved in policy research within the criminal justice system ; and
4. Those who apply criminology that is all the people who are employed in criminal justice agencies ,ranging from policemen to lawyers to prison wardens to correctional workers. 5. Even this list of broad groupings does not exhaust the possibilities as criminology and criminal justice increasingly play prominent roles in the further development of society.
Scope of Criminology 1.Study of the causes of crimes and development of criminals. 2. Study of the origin and development of criminal laws. 3. Study of the different factors that enhances as: a. criminal sociology- study the effects of social conditions on crime and criminals including the machinery of justice and the evolution of criminal law and punishment. b. criminal psychiatry- study of human mind in relation to criminality.
c. criminal ecology- the study of criminality in relation to spatial distribution on a community. d. criminal demography- study of the relationship between criminology and population e. criminal epidemiology- study of the relationship between environment and criminality. f. Criminal physical anthropology- study of criminality in relation to physical constitution of humans. g. Victimology - study of the role of the victim in the commission crime . 4. Study of the various process and measures adopted by society violation of criminal laws: a. the detection and investigation of crimes, b. the arrest and apprehension of criminals, c. the prosecution and conviction of the criminal in a judicial proceeding, d. the enforcement of laws, decrees and regulations, e. the administration of the police and other law enforcement agencies, f. maintenance of recreational facilities and other agencies and strategies that prevent the development of crimes and criminal behavior.