Why criminology is important

Criminology is fundamental in understanding criminal behaviour and the effect it has on the law and the society in which we live Williams, Moreover, the theoretical approaches of criminology play an essential ingredient in the understanding of offending and criminal behaviour. But why do people commit the crimes that they commit? Various career options attract me including Probation, and Criminal Psychology. I know that I'll have to work hard to gain a Degree but I'm prepared to do whatever it takes, I work well under pressure.

I have chosen Portsmouth university primarily because of the reputation its Criminology Department has, and also my partner is currently doing a degree at Portsmouth as are many of my friends so I know a lot about student life at Portsmouth. Learning about the criminal and victims relationships and bystander response has helped me to expand my knowledge regarding this subject.

The relationship between victims and criminals is tense. Some people say that by having relationships with offenders will make you a criminal as well. Bystander plays an important role when trying to solve crimes. These three theories can help criminality to try find out why people commit crime or what leads people to commit crime.

It is important to study criminality theories because that way authorities can have a better understanding of. Biological, Social ecological and psychological model theories are key to helping researchers gain deeper comprehension of criminal behaviour and ways to avert them before they become a menace to society.

All these theories put forward a multitude of factors on the outlooks on crime. Various analyses of crime rate trends in states where cannabis has been legalized have come to conflicting conclusions, pointing to the complexity of arriving at a definitive answer about what contributes to criminal activity. Criminologists use a variety of sources and techniques to try to provide statistics that can accurately portray crime trends and inform criminal policies. The systems share a shortcoming: Local jurisdictions disagree on what constitutes a crime.

Some jurisdictions only report offenses that involve incarceration, while others include fined infractions. Criminologists have developed a range of statistics-based tools that support federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.

Many of the statistics used and shared by the DOJ and the U. Census Bureau. The work of criminologists touches nearly all aspects of social life. Crime investigation calls for specialized skills and training, sophisticated number-crunching ability, and a great deal of fieldwork interacting with colleagues within and outside criminal justice, and with the public. Skip to main content. Online Bachelor's in Criminal Justice.

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Who is this guide for? We value your privacy. What is criminology? The study of crime and the criminal mind. What is Criminology? Criminology definition and history Criminology is the study of crime and criminal behavior, informed by principles of sociology and other non-legal fields, including psychology, economics, statistics, and anthropology.

Criminologists examine a variety of related areas , including: Characteristics of people who commit crimes Reasons why people commit crimes Effects of crime on individuals and communities Methods for preventing crime Origins of criminology The roots of criminology trace back to a movement to reform criminal justice and penal systems more than years ago.

Severity is based on the level of harm caused by the offense rather than the intent of the offender. Criminology resources The Internet Journal of Criminology — Links to government organizations, national and international organizations, academic institutions, and other criminology resources Critical Criminology — A compilation of resources that examine law, crime, and justice from the perspective of people of color, women, restorative efforts, and community justice S. Department of Justice, National Criminal Intelligence Resource Center — Links to criminal justice professional associations and groups that assist law enforcement in establishing policies, standards, training, and education Back To Top Criminology Theories: Classical, Positivist, and Chicago School Research into criminology theories is primarily sociological or psychological.

Three principal approaches to criminology Today, three criminology theories predominate: the Classical, Positivist, and Chicago schools. The Classical School argues that people freely choose to engage in crime. The Positivist School applies scientific theory to criminology. It focuses on factors that compel people to commit crimes. The Uniform Crime Reporting program UCR collects information from law enforcement agencies across the country on dozens of crimes.

This helps in the proper allocation of resources to control crime. Reform of criminals : As well as controlling and reducing crime, criminology can also suggest appropriate measures for the rehabilitation of criminals. They also help improve police functioning with predictive policing and community-oriented policing. Criminologists usually work in universities, NGOs, legislative bodies, public-policy organisations, and research facilities.

Forensic psychologists may also work in roles such as jury consultant, criminal profiler, and expert witness. Community development worker : Working in community development will help you bring about social change and improve the quality of life in different communities. In this role, you will be the link between communities and authoritative bodies. Responsibilities in this job role include: Identifying community needs and requirements; Helping raise public awareness regarding prevalent issues in the community; Preparing policies and reports; Raising and managing funds; Developing strategies; Planning and coordinating events.

Probation officer : If you are working as a probation officer, you will be managing criminals upon their release from institutions to protect the public and to reduce their chances of committing a crime again. Working in this job includes responsibilities such as: Managing high-risk offenders; Carrying out risk assessments; Managing and enforcing community orders; Encouraging offenders to improve their attitude; Attending and testifying in court. Here are some of the topics these courses may approach: Criminology: Sociology theory; Deviance and crime control; Contemporary issues in criminology.

Criminology and Psychology: Social and developmental psychology; Crime and society; Key studies in psychology; Contemporary debates in criminology; Policing and police powers. Criminology and Law: Criminal justice system; Criminal law; Research and ethics in action; Civil and human rights; Youth justice; Crime prevention.

Criminology and Criminal Justice: Criminology theory criticism; International penal policies; Social and political sciences; Introduction to criminal justice; Police powers in the criminal justice system; International criminal justice.

Cost of criminology courses The cost of a criminology degree can vary according to which country you study in, and whether or not you study online or on-campus. Recommended Programmes. For more information about this programme and its modules, download your programme snapshot below. Follow us on Social Media Comment. Join our community.

More insight from our blog. Facing interviews with law fir Reasons to choose a career in As per one study, Facebook is responsible for one-third of the divorces that have been filed in recent times. As social media websites continue to become the fertile ground for targeting by all relevant lawyers, law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies, social media continues to become the preferred repository of all data.

As such, social media crimes are increasing dramatically. Inappropriate increase in the use of social media thereby leads to various legal consequences for the users.

The concept of privacy in the context of social media is going to be greatly undermined, despite efforts to the contrary made by some stakeholders. Cyber lawmakers across the world will have to face the unique challenge of how to effectively regulate the misuse of social media by vested interests and further how to provide an effective remedy to the victims of various criminal activities on social media.

There is likely to be an increase in litigations across the world, which has a connection, association, and nexus with the output of social media in one form or the other. Already, social media defamation litigations have started. Further, various matrimonial actions have started across the world which uses the output of social media.

The coming years are further likely to see the enhancement of litigations across the world as far as the use of the output of social media, being data and information resident on social media networks, will be concerned. The aforesaid are some of the important Cyberlaw trends that are likely to emerge.

These are based on an analysis of the emerging jurisprudence in Cyberlaw up to date. Given the rapid pace of growth of technology, it is not possible to overrule any other new or major technological trend emerging which could have a direct impact on the growth of Cyberlaw. This is because population growth and technology advances increase social connectivity, leading to interactions that differ in quantity, intimacy, frequency, type, and content.

This also results in changes of law, for e. The situation has resulted in many untoward outcomes. For instance, the academic openings and a broad network of academicians in criminology could not grow in India. Criminology in India has not been able to foster a clear cut beneficiary base. Linkages between practice and profession in criminology are obscure and unexplored. On account of being mainly associated with their parent disciplines, the researchers who made commendable contributions to criminology remained indifferent to the development of criminology in India.

The basic researches in criminology India leading to the development of theories explaining the major problems of criminality in this country have been almost nonexistent.

Nor do the criminologists, in most cases, have been able to prescribe policies and programs oriented research findings. Criminology in India also lacked international focus and recognition.

Combined together, criminology is largely perceived as a discipline with restricted avenues and limited vertical mobility in career advancement in India. Research Priorities: Futuristic Vision Research priorities in the academic discipline are relative and time specific.

These need to be seen at two levels: one, at the international level to understand the trends and emphasis in research. This is significant from the standpoint of the academic growth of the subject in the international context. Second, the discipline ought to address the problems of contemporary nature with a possible contribution to policy and planning.

Going by this, it would be logical to suggest that the research priorities in criminology must be guided by the gaps in research suggested in the preceding section. Following areas are worth considering as priorities in criminological researches [ix]. Basic research contributing to the indigenous understanding of major forms criminality.

Evolving database and information based on non-government sources. Areas like victims of kidnapping, terrorism, organized crimes involving secondary victimization, restitution, restorative justice, system as victim, political criminology unraveling nexuses, vulnerability of political processes for criminalization, radical criminology, action criminology, pragmatic criminology, social tolerance of deviance, decriminalization, economics of crime and justice, impact of imprisonment, forensic psychology, Environmental criminology including crime profiling, GIS applications and crime mapping, situational crime prevention, alternatives to imprisonment, community sentence, continuum of criminal justice process, fear of crime, victimization survey, risk of victimization are in need of systematic research attention and form priorities in research in criminology in the times ahead.

The present law is adequate but what is required is an effective investigation, prosecution, and speedy trial. Fast track courts in all states are a necessity. Existing law provides for serious punishment. It is not always necessary that death sentence or severe punishment would act as a deterrent. The problem is not the law; the need is to change the societal mindset.

The attitude towards crime and criminals must be changed. Supreme Court advocate Krishan Mahajan is against any changes in the law. Enhancement in penalty may mean that best evidence is gone. Rapists may increasingly tend to kill their victims to wipe out any evidence.

Now at least, the victim can give her testimony, appear in court and identify the perpetrator of the crime and say what has happened. Under the law, the best evidence is the victim herself. In case the victim is brutalized and dies, there is no hope of recording the statement of the key witness. No law is good enough if it is not implemented properly.