Introduction to criminology

Introduction

·        The word Criminology‘originated in 1890. The general meaning of the term is ―the scientific study of crime as a social phenomenon, of criminals and of penal institutions

·        Prof. Kenny (analyzed /defined/ described) that ‗Criminology is a branch of criminal science which deals with crime causation, analysis and prevention of crime.

·        Criminology as a branch of knowledge is concerned with those particular conducts of human behaviour which are prohibited by society.

·        It is, therefore, a socio-legal study which seeks to discover the causes of criminality and suggests the remedies to reduce crimes.

·        Therefore, it flows that criminology and criminal policy are interdependent and mutually support one another.

·        Thus criminology seeks to study the phenomenon of criminality in its entirety.

·        The problem of crime control essentially involves the need for a study of the forces operating behind the incidence of crime and a variety of co-related factors influencing the personality of the offender. This has eventually led to development of modern criminology during the preceding two centuries.

·        The purpose of study of this branch of knowledge is to analyze different aspects of crime and device effective measures for treatment of criminals to bring about their re-socialization and rehabilitation in the community.

·        Thus criminology as a branch of knowledge has a practical utility in so far as it aims at bringing about the welfare of the community as a whole. 

·        The principles of criminology serve as effective guidelines for formulation of penal policy.

·        The modern clinical methods and the reformatory measures such as probation, parole, indeterminate sentence, open prisons, and other correctional institutions are essentially an outcome of intensive criminological researches during the twentieth century.

·        These measures have sufficiently demonstrated the futility of dumping offenders inside the prisons and infliction of barbaric punishments. 

·        Prof. Gillin has rightly observed that it is not the humanity within the criminal but the criminality within the human being which needs to be curbed through effective administration of criminal justice. 

·        More recently, criminologists and penologists seem to have agreed that ―individualization of the offender should be the ultimate object of punishment, while treatment methods, the means to attain this end.

·        The study of crime and criminal must proceed on a scientific basis by carefully analyzing various aspects associated therewith and must necessarily suggest measures proposed to suppress criminality.

·        It must be added that with new crimes emerging in the modern complexities of life, we seem increasingly concerned about the problem of crime.

·        Today destructive acts of vandalism, highway, train and bank robberies, looting, bomb blasts, rape, illegitimate terrorist activities, white-collar crimes, cyber crimes, criminalization of politics, hijacking, etc., are constantly increasing which have posed a positive danger to human life, liberty and property. Modern criminologists, therefore, seem to be seriously concerned with the problem of crime to protect the society from such anti-social activities of criminals.

·        It is for this reason that the two sister branches of criminal science, namely, criminology and penology work hand in hand to appreciate the problem of criminality in its proper perspective. 

·        Section. 1.

·        Understanding Criminology

·        Defining Criminology

·        Criminology maybe defined as “the scientific study of the causation, correction, and prevention of crime”.

·        Criminology (from Latin crīmen, "accusation"; and Greek -λογία, -logia) is the social science approach to the study of crime as an individual and social phenomenon.

·        Although contemporary definitions vary in the exact words used, there is considerable consensus that criminology involves the application of the ―scientific method,to the study of variation in criminal law, the causes of crime, and reactions to crime (Akers 2000).

·        Criminological research areas include the incidence and forms of crime as well as its causes and consequences.

·        They also include social and governmental regulations and reactions to crime. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in the behavioral sciences, drawing especially on the research of sociologists and psychologists, as well as on writings in law.

·        An important way to analyze data is to look at quantitative methods in criminology. In 1885, Italian law professor Raffaele Garofalo coined the term "criminology" (in Italian, criminologia).

·        The French anthropologist Paul Topinard used it for the first time in French (criminologie) around the same time.