The Importance Of Criminology

1410 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Criminology theory paper

Criminology Assessment
Learning Outcome 1
Explain how crime and criminal justice have been theorised.
Modern day criminology has been heavily influenced by the research and theories of many influencers from the 18th to 20th centuries. These theories and ideas have had a massive impact on how crime and punishment is dealt with in today’s society and come from many different important theorists such as Jeremy Bentham and Cesare Beccaria.
Early on in the modern stages of the analysis of crime, many different explanations have been given for reasons as to why humans may take part in crime. It has been shown through records that the first methods of punishment would be to take part in private revenge cases where family and friends would have each other killed, this would more …show more content…

“the mission of such positivistic criminology was the creation of a better society through the application of scientific processes” (Criminology 2nd Edition, Tim Newburn, 2013, page 121). This shows that the aim of the positivist school was a achieved and still relevant in today’s study of criminology as the science behind crime is still heavily researched and applied to most crime cases.
Emile Durkheim was a theorist who believed that crime could be categorised into normal and pathological. Durkheim calculated that there is a conscience collective and this is another way to describe the moral code that most humans follow; when a crime is committed it goes against the conscience collective. Normal crime was seen by Durkheim by crime that happens in every society to bring about change. An example of this would be the work of the suffragettes who would take part in violent crimes to bring about political change; giving women the vote. Durkheim sees this normal crime as it is used for a reason and brings about

Show More
Related

  • Crime and Deviance - Left and Right Realism

    1692 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the 1970’s to the early 1990’s there had emerged two new approaches to the study of crime and deviance. The discipline of criminology had expanded further introducing right and left realism, both believe in different areas and came together in order to try and get a better understanding on crime and prevention. There were many theorists that had influenced the realism approaches such as; Jock Young (Left Wing) and James Wilson (Right Wing).

    Read More

  • Is Restorative Justice More Appropriate in Dealing With Young Offenders Than Conventional Criminal Justice?

    2658 Words  | 6 Pages

    White, R. & Haynes, F. (1996) Crime and Criminology: an introduction. Oxford University Press UK.

    Read More

  • Routine Activities Theory

    1788 Words  | 4 Pages

    Akers, R, & Sellers, C. (2009). Criminological theories: introduction, evaluation, and application. New York: Oxford University Press, USA.

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast Criminological Theories

    3235 Words  | 7 Pages

    Criminological theories interpret the competing paradigms of Human Nature, Social Order, Definition of Crime, Extent and Distribution of Crime, Causes of Crime, and Policy, differently. Even though these theories have added to societies understanding of criminal behaviour, all have been unable to explain why punishment or treatment of offenders is unable to prevent deviancy, and thus are ineffective methods of control. The new penology is a contemporary response that favours the management of criminals by predicting future harm on society. However, all criminological theories are linked as they are a product of the historical time and place, and because of their contextual history, they will continue to reappear depending on the current state of the world, and may even be reinvented.

    Read More

  • The Rational Choice and Biological Trait Theories

    1763 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ifferent crime patterns and thought processes of criminals. The reasons can only come from these theories and will help the justice systems become more prepared to react towards different crimes. However, with adding some enhancements, projects and experiments these two theories have the potential to change the criminology realm forever.

    Read More

  • Strengths and Weaknesses of Biological Positivism

    2095 Words  | 5 Pages

    Up until the 19th century, Classicist ideas dominated the way in which people looked at crime. However during the late 19th century a new form of “scientific criminology” emerged, called Positivism (Newburn, 2007). Positivism looked at the biological factors on why someone would commit a crime, this involved looking at the physical attributes of a person, looking at their genetic make-up and their biochemical factors.

    Read More

  • Which Trait Theory Most Explains Criminal Behavior

    1238 Words  | 3 Pages

    Winslow, R. W., & Zhang, S. (2008). Contemporary Theories of Crime. Criminology: a global perspective (). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

    Read More

  • Corrections & the Criminal Justice System: Recidivism & Re-Entry

    778 Words  | 2 Pages

    History shows people in ancient times committed crimes which violated social norms and acceptable conduct despite threats of harsh punishment. There are theories regarding causes of crime but that by Emile Durkheim is quite prominent in that anomie arises as result of mismatch between individual or group standards when compared to the acceptable standards of wider society; this mismatch leads to deviance which in turn came from loss of social identity and self-regulation.

    Read More

  • Public Criminology

    3279 Words  | 7 Pages

    That is a very simple explanation of public criminology that incorporates much of its diversity. This quote is of great importance to gaining an understanding of public criminology, as it is not only about incorporating the public in the generation of knowledge, but more about activism. It is about directly gaining knowledge through different people’s experiences and eventually changing opinions through public presentations. Through many sources, this broad term will be analyzed and described as clearly as possible, drawing from course presenters’, course readings, and research.

    Read More

  • Criminology: The Consensus View of Crime

    865 Words  | 2 Pages

    Criminology is the study of crime and criminals; a branch of sociology. More accurately, it is the study of crime as a social trend, and its overall origins, its many manifestations and its impact upon society as a whole. That makes it more a form of sociology than a law enforcement tool. But the trends it studies have a huge impact on the way the police do their jobs, the way society treats its criminals, and the way a given community goes about maintaining law and order. The writer will describe and give examples of the three perspectives of viewing crimes. The perspectives that will be highlighted are the consensus view, the conflict view or the interactionist view. Each perspective maintain its own interpretation of what constitutes criminal activities and what causes people to engage in criminal behaviors (Siegel, p.12).

    Read More

  • Three Eras Of Criminology

    216 Words  | 1 Pages

    The three eras that have characterized the field of criminology over the past 100 years are the “Golden Age of Research,” the “Golden Age of Theory,” and an unnamed era that was “’characterized by extensive theory testing of the dominant theories, using largely empirical methods’” (28). The “Golden Age of Research” era spanned from 1900 to 1930 according to John H. Laub. This era is identified as focusing heavily on the collection of data surrounding crime and the criminal. This data was assessed without “any particular ideational framework” (28). The second era, the “Golden Age of Theory,” spanned from 1930 to 1960, also according to Laub. This era is also rather self-explanatory, it is described by the development of theories; however, Laub

    Read More

  • Critical Criminology

    913 Words  | 2 Pages

    Critical criminology, also known as radical criminology dates back to the concepts of Marxism. Despite the fact that Fredric Engels and Karl Marx were the founders of contemporary radical criminology, none of them gave explicit focus to crime. William Bonger (1876-1940), a Dutch criminologist was a more direct founder of this concept. It gained popularity during the early 1970s when it tried to explain the causes of contemporary social mayhem. He used economic explanations were used by critical criminology to analyze social behavior by arguing that social and economic inequalities were the main reason behind criminal behavior (Henry & Lainer, 1998). This view reduces the focus on individual criminals and elaborates that the existing crime is as a result of the capitalist system. Just like the conflict school of thought, it asserts that law is biased since it favors the ruling or the upper class and that the legal system that governs the state is meant to maintain the status quo of the ruling class. Critical criminologist are of the view that political, corporate and environmental crime are not only underreported but also inadequately punished by the existing criminal legal system.

    Read More

  • Criminology in the Past and Today

    1127 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ch towards section 810, Sureties to Keep the Peace. The Positivist School thinker would be the exact opposite as they would not be so much for section 462.37 but completely for section 810. Both schools of thought have their own advantages and disadvantages which would impact society in a tremendous way. It is relieving to see that in the 21st century, societies around the world have adopted more of the advantageous ideas and not as many disadvantageous ideas. Nonetheless, the Classical School and the Positive School work best when fused together; it should be called the Classical Positive School of Criminology.

    Read More

  • Classical School Of Criminology Essay

    1422 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Classical School of Criminology generally refers to the work of social contract and utilitarian philosophers Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham during the enlightenment in the 18th century. The contributions of these philosophers regarding punishment still influence modern corrections today. The Classical School of Criminology advocated for better methods of punishment and the reform of criminal behaviour. The belief was that for a criminal justice system to be effective, punishment must be certain, swift and in proportion to the crime committed. The focus was on the crime itself and not the individual criminal (Cullen & Wilcox, 2010). This essay will look at the key principles of the Classical School of Criminology, in particular

    Read More

  • Reflection Paper On Criminology

    827 Words  | 2 Pages

    In contrast to crime science’s concentration on finding the right answers to cease crimes against humanity, criminology emphasizes on the significance of investigating both crimes and criminals independently. If criminology is perceived to interpret crimes, then, criminal science is designated to fix

    Read More

More about The Importance Of Criminology

Open Document