Criminology is a scientific endeavor, as well as a multi-disciplinary approach, which utilizes science to examine crime, criminal behavior, causes of crime, and how society reacts to crime. Questions considered include the motives of crime, why the crimes happen as they do and why they occur in certain communities and how individuals and institutions react to crime. Criminology draws upon theories of several fields such as sociology, psychology, law, economics, biology and political science to acquire a holistic understanding of crime and criminality.
The importance of criminology lies in that amongst understanding of crime the roles of identification of an offender is not a sufficient arena. Another area of research in the field is into the impact on victims, the nature of the social conditions, patterns of offending, risk and protective factors, crime prevention, and effectiveness of the criminal justice responses. In a systematic and evidence-based way, criminology can help to develop more effective and targeted crime prevention strategies, as well as to make informed decisions on criminal justice policies, to provide better services for victims, and to make for safer communities.
Key Points
- Criminology studies crime and criminal behavior.
- It examines the causes and patterns of crime.
- It considers victims and the effects of crime.
- It studies society’s responses to crime.
- It uses knowledge from multiple academic disciplines.
- It contributes to crime prevention and criminal justice research.
Related Topics
- What Is Crime?
- What Is Criminal Behavior?
- What Is Criminal Justice?
- What Is Criminal Psychology?
- What Is Victimology?
