CSS 111: INTRODUCTION TO CRIMINOLOGY
BACKGROUND, INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD OF
CRIMINOLOGY
1.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
Define criminology from different perspectives
Know the scope of criminology.
Identify the goals of criminology
Know what criminologists can do.
3.1 Definition and Scope of Criminology
Meaning of Criminology
The term Criminology is from Latin crimen, “accusation”, and Greek”—logia”. The term
criminology is difficult to define because there are several ways of looking at it, depending on
the background of the person defining it.
Various Definitions and Meaning of Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes and control of criminal
behaviour in both the individual and in society. Digumarti, (2012).
Criminology is the scientific study of the making of laws, the breaking of laws, and
society’s reaction to the breaking of laws. Adler, Muller and Laufer, (2010).
Criminology is the study of crime and criminal behavior (Abdul-Rahman, (2007).
,However, a good general definition comes from the American Society of Criminology’s
description of the organization: “... knowledge concerning the etiology, prevention, control and
treatment of crime and delinquency.
This includes the measurement and detection of crime, legislation and practice of criminal law,
as well as the law enforcement, judicial and correctional systems”.
SYKES et al (1992) define criminology literally as the study of crime, its perpetrators and its
causes and relatedly, an interest in its prevention, and in the deterrence, treatment and
punishment of offenders. Thus criminology is the study of various ways of systematically
thinking about the description, production, explanation and control of crime.
3.1.2 Goals of Criminology
In general, the goal of criminology is to enable us better to predict, to explain, and in some
circumstances, to modify the values and behaviour of those who make, apply, or break criminal
laws (Thomas and Hepburn, 1983:5).
In specific terms, therefore, the field of criminology has three major goals:
(a) Measuring;
(b) Understanding and
(c) Controlling crime.
Measurement involves knowing how much crime actually exists and what effective steps can be
taken to control it. Understanding crimes means discovering why people choose to violate laws.
Controlling crime is the process by which society develops policies that may eventually result in
the reduction of criminal behaviour and the reform of criminals (Siegel, 1983:6-9).
Criminological knowledge, some would contend, is sterile unless it is put to work in our efforts
to control crime. Sutherland and Cressey (1974) for example, suggested that criminology: “...is
, concerned with the immediate application of knowledge to programs of social order and crime
control... If practical programs wait until theoretical knowledge is complete, they will wait for
eternity, for theoretical knowledge is increased most significantly by practical programs”
(Sutherland and Cressey, 1974:3). Although, conceptual distinctions exist between criminal
justice and criminology, there are also important interdependencies. Definitions of criminology,
agree that the focus is largely on the scientific explanation of crime and criminals. Criminal
justice is more concerned with societal, and particularly, official reactions to crime and
criminals. Criminology consequently tends to be more theoretical and to include explanations
that do not have immediate, or at least not readily adaptable, policy implications for criminal
justice operations.
DEVELOPMENT AND HISTORY OF THE EMERGENCE OF CRIMINOLOGY
The term criminology was coined in 1885 by Italian law Professor Raffael Garofalo as
criminologia. Around the same time, but later, French anthropologist Paul Topinard used
the analogos French term crimnologie. The discipline of criminology has evolved in three
phases, beginning in the 18th. Although crime and criminals have been around us for as
long as societies have existed, the systematic study of these phenomena did not begin
until the late 1700s. Prior to that time, most explanations of crime equated it with sin– the
violation of a sacred obligation. When scholars first distinguished crime from sin, they
made possible explanations of criminal behaviour that were not theological (religious).
This, in turn, allowed for the dispassionate, scientific study of why crime occurs. The
development of this study is now known as the era of classical criminology.
The second phase, which began in the 19th century, is referred to as modern criminology.
During this era, criminology distinguished itself as a sub- specialty within the emerging
BACKGROUND, INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE FIELD OF
CRIMINOLOGY
1.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
Define criminology from different perspectives
Know the scope of criminology.
Identify the goals of criminology
Know what criminologists can do.
3.1 Definition and Scope of Criminology
Meaning of Criminology
The term Criminology is from Latin crimen, “accusation”, and Greek”—logia”. The term
criminology is difficult to define because there are several ways of looking at it, depending on
the background of the person defining it.
Various Definitions and Meaning of Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes and control of criminal
behaviour in both the individual and in society. Digumarti, (2012).
Criminology is the scientific study of the making of laws, the breaking of laws, and
society’s reaction to the breaking of laws. Adler, Muller and Laufer, (2010).
Criminology is the study of crime and criminal behavior (Abdul-Rahman, (2007).
,However, a good general definition comes from the American Society of Criminology’s
description of the organization: “... knowledge concerning the etiology, prevention, control and
treatment of crime and delinquency.
This includes the measurement and detection of crime, legislation and practice of criminal law,
as well as the law enforcement, judicial and correctional systems”.
SYKES et al (1992) define criminology literally as the study of crime, its perpetrators and its
causes and relatedly, an interest in its prevention, and in the deterrence, treatment and
punishment of offenders. Thus criminology is the study of various ways of systematically
thinking about the description, production, explanation and control of crime.
3.1.2 Goals of Criminology
In general, the goal of criminology is to enable us better to predict, to explain, and in some
circumstances, to modify the values and behaviour of those who make, apply, or break criminal
laws (Thomas and Hepburn, 1983:5).
In specific terms, therefore, the field of criminology has three major goals:
(a) Measuring;
(b) Understanding and
(c) Controlling crime.
Measurement involves knowing how much crime actually exists and what effective steps can be
taken to control it. Understanding crimes means discovering why people choose to violate laws.
Controlling crime is the process by which society develops policies that may eventually result in
the reduction of criminal behaviour and the reform of criminals (Siegel, 1983:6-9).
Criminological knowledge, some would contend, is sterile unless it is put to work in our efforts
to control crime. Sutherland and Cressey (1974) for example, suggested that criminology: “...is
, concerned with the immediate application of knowledge to programs of social order and crime
control... If practical programs wait until theoretical knowledge is complete, they will wait for
eternity, for theoretical knowledge is increased most significantly by practical programs”
(Sutherland and Cressey, 1974:3). Although, conceptual distinctions exist between criminal
justice and criminology, there are also important interdependencies. Definitions of criminology,
agree that the focus is largely on the scientific explanation of crime and criminals. Criminal
justice is more concerned with societal, and particularly, official reactions to crime and
criminals. Criminology consequently tends to be more theoretical and to include explanations
that do not have immediate, or at least not readily adaptable, policy implications for criminal
justice operations.
DEVELOPMENT AND HISTORY OF THE EMERGENCE OF CRIMINOLOGY
The term criminology was coined in 1885 by Italian law Professor Raffael Garofalo as
criminologia. Around the same time, but later, French anthropologist Paul Topinard used
the analogos French term crimnologie. The discipline of criminology has evolved in three
phases, beginning in the 18th. Although crime and criminals have been around us for as
long as societies have existed, the systematic study of these phenomena did not begin
until the late 1700s. Prior to that time, most explanations of crime equated it with sin– the
violation of a sacred obligation. When scholars first distinguished crime from sin, they
made possible explanations of criminal behaviour that were not theological (religious).
This, in turn, allowed for the dispassionate, scientific study of why crime occurs. The
development of this study is now known as the era of classical criminology.
The second phase, which began in the 19th century, is referred to as modern criminology.
During this era, criminology distinguished itself as a sub- specialty within the emerging
