Notes on Criminology

SCOPE AND DEVELOPMENT OF 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

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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 2
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.

Objectives:

The purpose of this unit is to make the students understand the

concepts of crime and schools of thought about explanation of criminal
behaviour. The unit defines criminology and other important terms
necessary to appreciate the subject. The discussions under this section
also include a brief outline of the historical development of the branch
of criminology, its purpose and scope. By the end of this unit, students
will be able to:

i. explain the meaning of criminology and define its nature and

scope.

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 ii. distinguish the fields of criminology, penology, criminal law and
their inter-relationship;

iii. have a basic understanding of the historical development and

the branchs of criminology;

iv. describe the major and school of thought about the criminal
behaviour.

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.

Nature and Scope of Criminology

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Criminology is an inter-disciplinary field of study, involving scholars and
practitioners representing a wide range of behavioral and social sciences
as well as numerous natural sciences. Sociologists played a major role in
defining and developing the field of study and criminology emerged as
an academic discipline housed in sociology programs. However, with the
establishment of schools of criminology and the proliferation of
academic departments and programs concentrating specifically on crime
and justice in the last half of the 20 century, the criminology emerged as
a distinct professional field with a broad, interdisciplinary focus and a
shared commitment to generating knowledge through systematic
research.

One ultimate goal of criminology has been the development of theories

expressed with sufficient precision that they can be tested, using data
collected in a manner that allows verification and replication.

As a subdivision of the larger field of sociology, criminology draws on

psychology, economics, anthropology, psychiatry, biology, statistics, and
other disciplines to explain the causes and prevention of criminal
behavior. Subdivisions of criminology include penology, the study of
prisons and prison systems; bio-criminology, the study of the biological
basis of criminal behavior; feminist criminology, the study of women
and crime; and criminalistics, the study of crime detection, which is
related to the field of Forensic Science. Much research related to
criminology has focused on the biological basis of criminal behavior. In
fact, bio-criminology, attempts to explore the biological basis of criminal
behavior. Research in this area has focused on chromosomal
abnormalities, hormonal and brain chemical imbalances, diet,
neurological conditions, drugs, and alcohol as variables that contribute
to criminal behavior.

Criminology has historically played a reforming role in relation to

Criminal Law and the criminal justice system. As an applied discipline, it
has produced findings that have influenced legislators, judges,
prosecutors, lawyers, Probation officers, and prison officials, prompting
them to better understand crime and criminals and to develop better and
more human sentences and treatments for criminal behavior.

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Criminologists also study a host of other issues related to crime and the
law. These include studies of the Victims of Crime, focusing upon their
relations to the criminal, and their role as potential causal agents in
crime; juvenile delinquency and its correction; and the media and their
relation to crime, including the influence of Pornography.

Significance of Criminology

The true effect of criminology upon practices in the criminal justice

system is still subject to question. Although a number of commentators
have noted that studies in criminology have led to significant changes
among criminal laws in the various states, other critics have suggested
that studies in criminology have not directly led to a reduction of crime.

In Mc Cleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279, 107 S. Ct. 1756, 95 L. Ed. 2d 262
(1987), an individual who had been sentenced to death for a murder in
Georgia demonstrated to the U.S. Supreme Court that a criminologist's
study showed that the race of individuals in that state impacted whether
the defendant was sentenced to life or to death. The study demonstrated
that a black defendant who had killed a white victim was four times
more likely to be sentenced to death than was a defendant who had
killed a black victim. The defendant claimed that the study demonstrated
that the state of Georgia had violated his rights under the EQUAL
PROTECTION CLAUSE of the Fourteenth Amendment, as well as
under the Eigth Amendment's protection against Cruel and Unusual
Punishment.

The high court disagreed. Although the majority did question the
validity of the findings, of study's it held that the study did not establish
that officials in Georgia had acted with discriminatory purpose, and that
it did not establish that racial bias had affected the officials' decisions
with respect to the death sentence. Accordingly, the death sentence
violated neither the Fourteenth Amendment nor the Eighth
Amendment.

Criminology has had more of an effect when states and the federal
government consider new criminal laws and sentencing provisions.
Criminologists' theories are also often debated in the context of the
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death penalty and crime control acts among legislators and policymakers.
In this light, criminology is perhaps not at the forefront of the
development of the criminal justice system, but it most certainly works
in the background in the determination of criminal justice policies.

Sociology and Criminology

During the twentieth century, the sociological approach to criminology

became the most influential approach. Sociology is the study of social
behavior, systems, and structures. In relation to criminology, it may be
divided into social-structural and social-process approaches.

Social-Structural Criminology

Social-structural approaches to criminology examine the way in which

social situations and structures influence or relate to criminal behavior.
An early example of this approach, the ecological school of criminology,
was developed in the 1920s and 1930s at the University of Chicago. It
seeks to explain crime's relationship to social and environmental change.
For example, it attempts to describe why certain areas of a city will have
a tendency to attract crime and also have less-vigorous police
enforcement. Researchers have found that urban areas in transition from
residential to business uses are most often targeted by criminals. Such
communities often have disorganized social networks that foster a
weaker sense of social standards.

Another social-structural approach is the conflict school of criminology.

It traces its roots to Marxist theories that saw crime as ultimately a
product of conflict between different classes under the system of
capitalism. Criminology conflict theory suggests that the laws of society
emerge out of conflict rather than out of consensus. It holds that laws
are made by the group that is in power, to control those who are not in
power. Conflict theorists propose, as do other theorists, that those who
commit crimes are not fundamentally different from the rest of the
population. They call the idea that society may be clearly divided into
criminals and non-criminals a dualistic fallacy, or a misguided notion.

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These theorists maintain, instead, that the determination of whether
someone is a criminal or not often depends on the way society reacts to
those who deviate from accepted norms. Many conflict theorists and
others argue that minorities and poor people are more quickly labeled as
criminals than are members of the majority and wealthy individuals.

Critical criminology,

Also called radical criminology, shares with conflict criminology a debt

to Marxism. It came into prominence in the early 1970s and attempted
to explain contemporary social upheavals. Critical criminology relies on
economic explanations of behavior and argues that economic and social
inequalities cause criminal behavior. It focuses less on the study of
individual criminals, and advances the belief that existing crime cannot
be eliminated within the capitalist system. It also asserts, like the conflict
school, that law has an inherent bias in favor of the upper or ruling class,
and that the state and its legal system exist to advance the interests of
the ruling class. Critical criminologists argue that corporate, political, and
environmental crime are underreported and inadequately addressed in
the current criminal justice system.

Feminist criminology

emphasizes the subordinate position of women in society. According to

feminist criminologists, women remain in a position of inferiority that
has not been fully rectified by changes in the law during the late
twentieth century. Feminist criminology also explores the ways in which
women's criminal behavior is related to their objectification as
commodities in the sex industry.
Others using the social-structural approach have studied Gangs, juvenile
delinquency, and the relationship between family structure and criminal
behavior.

Social-Process Criminology

Social-process criminology theories attempt to explain how people

become criminals. These theories developed through recognition of the
fact that not all people who are exposed to the same social-structural

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conditions become criminals. They focus on criminal behavior as
learned behavior.

Edwin H. Sutherland (1883–1950), a U.S. sociologist and criminologist

who first presented his ideas in the 1920s and 1930s, advanced the
theory of differential association to explain criminal behavior. He
emphasized that criminal behavior is learned in interaction with others,
usually in small groups, and that criminals learn to favor criminal
behavior over noncriminal behavior through association with both
forms of behavior in different degrees. As Sutherland wrote, "When
persons become criminal, they do so because of contacts with criminal
patterns and also because of isolation from anti-criminal patterns."
Although his theory has been greatly influential, Sutherland himself
admitted that it did not satisfactorily explain all criminal behavior. Later
theorists have modified his approach in an attempt to correct its
shortcomings.

Political Criminology

Political criminology is similar to the other camps in this area. It involves

study into the forces that determine how, why, and with what
consequences societies chose to address criminals and crime in general.
Those who are involved with political criminology focus on the causes
of crime, the nature of crime, the social and political meanings that
attach to crime, and crime-control policies, including the study of the
bases upon which crime and punishment is committed and the choices
made by the principals in criminal justice. Although the theories of
political criminology and conflict criminology overlap to some extent,
political criminologists deny that the terms are interchangeable. The
primary focus points in the new movement of political criminology
similarly overlap with other theories, including the concerns and
ramifications of street crime and the distribution of power in crime-
control strategies. This movement has largely been a loose, academic
effort.

Definitions of Important Terms

Deviance:

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Deviance is a violation of social norms defining appropriate or proper
behaviour under particular set of circumstances. Deviance often includes
criminal acts. Deviance is also referred to as deviant behaviour. It is
behavior that is sharply different from a customary, traditional, or
generally accepted standard.

Delinquency:

Delinquent means one who fails to do that which is required by law or

by duty when such failure is minor in nature. A delinquent is often used
to refer to a juvenile who commits a minor criminal act—juvenile
delinquents.

Juvenile Delinquency:

It refers to criminal acts performed by juveniles. Most legal systems

prescribe specific procedures for dealing with juveniles, such as juvenile
detention centers. Juvenile delinquency may refer to either violent or
non-violent crime committed by persons who are (usually) under the age
of eighteen and are still considered to be a minor. There is much debate
about whether or not such a child should be held criminally responsible
for his or her own actions.

Crime:

Crime is an ‗act‘ or ‗omission‘ which is prohibited by criminal law.

Each State sets out a limited series of acts (crimes) which are prohibited
and punishes the commission of these acts by fine, imprisonment or
some other form of punishment. In exceptional cases, an omission to
act can constitute a crime, such as failing to give assistance to a person
in peril or failing to report a case of child abuse.

Inter-Relation Between Criminology, Penology and Criminal Law

It must be reiterated that criminology is one of the branches of criminal

science which is concerned with social study of crimes and criminal
behavior. It aims at discovering the causes of criminality and effective

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measures to combat crimes. It also deals with custody, treatment,
prevention and control of crimes which, for the purposes of this study,
is termed as penology. The criminal policies postulated by these twin
sister branches (i.e., criminology and penology) are implemented
through the agency of criminal law.

It is generally said that criminal law is an index of civilization because it

is sensitive to the changes in social structure and reflects mental fiber of
a given society. This is why Prof. Friedman calls it a barometer of moral
thinking. According to Wechsler, ―crime is a formal social
condemnation of forbidden conduct buttressed by sanction calculated to
prevent it‖. Criminologists are thus confronted with three major
problems, namely:

1. What conducts should be forbidden and an inquiry into the

effect of environment on these conducts ;
2. What condemnation is appropriate in such cases ; and
3. What kinds of sanctions are best to prevent these conducts?

It is thus evident that criminology, penology and criminal law are inter-
related and one cannot really function without the other. The
formulation of criminal policy essentially depends on crime causation
and factors correlated therewith while its implementation is achieved
through the instrumentality of criminal law. It has been rightly observed
by Prof. Sellin that the object of criminology is to study the sequence of
law-making, law-breaking and reaction to law-breaking from the point of
view of the efficacy of law as the method of control. According to
Donald Taft, criminology is the scientific analysis and observation of
crime and criminals whereas penology is concerned with the punishment
and treatment of offenders. In his view, the development of criminology
has been much later than that of penology because in early periods the
emphasis was on treatment of offenders rather than scientific
investigation into the causation of crime.

Criminology and Criminal Justice System

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The term ‗Criminal Justice System‘ is relatively new. It became popular
only in 1967, with the publication of the report of the President‘s
Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, The
Challenge of Crime in the Free Society. The discovery that various ways
of dealing with law breaking form a system was itself the result of
criminological research. Research into the functioning of the system and
its component parts, as well as into the work of functionaries within the
system, has provided many insights over the last few decades.

Scientists who study the criminal justice system are frequently referred to
as criminal justice specialists.‘ This term suggests a separation between
criminology and criminal justice. In fact, the two fields are closely
interwoven. Scholars of both disciplines use the same scientific research
methods. They have received the same rigorous education, and they
pursue the same goals. Both fields rely on the cooperation of many
other disciplines, including sociology, psychology, political science, law,
economics, management, and education. Their origins, however, do
differ. Criminology has its roots in European scholarship, though it has
undergone refinements, largely under the influence of American
sociology. Criminal justice is a recent American innovation.

The two fields are also distinguished by a difference in focus.

Criminology generally focuses on scientific studies of crime and
criminality, whereas criminal justice focuses on scientific studies of
decision-making processes, operations, and such justice-related concerns
as the efficiency of police, courts, and corrective systems; the just
treatment of offenders; the needs of victims; and the effects of changes
in sentencing philosophy.

Historical Development of Criminology

The history of primitive societies and early medieval period reveals that
human thinking in those days was predominated by religious mysticism
and all human relations were regulated through myths, superstitious and
religious tenets prevailing in a particular society. This in other words,
meant that little attention was devoted to the motive, environment and
psychology of the offender in the causation of crime. Moreover, in
absence of any definite principle for the guidance of those who were

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concerned with the criminal justice administration, punishments were
often haphazard, arbitrary and irrational. This situation prevailed until
the end of seventeenth century. Thereafter, with the change in human
thinking and evolution of modern society, certain social reformers took
up the cause of criminals and devoted their attention to analysis of crime
causation. This finally led to the emergence of criminology as a branch
of knowledge through development of different schools of criminology.

The theoretical dimension of criminology has a long history and ideas

about the causes of crime can be found in philosophical thought over
two thousand years ago. For example, in Politics, Plato‘s student,
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), stated that poverty engenders rebellion and
crime (Quinney 1970).‖ Religious scholars focused on causes as diverse
as natural human need, deadly sins, and the corrupting influence of
Satan and other demons. The validity of such theories was founded in
religious authority and they were not viewed as theories, subject to
verification through any form of systematic observation, measurement
and analysis. Rational, naturalistic philosophies about people and society
grew in prominence during the 18 century. Enlightenment philosophers
such as Montesquieu, Voltaire, Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham
criticized political and legal institutions and advocated social reforms
based on the assumption that people were rational, deliberative beings.
Such ideas constituted the first major school of organized, naturalistic‖
thought about criminal law, criminality, and appropriate responses to
crime--the Classical School. Such perspectives were called ―naturalistic‖
because they constructed theories locating the causes of crime in natural
characteristics of human beings as opposed to ―supernatural‖ theories
emphasizing demonic causes. Classical theorists assumed that most
people were capable of rational calculation of gains and costs and that
criminality was a choice. Laws were to be designed and enforced based
on that principle. Contemporary ―deterrence theory,‖ ―rational choice
theory,‖ and ―social learning theory‖ in criminology incorporate these
same assumptions.

The origins of a more systematic criminology, however, are located in

the late-eighteenth-century writings of those who sought to reform
criminal justice and penal systems that they perceived as cruel, inhuman,
and arbitrary. These old systems applied the law unequally, were subject
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to great corruption, and often used torture and the death penalty
indiscriminately.

The leading theorist of the classical school of criminology, the Italian

CESARE BONESANO BECCARIA (1738–94), argued that the law
must apply equally to all, and that punishments for specific crimes
should be standardized by legislatures, thus avoiding judicial abuses of
power. Both Beccaria and another classical theorist, the Englishman
Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), argued that people are rational beings
who exercise free will in making choices. Beccaria and Bentham
understood the dominant motive in making choices to be the seeking of
pleasure and the avoidance of pain. Thus, they argued that a punishment
should fit the crime in such a way that the pain involved in potential
punishment would be greater than any pleasure derived from
committing the crime. The writings of these theorists led to greater
codification and standardization of European and U.S. laws.

Criminologists of the early nineteenth century argued that legal

punishments that had been created under the guidance of the classical
school did not sufficiently consider the widely varying circumstances of
those who found themselves in the gears of the criminal justice system.
Accordingly, they proposed that those who could not distinguish right
from wrong, particularly children and mentally ill persons, should be
exempted from the punishments that were normally meted out to
mentally capable adults who had committed the same crimes. Along
with the contributions of a later generation of criminologists, known as
the positivists, such writers argued that the punishment should fit the
criminal, not the crime.
Later in the nineteenth century, the positivist school of criminology
brought a scientific approach to criminology, including findings from
biology and medicine. The leading figure of this school was the Italian
Cesare Lombroso (1836–1909). Influenced by Charles R. Darwin's
theory of evolution, Lombroso measured the physical features of prison
inmates and concluded that criminal behavior correlated with specific
bodily characteristics, particularly cranial, skeletal, and neurological
malformations. According to Lombroso, biology created a criminal class
among the human population. Subsequent generations of criminologists
have disagreed harshly with Lombroso's conclusions on this matter.

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However, Lombroso had a more lasting effect on criminology with
other findings that emphasized the multiple causes of crime, including
environmental causes that were not biologically determined. He was also
a pioneer of the case-study approach to criminology.
Other late-nineteenth-century developments in criminology included the
work of statisticians of the cartographic school, who analyzed data on
population and crime. These included Lambert Adolphe Quetelet,
(1796– 1874) of France and André Michel Guerry, of Belgium. Both of
these researchers compiled detailed, statistical information relating to
crime and also attempted to identify the circumstances that predisposed
people to commit crimes.

The writings of French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) also

exerted a great influence on criminology. Durkheim advanced the
hypothesis that criminal behavior is a normal part of all societies. No
society, he argued, can ever have complete uniformity of moral
consciousness. All societies must permit some deviancy, including
criminal deviancy, or they will stagnate. He saw the criminal as an
acceptable human being and one of the prices that a society pays for
freedom.
Durkheim also theorized about the ways in which modern, industrial
societies differ from nonindustrial ones. Industrial societies are not as
effective at producing what Durkheim called a collective conscience that
effectively controls the behavior of individuals. Individuals in industrial
societies are more likely to exhibit what Durkheim called anomie—a
Greek word meaning "without norms." Consequently, modern societies
have had to develop specialized laws and criminal justice systems that
were not necessary in early societies to control behavior.

Early efforts to organize criminologists in the United States attracted law

enforcement officials and others who were interested in the criminal
justice system. In 1941, a group of individuals in California organized for
the purpose of improving police training and the standardization of
police-training curricula. In 1946, this movement developed into the
establishment of the Society for the Advancement of Criminology,
which changed its name to the American Society of Criminology in
1957. Initial efforts of this organization focused upon scientific crime
detection, investigation, and identification; crime prevention, public

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safety, and security; law enforcement administration; administration of
criminal justice; traffic administration; and probation.

The American Society of Criminology has since attracted thousands of

members including academics, practitioners, and students of the criminal
justice system. Studies of criminology include both the theoretical and
the pragmatic, and some combined elements of both. Although some
aspects of criminology as a science are still considered radical, others
have developed as standards in the study of crime and criminal justice.

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