18/2/2014 Criminology and its Scope ~ Notes for Pakistan

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Notes for Pakistan
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Criminology and its Scope
Man is a social animal. Human beings live in
communities and groups together engaged in mutual
concourse. In order to keep order and avoid conflict
it is essential to have a set of rules and regulations of
collective behaviour. Each community and each group
prescribes its own behavioural norms and standards
which keep the wheels of society well-oiled and as far
as possible frictionless; only thus can a community
make progress. The norms and standards prescribed
in a particular society determine the activities of the
individuals which can be considered normal or
permissible any deviation from these permissible acts
is an abnormal behaviour. If these abnormal acts are
pronouncedly deviant and pose threat to communal
order and peace, these are called crimes. Thus crimes
may be defined as an act inimical to social peace and
harmony. The crimes may be defined as an act
inimical to social peace and harmony. The crimes are
hurtful to social stability. In order to achieve
prevention of crimes, we need to study the various
causes and background of crimes systematically. The
discipline engaged in such a systematic investigation is
known as criminology. Before making a detailed study
of Criminology it is essential to understand its meaning
and scope.
Meaning and Definition of Criminology
The word criminology is composite of two words
criminal + logy. Literally, it means a systematic study
of the criminals, that is, persons who break or offend
the social or group law. However, since the offences
committed by criminals are crimes; and as crimes
occur in society, the term criminology fully means a
study of crimes as well as criminals in relation to
society. It also tries to determine the causes of these
and also thereby recommends preventive measures.
The science of criminology is a scientific and
systematic study of a social phenomenon. Various
scientific techniques and methods are employed for
the study of this phenomenon. As criminology views
man as a social animal, it tries to study social
interactions and phenomena to place its subject matter
in a proper perspective. The science of criminology
also investigates the structure and function of social
laws rules and regulations. How do the social laws,
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18/2/2014 Criminology and its Scope ~ Notes for Pakistan
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conventions and traditions get formulated? How and
why does an individual break them? Is there an
element of compulsion or coercion in his defiance of
the law? Or is it deliberate? These and other allied
matters are studied by criminology with a view to find
adequate answers which may help to formulate the
effective preventive measures and controls. The
reaction of society towards a criminal and the
disposition of criminal towards society are the
important matters for investigation which help to
understand adequately the phenomenon of crime.
Only by a full appreciation of these matters can we
learn ways and means to control crime. The above
discussion makes explicit the meaning of criminology.
But in order to appreciate fully the nature of
criminology, it is essential to examine closely the
definitions given by learned sociologists and eminent
criminologists. Below we give the most important of
these definitions:
(1) According to an eminent sociologist Sutherland:
Criminology is the body of knowledge regarding
crime as a social phenomenon. This definition exhibits
sociological bias and regards crime to be reaction to
certain set of social factors and causes.
(2) According to an eminent criminologist Elliot:
Criminology may be defined as the scientific study of
rime and its treatment. This definition, besides
emphasizing the scientific investigation into the nature
and etiology of crime, stresses the practical or
utilitarian nature of this body of knowledge, namely,
devising ways and means to prevent or reduce the
incidence of crime and rehabilitate criminals as normal
members of the society.
(3) According to renowned criminologist D. R. Taft:
Criminology is the study which includes all the
subject matter necessary to understanding and
prevention of crimes together with the punishment and
treatment of delinquents and criminals. This is a
comprehensive definition and describes theoretical as
well as practical aspects of the study. It brings out
clearly the fact, which may get overlooked usually,
that criminology is concerned not with the offences
committed by adults only but also deals with juvenile
offences.
According to another noted sociologist Webster, the
science of Criminology may be described to be the
scientific study of crime as a social phenomenon, or of
criminals and their mental traits, habits and discipline.
This definition has the merit of emphasizing equally the
sociological as well as psychological aspects of the
crime and the criminal.
Nature of Criminology
The foregoing discussion about the meaning and
description of criminology makes abundantly explicit
and clear the nature of this science. Fundamentally
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18/2/2014 Criminology and its Scope ~ Notes for Pakistan
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speaking, the task of criminology is a scientific,
systematic, statistical, structural and functional in depth
study of crime. The behaviour covertly deviant is liable
to become overtly offensive of social norms and laws,
both from sociological and psychological standpoints.
Besides having a theoretical understanding of crime,
criminal and his behaviour, the object of criminology is
also to devise effective tools to minimize the incidence
of crime, reform and rehabilitate the criminal. Lastly,
criminology also tries to suggest reform in penal code
and its enforcement in order to make these rational
and humanitarian.
Scope of Criminology
Like other social sciences, the scope of criminology is
also quite vast and extensive. It is related to each and
every social class and structure. Though the scope of
criminology is very vast and coextensive with many
sciences, the criminologists have tried to limit its scope
in order to be able to study the subject scientifically,
systematically and exhaustively. The viewpoints of
certain notable criminologists are given on next page:
(A) According to Sutherland the science of
criminology, includes within its scope the processes
of making laws, of breaking laws, and of reacting
towards the breaking of laws. In the opinion of
Sutherland criminology has three distinct aspects of
departments. Though distinct, these are nonetheless
not independent, but inter-linked. A thorough study of
these aspects exhausts the scope of criminology; to
study all of them is the same as studying the whole
science of criminology. In accordance with
Sutherlands description of the scope of criminology,
we can divide it into departments:
(a) The sociology of law-In this we study the nature of
crime from legalistic point of view. Also we investigate
into the effects of present laws upon them and study
the possible reforms in the laws in order to prevent
and control the occurrence of crime. The major
concern of the sociology of law is to critically examine
the impact of various legal systems upon crime. This
study can go a long way to evolve suitable changes in
the laws to curb crime.
(b) Criminal Etiology-In this department a systematic
investigation into the various causes of crime is made.
Here we study the social and personal factors
responsible for the occurrence of crime and growth of
criminals.
(c) Penology-Besides knowledge and determination
of the causes and factors which generate or encourage
crime, it is equally, if not more essential to know the
ways and means of controlling and preventing the
crime. This aspect is studied systematically and in a
scientific manner to achieve control over crime. The
facts and theories in this regard from the scope of
Penology, an important department of criminology.
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18/2/2014 Criminology and its Scope ~ Notes for Pakistan
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Posted by Faizan Bhatti
The Viewpoint of Elliot and Merrill
The eminent scholars Elliot and Merrill have made an
exhaustive and thorough study regarding the scope of
criminology. According to these scholars, in
criminology we study four sets of facts. These are as
follows:
(a) The Nature of Crime-What are the features of
crime? What type of action is crime? In what respect
does a criminal act differ from a social or moral act?
Is it just the action which may be considered criminal
or can the motive make difference to our description
of a crime? For example, the theft committed for
personal gain and the theft committed for impersonal
reasons or social gain are both cases of theft. Can we
make any distinction between the two? The answers
to these questions tell us the nature of crime.
(b) Investigations into the causes of Crime-Under this
aspect of Criminology we study the reasons of
criminal behaviour. The different types of crime have
different causes. Are these differences apparent or
real? Can we come by a general theory of crime
which will be adequate to explain all types of crime?
Are there relations, inverse or direct, between various
crimes. These questions are investigated under this
head. Besides, we also study the question of
responsibility of crimes. If criminals are made and not
born, who is responsible for encouraging criminality?
Is it parent education or social system that is
responsible in conjunction or one of these alone? All
these questions form the subject mater of this aspect
of criminology.
(c) Individualized Study of Criminals-How and when
does one turn into a criminal? What particular event or
series of events happen which turn man towards
criminality? In order to know all these facts we have
to study in detail the personal lives of the criminals.
Also we have to study the life of a person in totality
for understanding the nature of crime and criminal. For
this purpose we make use of what has come to be
known as the technique of case-history method.
(d) Study of Prevention of Crime & Reform of the
Criminal-Most obviously crimes is inimical to the
interests of the society. They not only disturb the
social equilibrium but make life hell for the criminal as
well as his relatives. Even more, due to crime the
normal law abiding citizen lives in fear. Therefore it is
most essential to devise ways and means to prevent
crime and reform the criminals. Should the system of
punishment the deterrent, preventive, reformative or
exemplary? What type of punishment is adequate for
each type of crime? Such questions are studied under
this head.
18/2/2014 Criminology and its Scope ~ Notes for Pakistan
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4 comments:
Anonymous October 25, 2013 at 7:24 AM
very very helpful....thank you.
Reply
Anonymous December 28, 2013 at 8:59 AM
Whats the scope of criminology in pakistan for
girls?
I mean after completing criminology which dept
students can join??
Reply
Anonymous December 31, 2013 at 12:47 AM
AWesome
Reply
Anonymous January 12, 2014 at 3:10 AM
Thanks
Reply
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18/2/2014 Criminology and its Scope ~ Notes for Pakistan
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