Criminology
6448
225212774
2008-07-12T14:18:04Z
SmackBot
433328
Date the maintenance tags or general fixes
{{Crimin}}
'''Criminology''' is the social-scientific study of [[crime]] as an individual and [[social phenomenon]]. 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 [[sociology|sociologists]] and [[psychology|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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Sociological Theory and Criminological Research: Views from Europe and the United States |pages=p. 279 |author=Deflem, Mathieu |id=ISBN 0762313226 |date=2006 |publisher=Elsevier}}</ref>
==Schools of thought==
In the mid-18th century, criminology arose as [[social philosophy|social philosophers]] gave thought to crime and concepts of law. Over time, several schools of thought have developed.
===Classical school===
The [[Classical school|Classical School]], which developed in the mid 18th century, was based on [[utilitarianism|utilitarian]] philosophy. [[Cesare Beccaria]], author of ''[[Dei delitti e delle pene|On Crimes and Punishments]]'' (1763-64), [[Jeremy Bentham]], inventor of the ''[[panopticon]]'', and other classical school philosophers argued that (1) people have free will to choose how to act. (2) Deterrence is based upon the notion of the human being as a 'hedonist' who seeks pleasure and avoids pain, and a 'rational calculator' weighing up the costs and benefits of the consequences of each action. Thus, it ignores the possibility of irrationality and unconscious drives as motivational factors (3) [[Punishment]] (of sufficient severity) can deter people from crime, as the costs (penalties) outweigh benefits, and that severity of punishment should be proportionate to the crime.<ref>{{cite book |author=Beccaria, Cesare |title=On Crimes and Punishments, and Other Writings |year=1764 |pages=p. 64 |editor=Richard Davies, translator |publisher=Cambridge University Press |id=ISBN 0521402034}}</ref> (4) The more swift and certain the punishment, the more effective it is in deterring criminal behavior. The Classical school of thought came about at a time when major reform in [[penology]] occurred, with [[prison]]s developed as a form of punishment. Also, this time period saw many [[law|legal]] reforms, the [[French Revolution]], and the development of the [[Law of the United States|legal system]] in the [[United States]].
===Positivist school===
The [[Positivist school|Positivist School]] presumes that criminal behaviour is caused by internal and external factors outside of the individual's control. The [[scientific method]] was introduced and applied to study human behavior. Positivism can be broken up into three segments which include [[biological]], [[psychological]] and [[social positivism]].
[[Cesare Lombroso]], an Italian prison doctor working in the late 19th century and sometimes regarded as the "father" of criminology, was one of the largest contributors to biological positivism and founder of the [[Italian school of criminology]].<ref name="siegel-p7">{{cite book |author=Siegel, Larry J. |title=Criminology, 8th edition |date=2003 |publisher=Thomson-Wadsworth |pages=p. 7}}</ref> Lombroso took a scientific approach, insisting on empirical evidence, for studying crime.<ref>{{cite book |title=Crime and Society: Readings in History and Theory |id=ISBN 0415027551 |author=McLennan, Gregor, Jennie Pawson, Mike Fitzgerald |publisher=Routledge |pages=p. 311 |date=1980}}</ref> Considered as the founder of [[criminal anthropology]], he suggested that physiological traits such as the measurements of one's cheek bones or hairline, or a cleft palate, considered to be throwbacks to [[Neanderthal]] man, were indicative of "[[atavism|atavistic]]" criminal tendencies. This approach, influenced by the earlier theory of [[phrenology]] and by [[Charles Darwin]] and his [[theory of evolution]], has been superseded. [[Enrico Ferri]], a student of Lombroso, believed that social as well as biological factors played a role, and held the view that criminals should not be held responsible for the factors causing their criminality were beyond their control. Criminologists have since rejected Lombroso's biological theories, with [[control group]]s not used in his studies.<ref name="siegel-p139">{{cite book |author=Siegel, Larry J. |date=2003 |title=Criminology, 8th edition |publisher=Thomson-Wadsworth |pages=p. 139}}</ref>
Lombroso's Italian school was rivalled, in France, by [[Alexandre Lacassagne]] and his school of thought, based in [[Lyon]] and influent from 1885 to 1914 <ref name=Renneville> Marc Renneville, [http://www.criminocorpus.cnrs.fr/article143.html La criminologie perdue d’Alexandre Lacassagne (1843-1924)], ''Criminocorpus'', Centre [[Alexandre Koyré]]-CRHST, UMR n°8560 of the [[CNRS]], 2005 {{fr icon}}</ref>. The Lacassagne School rejected Lombroso's theory of "criminal type" and of "born criminals", and strained the importance of social factors. However, contrary to criminological tendencies influenced by [[Durkheim]]'s [[social determinism]], it did not reject biological factors. Indeed, Lacassagne created an original synthesis of both tendencies, influenced by [[positivism]], [[phrenology]] and [[hygienism]], which alleged a direct influence of the social environment on the brain and compared the social itself to a brain, upholding an [[organicism|organicist]] position <ref name=Renneville/>. Furthermore, Lacassagne criticized the lack of efficiency of [[prison]], insisted on social responsibilities toward crime and on political voluntarism as a solution to crime, and thus advocated harsh penalties for those criminals thought to be unredeemable ("[[recidivism|recidivist]]s") for example by supporting the 1895 law on [[penal colony|penal colonies]] or opposing the abolition of [[death penalty]] in 1906 <ref name=Renneville/>.
[[Hans Eysenck]] (1964, 1977), a British psychologist, claimed that psychological factors such as [[Extraversion]] and [[Neuroticism]] made a person more likely to commit criminal acts. He also includes a [[Psychoticism]] dimension that includes traits similar to the [[psychopathic]] profile, developed by [[Hervey M. Cleckley]] and later [[Robert Hare (psychologist)|Robert Hare]]. He also based his model on early parental [[socialization]] of the child; his approach bridges the gap between biological explanations and environmental or social learning based approaches, (see e.g. social psychologists [[Burrhus Frederic Skinner|B. F. Skinner]] (1938), [[Albert Bandura]] (1973), and the topic of "[[nature vs. nurture]]".)
Sociological positivism postulates that societal factors such as [[poverty]], membership of subcultures, or low levels of [[education]] can predispose people to crime. [[Adolphe Quetelet]] made use of [[data]] and [[statistics|statistical]] analysis to gain insight into relationship between [[crime]] and [[sociology|sociological]] factors. He found that age, [[gender]], [[poverty]], [[education]], and [[alcohol]] consumption were important factors related to crime.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Adolphe Quetelet and the Origins of Positivist Criminology |author=Beirne, Piers |journal=American Journal of Sociology |volume=92(5) |date=March 1987 |pages=pp. 1140–1169}}</ref>
Rawson W. Rawson utilized [[crime statistics]] to suggest a link between [[population density]] and [[crime rate]]s, with crowded cities creating an environment conducive for crime.<ref>{{cite book |author=Hayward, Keith J. |title=City Limits: Crime, Consumerism and the Urban Experience |publisher=Routledge |date=2004 |id=ISBN 1904385036 |pages=p. 89}}</ref> [[Joseph Fletcher]] and [[John Glyde]] also presented papers to the [[Statistical Society of London]] on their studies of crime and its distribution.<ref>{{cite book |author=Garland, David |chapter=Of Crimes and Criminals |pages=p. 21 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, 3rd edition |editor=Maguire, Mike, Rod Morgan, Robert Reiner |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2002}}</ref> [[Henry Mayhew]] used [[empirical]] methods and an [[ethnography|ethnographic]] approach to address social questions and [[poverty]], and presented his studies in ''[[London Labour and the London Poor]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.csiss.org/classics/content/25 |title=Henry Mayhew: London Labour and the London Poor |publisher=Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science}}</ref> [[Emile Durkheim]] viewed crime as an inevitable aspect of [[society]], with uneven distribution of [[wealth]] and other differences among people.
===Chicago School===
The [[Chicago school (sociology)|Chicago School]] arose in the early twentieth century, through the work of [[Robert E. Park|Robert Ezra Park]], [[Ernest Burgess]], and other [[urban sociology|urban sociologists]] at [[University of Chicago]]. In the 1920s, Park and Burgess identified five [[Concentric ring model|concentric zones]] that often exist as cities grow, including the "zone in transition" which was identified as most volatile and subject to disorder. In the 1940s, Henry McKay and Clifford R. Shaw focused on [[juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquents]], finding that they were concentrated in the zone of transition.
Chicago School sociologists adopted a [[social ecology]] approach to studying cities, and postulated that urban neighborhoods with high levels of [[poverty]] often experience breakdown in the [[social structure]] and institutions such as [[family]] and [[school]]s. This results in [[social disorganization]], which reduces the ability of these institutions to control [[behavior]] and creates an environment ripe for [[deviant behavior]].
Other researchers suggested an added social-psychological link. [[Edwin Sutherland]] suggested that people learn criminal behavior from older, more experienced criminals that they may associate with.
==Theories of crime==
Theoretical perspectives used in criminology include [[psychoanalysis]], [[functionalism (sociology)|functionalism]], [[interactionism]], [[Marxism]], [[econometrics]], [[systems theory]], [[postmodernism]], etc.
===Social structure theories===
====Social disorganization (neighborhoods)====
[[Social disorganization]] theory is based on the work of Henry McKay and Clifford R. Shaw of the Chicago School.<ref>{{cite book |author=Shaw, Clifford R. and McKay, Henry D. |title=Juvenile Delinquency and Urban Areas |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |date=1942}}</ref> Social disorganization theory postulates that neighborhoods plagued with poverty and economic deprivation tend to experience high rates of [[population]] turnover.<ref name="bursik-1988">{{cite journal |title=Social Disorganization and Theories of Crime and Delinquency: Problems and Prospects |author=Bursik Jr., Robert J. |journal=Criminology |date=1988 |volume=26 |pages=p. 519–539 |doi=10.1111/j.1745-9125.1988.tb00854.x}}</ref> These neighborhoods also tend to have high population [[Heterogeneous|heterogeneity]].<ref name="bursik-1988"/> With high turnover, informal [[social structure]] often fails to develop, which in turn makes it difficult to maintain [[social order]] in a community.
====Social ecology====
Since the 1970s, social ecology studies have built on the social disorganization theories. Many studies have found that crime rates are associated with poverty, disorder, high numbers of abandoned buildings, and other signs of community deterioration.<ref name="bursik-1988"/><ref>{{cite journal |author=Morenoff, Jeffrey, Robert Sampson, Stephen Raudenbush |title=Neighborhood Inequality, Collective Efficacy and the Spatial Dynamics of Urban Violence |journal=Criminology |volume=39 |year=2001 |pages=p. 517–60 |doi=10.1111/j.1745-9125.2001.tb00932.x}}</ref> As [[working class|working]] and [[middle class]] people leave deteriorating neighborhoods, the most disadvantaged portions of the population may remain. [[William Julius Wilson]] suggested a poverty "concentration effect", which may cause neighborhoods to be isolated from the mainstream of society and become prone to [[violence]].
====Strain theory (social class)====
[[Strain theory (sociology)|Strain theory]], (also known as Mertonian Anomie), advanced by American sociologist [[Robert K. Merton|Robert Merton]], suggests that mainstream [[culture]], especially in the [[United States]], is saturated with dreams of opportunity, freedom and prosperity; as Merton put it, the ''[[American Dream]]''. Most people buy into this dream and it becomes a powerful cultural and psychological motivation. Merton also used the term ''[[anomie]]'', but it meant something slightly different for him than it did for [[Émile Durkheim|Durkheim]]. Merton saw the term as meaning a [[dichotomy]] between what society expected of its citizens, and what those citizens could actually achieve. Therefore, if the social structure of opportunities is unequal and prevents the majority from realizing the dream, some of them will turn to illegitimate means (crime) in order to realize it. Others will retreat or drop out into [[Deviant behavior|deviant]] subcultures ([[Gang|gang members]], "hobos": urban homeless drunks and [[drug abuse]]rs).<ref>{{cite book |author=Merton, Robert |year=1957 |title=Social Theory and Social Structure |publisher=Free Press}}</ref>
====Subcultural theory====
{{main|subcultural theory}}
Following on from the [[Chicago school (sociology)|Chicago School]] and Strain Theory, and also drawing on [[Edwin Sutherland|Edwin H. Sutherland]]'s idea of [[differential association]], subcultural theorists focused on small cultural groups fragmenting away from the mainstream to form their own values and meanings about life.
[[Albert Cohen]] tied anomie theory with [[Sigmund Freud|Freud]]'s [[reaction formation]] idea, suggesting that delinquency among lower class youths is a reaction against the [[Norm (sociology)|social norm]]s of the middle class.<ref>{{cite book |author=Cohen, Albert |title=Delinquent Boys |publisher=Free Press |date=1955}}</ref> Some youth, especially from poorer areas where opportunities are scarce, might adopt social norms specific to those places which may include "toughness" and disrespect for authority. Criminal acts may result when youths conform to norms of the deviant subculture.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kornhauser, R. |date=1978 |title=Social Sources of Delinquency |publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref>
[[Richard Cloward]] and [[Lloyd Ohlin]] suggested that delinquency can result from differential opportunity for lower class youth.<ref name="cloward">{{cite book |author=Cloward, Richard, Lloyd Ohlin |title=Delinquency and Opportunity |publisher=Free Press |date=1960}}</ref> Such youths may be tempted to take up criminal activities, choosing an illegitimate path that provides them more lucrative economic benefits than conventional, over legal options such as [[minimum wage]]-paying jobs available to them.<ref name="cloward"/>
British subcultural theorists focused more heavily on the issue of class, where some criminal activities were seen as 'imaginary solutions' to the problem of belonging to a subordinate class. A further study by the Chicago school looked at gangs and the influence of the interaction of gang leaders under the observation of adults.
===Individual theories===
====Trait theories====
{{Unreferencedsection|date=November 2007}}
{{see|Genetic determinism}}
{{Mergefrom|Race and crime|Talk:Race and crime#Merger proposal|date=July 2008}}
[[Sociobiology|Biosocial]] and [[criminal psychology|psychological]] trait theories have emerged in modern criminology, as scientific knowledge of [[genetics]], [[biochemistry]], and [[neurology]] has grown. Biosocial theorists believe in [[equipotentiality]] and that genetics significantly influence [[human behavior]]. They believe that biological factors, together with environmental and social factors, influence a person's propensity for crime {{Fact|date=November 2007}}. Research into biosocial theories has looked at [[vitamin]] definciency and [[antisocial behavior]], the link between high consumption of [[sugar]] and [[aggression|aggressive]] behavior, and possible influence of [[hormone]]s. [[Pollution|Environmental contamination]], particularly [[lead]] levels, and links to aggressive behavior is another research focus of biosocial theorists.
At the other side of the spectrum, criminologist [[Lonnie Athens]] developed a theory about how a process of brutalization by parents or peers that usually occurs in childhood results in violent crimes in adulthood. [[Richard Rhodes]]' ''Why They Kill'' describes Athens' observations about domestic and societal violence in the criminals' backgrounds. Both Athens and Rhodes reject the genetic inheritance theories.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Rhodes
| first = Richard
|authorlink = Richard Rhodes
| title = Why They Kill: The Discoveries of a Maverick Criminologist
| publisher = Vintage
| date = 2000}}</ref>
====Control theories====
Another approach is made by the social bond or [[social control theory]]. Instead of looking for factors that make people become criminal, those theories try to explain why people do <u>not</u> become criminal. Travis Hirschi identified four main characteristics: "attachment to others", "belief in moral validity of rules", "commitment to achievement" and "involvement in conventional activities".<ref>{{cite book |author=Hirschi, Travis |title=Causes of Delinquency |publisher=Transaction Publishers |date=1969}}</ref> The more a person features those characteristics, the less are the chances that he or she becomes deviant (or criminal). On the other hand, if those factors are not present in a person, it is more likely that he or she might become criminal. Hirschi expanded on this theory, with the idea that a person with low [[self control]] is more likely to become criminal.<ref>{{cite book |title=A General Theory of Crime |author=Gottfredson, M., T. Hirschi |year=1990 |publisher=Stanford University Press}}</ref> A simple example: someone wants to have a big yacht, but does not have the means to buy one. If the person cannot exert self-control, he or she might try to get the yacht (or the means for it) in an illegal way; whereas someone with high self-control will (more likely) either wait or deny themselves that need. Social bonds, through [[Peer group|peer]]s, [[parent]]s, and others, can have a countering effect on one's low self-control. For families of low socio-economic status, a factor that distinguishes families with delinquent children from those who are not delinquent is the control exerted by parents or [[chaperon]]age.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Wilson, Harriet |title=Parental Supervision: A Neglected Aspect of Delinquency |date=1980 |journal=British Journal of Criminology |volume=20}}</ref>
===Symbolic interactionism===
[[Symbolic interactionism]] draws on the [[phenomenology]] of [[Edmund Husserl]] and [[George Herbert Mead]], as well as [[subcultural theory]] and [[conflict theory]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Mead, George Herbert |title=Mind Self and Society |year=1934 |publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref> This school of thought focused on the relationship between the powerful state, media and conservative ruling elite on the one hand, and the less powerful groups on the other. The powerful groups had the ability to become the 'significant other' in the less powerful groups' processes of generating meaning. The former could to some extent impose their meanings on the latter, and therefore they were able to 'label' minor delinquent youngsters as criminal. These youngsters would often take on board the label, indulge in crime more readily and become actors in the 'self-fulfilling prophecy' of the powerful groups. Later developments in this set of theories were by [[Howard S. Becker|Howard Becker]] and [[Edwin Lemert]], in the mid 20th century.<ref>{{cite book |author=Becker, Howard |title=Outsiders |publisher=Free Press |year=1963}}</ref> [[Stanley Cohen (sociologist)|Stanley Cohen]] who developed the concept of "[[moral panic]]" (describing societal reaction to spectacular, alarming social phenomena such as post-World War Two youth cultures (e.g. the ''[[Mods and Rockers]]'' in the UK in 1964), AIDS and [[football hooliganism]]).
===Deterrence===
====Rational choice theory====
{{main|Rational choice theory (criminology)}}
[[Rational choice theory (criminology)|Rational choice]] theory is based on the [[utilitarianism|utilitarian]], classical school philosophies of [[Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria|Cesare Beccaria]], which were popularized by Jeremy Bentham. They argued that punishment, if certain, swift, and proportionate to the crime, was a deterrent for crime, with risks outweighing possible benefits to the offender. In ''[[Dei delitti e delle pene]]'' (On Crime and Punishment, 1763-1764), Beccaria advocated a rational [[penology]]. Beccaria conceived of punishment as the necessary application of the law for a crime: thus, the judge was simply to conform his sentence to the law. Beccaria also distinguished between crime and [[sin]], and advocated against the [[Capital punishment|death penalty]], as well as [[torture]] and inhumane treatments, as he did not consider themselves rational deterrents.
This philosophy was replaced by the Positivist and Chicago Schools, and not revived until the 1970s with the writings of [[James Q. Wilson]], [[Gary Becker]]'s 1965 article titled "Crime and Punishment <ref> [[Gary Becker]], "Crime and Punishment", in ''[[Journal of Political Economy]]'', vol. 76 (2), March-April 1968, p.196-217 </ref>" and [[George Stigler]]'s 1970 article "The Optimum Enforcement of Laws <ref>[[George Stigler]], "The Optimum Enforcement of Laws", in ''[[Journal of Political Economy]]'', vol.78 (3), May-June 1970, p.526-536 </ref>." Rational choice theory argues that criminals, like other people, weigh costs/risks and benefits when deciding whether or not to commit crime and think in [[Economy|economic]] terms.<ref name="cornish">{{cite book |author=Cornish, Derek, and Ronald V. Clarke |year=1986 |title=The Reasoning Criminal |publisher=Springer-Verlag}}</ref> They will also try to minimize risks of crime by considering the time, place, and other situational factors.<ref name="cornish"/>
Gary Becker, for example, acknowledged that many people operate under a high moral and ethical constraint, but considered that criminals rationally see that the benefits of their crime outweigh the cost such as the probability of apprehension, conviction, punishment, as well as their current set of opportunities. From the public policy perspective, since the cost of increasing the fine is marginal to that of the cost of increasing surveillance, one can conclude that the best policy is to maximize the fine and minimize surveillance.
With this perspective, [[crime prevention]] or reduction measures can be devised that increase effort required to commit the crime, such as target hardening.<ref name="clarke-1992">{{cite book |author=Clarke, Ronald V. |year=1992 |title=Situational Crime Prevention |publisher=Harrow and Heston}}</ref> Rational choice theories also suggest that increasing risk of offending and likelihood of being caught, through added [[surveillance]], [[police]] or [[security guard]] presence, added street [[lighting]], and other measures, are effective in reducing crime.<ref name="clarke-1992"/>
One of the main differences between this theory and [[Jeremy Bentham]]'s rational choice theory, which had been abandoned in criminology, is that if Bentham considered it possible to completely annihilate crime (through the [[panopticon]]), Becker's theory acknowledged that a society could not eradicate crime beneath a certain level. For example, if 25% of a supermarket's products were stolen, it would be very easy to reduce this rate to 15%, quite easy to reduce it until 5%, difficult to reduce it under 3% and nearly impossible to reduce it to zero (a feat which would cost the supermarket so much in surveillance, etc., that it would outweight the benefits).
Such rational choice theories, linked to [[neoliberalism]], have been at the basics of [[crime prevention through environmental design]].
====Routine activity theory====
[[Routine activity theory]], developed by Marcus Felson and Lawrence Cohen, drew upon control theories and explained crime in terms of crime opportunities that occur in everyday life.<ref>{{cite book |author=Felson, Marcus |title=Crime and Everyday Life |year=1994 |publisher=Pine Forge}}</ref> A crime opportunity requires that elements converge in time and place including (1) a motivated offender (2) suitable target or victim (3) lack of a capable [[Legal guardian|guardian]].<ref name="cohen">{{cite journal |author=Cohen, Lawrence, and Marcus Felson |title=Social Change and Crime Rate Trends |journal=American Sociological Review |volume=44 |date=1979 |doi=10.2307/2094589 |pages=588}}</ref> A guardian at a place, such as a street, could include security guards or even ordinary [[pedestrian]]s who would witness the criminal act and possibly intervene or report it to police.<ref name="cohen"/> Routine activity theory was expanded by John Eck, who added a fourth element of "place manager" such as rental property managers who can take [[nuisance]] abatement measures.<ref>{{cite book |title=Reducing Crime and Drug Dealing by Improving Place Management: A Randomized Experiment |author=Eck, John, and Julie Wartell |publisher=National Institute of Justice |date=1997}}</ref>
==Types and definitions of crime==
Both the Positivist and Classical Schools take a consensus view of crime — that a crime is an act that violates the basic values and beliefs of society. Those values and beliefs are manifested as laws that society agrees upon. However, there are two types of laws:
* Natural laws are rooted in core values shared by many cultures. Natural laws protect against harm to persons (e.g. murder, rape, assault) or property (theft, larceny, robbery), and form the basis of [[common law]] systems.
* [[Statutory law|Statutes]] are enacted by [[legislature]]s and reflect current cultural [[mores]], albeit that some laws may be controversial, e.g. laws that prohibit [[cannabis|marijuana]] use and [[gambling]]. [[Marxist criminology|Marxist Criminology]], [[Conflict criminology|Conflict Criminology]] and Critical Criminology claim that most relationships between [[State]] and [[Citizenship|citizen]] are non-consensual and, as such, [[criminal law]] is not necessarily representative of public beliefs and wishes: it is exercised in the interests of the ruling or dominant class. The more right wing criminologies tend to posit that there is a consensual [[social contract]] between State and citizen.
Therefore, definitions of crimes will vary from place to place, in accordance to the cultural [[norm (sociology)|norms]] and mores, but may be broadly classified as [[blue-collar crime]], [[corporate crime]], [[organized crime]], [[political crime]], [[public order crime]], [[state crime]], [[state-corporate crime]], and [[white-collar crime]].
==Subtopics==
Areas of study in criminology include:
* [[Juvenile delinquency]]
* Causes and correlates of crime
* [[Crime prevention]]
* [[Crime statistics]]
* Criminal behavior
* Criminal careers and desistance
* [[Deviant behavior]]
* [[Evaluation]] of criminal justice agencies
* [[Penology]]
* [[Sociology of law]]
* [[Victimology]]
* [[The International Crime Victims Survey]]
Comparative criminology is the study of the social phenomenon of crime across cultures, to identify differences and similarities in crime patterns.<ref>{{cite book |title=Comparative criminology |author=Barak-Glantz, I.L., E.H. Johnson |publisher=Sage |year=1983}}</ref>
== See also ==
* [[Crime]]
* [[Criminal law]]
* [[Ethics]]
* [[List of criminology topics]]
* [[Sociology]]
* [[The Mask of Sanity]]
==References==
{{reflist|2}}
== Bibliography ==
* [http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Sociology Wikibooks: Introduction to sociology]
*[[Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria|Cesare Beccaria]], ''[[Dei delitti e delle pene]]'' (1763-1764)
*Brantingham, P. J. & Brantingham, P. L. (1991). ''[[Environmental criminology]]''. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.
*Barak, Gregg (ed.). (1998). ''[[Integrative criminology]]'' (International Library of Criminology, Criminal Justice & Penology.). Aldershot: Ashgate/Dartmouth. ISBN 1-84014-008-9
*[[Philip Pettit|Pettit, Philip]] and [[John Braithwaite|Braithwaite, John]]. ''Not Just Deserts. A Republican Theory of Criminal Justice'' ISBN13: 9780198240563 (see [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0023-9216(1994)28%3A4%3C765%3ARCAVAC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4 Republican Criminology and Victim Advocacy: Comment] for article concerning the book in ''[[Law & Society Review]]'', Vol. 28, No. 4 (1995), pp. 765-776)
==External links==
{{Wikibooks|Social Deviance}}
*[http://www.ncjrs.org/ National Criminal Justice Reference Service] (NCJRS)
*[http://www.asc41.com/ American Society of Criminology]
*[http://www.aic.gov.au/ Australian Institute of Criminology] (AIC)
*[http://www.britsoccrim.org/ British Society of Criminology]
*[http://www.apsu.edu/oconnort/criminology.htm Criminology Mega-Site] — Dr. Tom O'Connor (Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, Austin Peay State University)
[[Category:Criminology|*]]
[[Category:Social sciences]]
[[Category:Forensic psychology]]
[[Category:Interdisciplinary fields]]
[[ar:علم الإجرام]]
[[bs:Kriminologija]]
[[bg:Криминология]]
[[ca:Criminologia]]
[[cs:Kriminologie]]
[[cy:Troseddeg]]
[[da:Kriminologi]]
[[de:Kriminologie]]
[[el:Εγκληματολογία]]
[[es:Criminología]]
[[eo:Kriminologio]]
[[eu:Kriminologia]]
[[fr:Criminologie]]
[[hr:Kriminologija]]
[[it:Criminologia]]
[[he:קרימינולוגיה]]
[[kaa:Kriminologiya]]
[[lb:Kriminologie]]
[[lt:Kriminologija]]
[[hu:Kriminológia]]
[[nl:Criminologie]]
[[ja:犯罪学]]
[[no:Kriminologi]]
[[pl:Kryminologia]]
[[pt:Criminologia]]
[[ro:Criminologie]]
[[ru:Криминология]]
[[sq:Kriminologjia]]
[[sk:Kriminológia]]
[[sr:Криминологија]]
[[sh:Kriminologija]]
[[fi:Kriminologia]]
[[sv:Kriminologi]]
[[tr:Suç bilimi]]
[[zh:犯罪學]]