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What Is Criminology All About?: Branch of Sociology
What Is Criminology All About?: Branch of Sociology
Table of Contents
What does a criminologist do?
Schools of Criminology
Criminology: Branches and Theories
Scope in Criminology
o Career in criminology
o Institutions that offer courses in criminology
Famous Criminologists
o Criminology vs. Criminal Justice
Schools of Criminology
There have been different opinions and theories regarding crimes, criminals, laws
and punishment in the field of criminology. Many of them, can be brought
collectively, under four different schools of thought, that explain similarities and
differences among them with respect to different factors that affect a crime. The
four schools of thought in criminology are:
Preclassical school: The school of thought that emerged in the 17th and 18th
century in Europe, which said that crime and criminal were possessed by
some supernatural powers.
Classical school: The concept that emerged in the 18th It favoured
humanitarian form of punishment and was against cruelty. One major
concept under this school is that of ‘Free Will’, which suggests that people
can differentiate between right and wrong and that these people commit a
crime according to their own free will. The classical school talks about
several principles such as:
o Rationality
o Hedonism
o Punishment
o Human Right
Positivist school: The positivist school of criminology emerged around the
19th century and emphasized on the scientific study of the root causes of
crime, the behaviour of criminals and other various internal and external
factors which is responsible for being criminal. The three main causes for
being a criminal, according to this school are:
o Biological Factor
o Sociological Factor
o Psychological Factor
However, various thinkers under this school of thought often posed conflicting
ideas and thoughts on those put forward by the school.
Paradigms of Criminology
Rational choice – believes that the general concept of rational choice has a
role to play in crimes.
Positivism – believes that criminals are born as such and not made into
criminals.
Interactionism – says that most people commit crimes but only some are
caught and punished for it.
Critical perspective – believes in modifying traditional concepts and
uncovering false beliefs on crimes.
Integration – The process of integrating ideas from different criminological
theories into a single statement, to provide a better concise explanation on
crimes.
Scope in Criminology
Career in criminology
Criminologists are hired by the government as well as private sectors. They are
majorly recruited by agencies like government institutions that work against crime,
Police, etc. The average salary of a criminologist depends on the recruiter and on
the nature of the firm. However, it is estimated that the salary of a criminologist
lies between 3 – 4 lakhs per annum (India), which might essentially increase or
decrease with your skills and experience. Criminologists earn $32,220 to $33,160
a year, on average.
Abroad:
University of Cambridge (England)
University of Pennsylvania (US)
University of Florida(US)
Griffith University(Australia)
University of Sydney(Australia)
In India:
University of Pune
Osmania University
Pondicherry University(Pondicherry)
University of Mysore(Karnataka)
University of Madras(Tamil Nadu)
Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences(Tamil Nadu)
Famous Criminologists
Criminology refers to the study of crime and deals with various aspects related to
crimes, to get information of the nature of the crime, the location where it takes
place etc. and suggests policies to respond against it.
About: Meera
Student of Economics in Miranda House, University of Delhi. Interested in
writing, reading, music, painting, public speaking, and debating.Aspiring
Economist. A dreamer who loves the smiles and colours of the world