Definition of Criminology

In its broadcast sense- criminology is the entire body of knowledge regarding crimes
and criminals as a social phenomenon and the effort of society to prevent and repress
them.
In a narrower sense, criminology is the scientific study of crimes and criminals.
This scientific study is extended only on the following three basic lines:
a. Investigation of the nature of criminal law (legal sense) and its administration; or
the identification of criminals and detection of crime.
b. Analysis of the causation of crimes and the behavior of criminals; and
c. Study of the control of crimes and rehabilitation of offender (correctional system
and prevention)
Importance of studying criminology
1. Criminology is a source of philosophy of life. The knowledge derived from
studying crime is a good foundation for an individual’s philosophy and lifestyle.
2. Criminology serves as a background for a profession for social service.
3. Criminology helps in understanding criminals.
4. Criminology prevents criminals acts thereby saving a costly problem.
Purpose of studying criminology
1. To prevent the crime problem
2. To understand crimes and criminals which are basic knowing the actions to be
done to prevent them
3. To prepare a career in law enforcement and scientific crime detection
4. To develop an understanding of the constitutional guarantees and due process of
law in the administration of justice
5. To foster a higher concept of citizenry and leadership together with an
understanding of one moral and legal responsibilities to his fellowmen, his
community and his nation
Scope of criminology
1. The origin and development of criminal penal law
2. The causes of crimes and development of criminals
3. Different factors that enhance the development of criminal behavior such as:
a. Criminals demography-study of the relationship between criminality and
population
b. Criminal epidemiology- study of the relationship between environment and
criminality
c. Criminal ecology- study of criminality in relation to spatial distribution in a
community
d. Criminal physical anthropology- study of criminality in relation to physical
constitution of men
e. Criminal psychology- study of human behavior in relation to criminality
f. Criminal psychiatry- study of human mind in relation to criminality
g. Victimology- study of the role of the victim in commission of crime

Some of the major areas of studies in criminology

1. Ballistics- the study of firearms and bullets

2. Dactyloscopy- the science of fingerprinting

3. Polygraphy- the science of lie detection examination

4. Police photography- the white and black photography

5. Penology- the jail management and prison administration

6. Questioned document examination- the study of disputed document

7. Investigation and detection of crime- the art and science of resolving
crimes

8. Traffic accident investigation- the investigation of vehicular

collision/accidents

9. Industrial security management- the type of security applied to business

groups engaged in industries like manufacturing
10. Police supervision and administration- the determination of basic policies,
programs and objectives of the police organization

Principal divisions of criminology

1. Criminal etiology- an attempt at scientific analysis of the causes of crime

2. Sociology of law- an attempt at scientific analysis of the conditions under
which penal/criminal laws develop as a process of formal social control
3. Penology- is concerned with the control and prevention of crime and the
treatment of youthful offenders

Nature of criminology

1. Nationalistic- the study of crime must always be in relation with the

existing criminal law with in the territory
2. A social science- in a much as crime is a societal creation and that it
exists in a society, its study must be considered a part of social
science
 3. It is dynamic- criminology changes as social condition changes. That
means the progress of criminology is concordant with the
advancement of other sciences that have been applied to it
4. An applied science- anthropology, psychology, sociology and other
natural sciences maybe applied in the study of the cause of crime
while chemistry, medicine, physics, mathematics, etc…, maybe utilized
in crime detection

Four major object of interest in criminology

1. Crime (criminal acts) is an act or omission punishable by law. It is

necessary that an act or an omitted act shall be written in the law
otherwise, such act or omission will not be considered as a crime.
2. Criminals (perpetrator/s of crime) are referring to person/s who violates a
certain provision under the law.
3. Criminal behavior is focusing in the way a person responds to a certain
situation which sometimes results in a commission of crime.
4. Study of victims is included in the commission of a crime. Future victims
could prevent crimes, like depriving the would-be-perpetrator of the
opportunity to assault or stole their belongings.

Important events and places of criminology (tradio, 2004)

1. Berlin the place where the last burning at the stake was made until 1786
2. Australia the place where the prisoners of England were transferred until
1867
3. Ancient Rome the nation who pioneered banishment as a form of
punishment
4. Middle of the 16th century three period when the first house of
correction appeared in England, on the petition of bishop ridley of London
for help in dealing with the study of vagabonds of the city
5. Hammurabi’s code a code after a name of a person who firstly adopted
the principle “an eye to eye and a tooth for a tooth” in the imposition of
punishment
6. Elmira reformatory considered as the forerunner of modern penology,
located in Elmira, New York in 1876. It features a training school type of
institutional program, social case work, and extensive use of parole
7. Auburn prison its features were confinement of the prisoners in single
cells at night and congregate work in shops during the
8. 1870 to 1880 was the golden age of penology because of the following
reasons:
a. The formation and organization of national American prison association in
1870
 b. In 1872, the first international prison congress was held in London
c. In 1876, the Elmira reformatory was considered as a forerunner of modern
penology
d. The first separate institutions for women were established in Indiana and
Massachusetts

9. 1934 the league of nations adopted the “standard minimum rules for the
treatment of prisoners”
10. 1839 an agricultural colony for delinquent boys was established by demtz
of France. The boys were housed in cottages with house fathers as in
charge

1. Criminogenic processes- explain human behavior and the experiences which

help determine the nature of a person’s personality as a reacting mechanism;
that factors or experiences in connection there to infringe differentially upon
different personalities, producing conflict which is the aspect of crime.
2. Criminal psychodynamics- is the study of mental processes of criminals in
action; the study of genesis, development, and motivation of human behavior that
conflicts with accepted norms standards of society; this study concentrates on
the study of individuals as opposed to general studies of mass populations with
respect to their general criminal behavior.
3. Cultural conflict- is a clash between societies because of contrary beliefs or
substantial variance in their respective in their respective customs, language,
institutions, habits, learning, tradition, etc.
4. Dementia praecox- (a “premature dementia” or “precocious madness”) refers to
a chronic, deteriorating psychotic disorder characterized by rapid cognitive
disintegration, usually beginning in the late teens or early adulthood.
5. Delusion- in medical jurisprudence, is a false belief about self, caused by
morbidity, present in paranoia and dementia praecox. A delusion is a false belief
held with absolute conviction despite superior evidence. Unlike hallucinations,
delusions ae always pathological (the result of an illness or illness process.)
6. Episodic criminal- is an non-criminal person who commits a crime when under
extreme emotional stress’ a person who breaks down and commits a crime as a
single incident during the regular course of natural and normal events.
7. Erotomania- is a morbid propensity to love or make love; uncontrollable sexual
desire, or excessive sexual craving by members of either sex. Erotomania is a
type of delusion in which the affected person believes that another person,
usually a stranger or famous person, is in love with him or her.
8. Inheritance- is the transmission of physical characteristics, mental traits,
tendency to disease, etc. from parents to offspring. In genetics, the tendency
manifested by an organism to develop pin the likeness of a progenitor due to the
transmission of genes in the production process.
 9. Heredity- have been believed to share about equally in determining disposition,
that is, whether a person is cheerful or gloomy, his temperament, and his
nervous stability. Heredity is the passing of traits from parents to offspring (from
its parent of ancestors).
10. Hallucination- is an individual with a strongly self-centered pattern of emotion,
fantasy, and thought. A hallucination, in the broadest sense of the word, is a
perception in the absence of a stimulus.
11. Kleptomaniac- is an uncontrollable morbid propensity to steal, or pathological
stealing. The symptoms of this disease usually consist of pecuiliar motives for
stealing and hoarding. Kleptomania is an irresistible urge to steal items of trivial
value. People with this disorder are compelled to steal things, generally, but not
limited to, objects of little or no significant value.
12. Masochism- is a condition of sexual perversion in which person derives pleasure
from being dominated or cruelly treated; (psychiatry) an abnormal condition in
which pleasure, especially sexual pleasure, is derived from pain or from
humiliation, domination, etc., by another person. Named after leopold von
sacher-Masoch, whose novel “venus in furs” explores a sadomasochistic
relationship.
13. Melancholia- is a mental disorder characterized by excessive brooding and
depression of spirits, typical of manic-depressive psychosis, accompanied by
delusions and hallucinations. In contemporary usage, it is a mood disorder of
non-specific depression, characterized by low levels of both enthusiasm and
eagerness for activity.
14. Megalomania- is a mental disorder in which the subject thinks himself great or
exalted. Megalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by
delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. Megalomania is
characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons
of their powers and beliefs

 Sadism- is an achievement of sexual stimulation and gratification through

the infliction of physical pain on the sexual partner. It may also be
associated with animals or objects instead of human beings.
 Masochism- is an infliction of pain to oneself to achieve sexual pleasure.
As to sexual urge
Hyper sexuality is extremely frequent or suddenly increased sexual urges or sexual
activity. hyper sexuality is typically associated with jowered sexual inhibitions. Although
hyper sexuality can be caused by some medical conditions or medications, in most
cases the cause is unknown. Medical conditions such as bipolar disorders can give rise
to hyper sexuality, and alcohol and some drugs can affect social and sexual inhibitions
in some people. A number of theoretical models have been used to explain or treat
hyper sexuality. The most common one, especially in the popular media, is the sexual
addiction approach, but sexologists have not reached any consensus. Alternative
explanations for the condition included compulsive and impulsive behavioral models.
The international classification of diseases (ICD-10) of the world health organization
includes “excessive sexual drive” which is divided into satyriasis for males and
nymphomania for females, and excessive masturbation.

1. Satyriasis- is an excessive (sexual urge) desire of men to have sexual

intercourse.
2. Nymphomania- is a strong sexual feeling of women with an excessive sexual
urge.
As mode of sexual expression
 Oralism- it is the use of mouth or tongue as a way of sexual satisfaction.
a. Fellatio- is male sex organ to the mouth of the women coupled with the act
of sucking that initiates orgasm. Fellatio (also known as fellation, a blow
job, BJ or giving head) is an act of oral stimulation of a male’s penis by a
sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the
mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred
to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner. Is
regarded by many as an erotic act in its own right and a physically intimate
act. For many males, it is a turn on which may be used by the giving
partner to initiate foreplay and sexual arousal prior to sexual intercourse.
b. Cunnilingus- is a sexual gratification attained by licking the external
female genital. It is an oral sex act performed on a female. It involves the
use by a sex partner of the mouth, lips and tongue to stimulate the
female’s clitoris, vulva, or vagina. A female may receive cunnilingis as part
of foreplay before sexual intercourse, during intercourse, or as
intercourse. The term is derived from the latin words for the vulva (cunnus)
and togue (lingua).
c. Anilism (anilingus)- is licking the anus of the sexual partner. Anilingus
(from anus+lingus(latin lingere: to lick), also spelled analingus, also
referred to or described as anal oral contact or anal oral sex, is a form of
oral sex involving contact between the anus or perineum of one person
and the mouth (lips) or tongue of another.
d. Sadomachism (algolagnia)- is pain/cruelty for sexual gratification.
Algolagnia is a sexual tendency which is defined by deriving sexual
pleasure and stimulation from physical pain, often involving an erogenous
zone. Sadomaschism broadly refers to the receiving of pleasure often
sexual from acts involving the infliction or reception of pain or humiliation.
As part of the body
 a. Sodomy- is a sexual act through the anus of the sexual partner. Sodomy
is anal or other copulation like act; especially between male persons or
between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a
“sodomite”.
b. Uranism- is sexual gratification attained through fingering, holding the
breast of licking parts of the body; the practice of homosexuality between
males. “uranism” being an old and obscure term for male homosexuality.
Uranism or homosexual love is a congenital abnormality by which a
female soul had become united with a male body.
c. Frottage- is the act of rubbing the sex organ against body parts of another
person. Frotteurism refers to a paraphilic interest in rubbing, usually one’s
pelvis or erect penis, against a non-consenting person for sexual
gratification. It may involve touching any part of the body including the
genital area.
d. Partialism- refers to the sexual libido on any part of the body of a sexual
partner.

As to visual stimulus
a. Voyeurism- is an act in which the person is commonly called” the peeping Tom”,
an achievement of sexual pleasures through clandestine peeping such as
peeping to dressing room, couples room, toilets, etc. and frequently the person
masturbate during the peeping activity. Voyerurism is the sexual in or practice of
spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual
activity, or other activity usually considered being of a private nature.
b. Scoptophilia- is the international act of watching people undress or during
sexual intimacies. Scopophilia, from greek “love of looking”, is deriving pleasure
from looking. As an expression of sexuality, it refers to sexual pleasure derived
from looking at erotic objects: erotic photographs, pornography, naked bodies,
etc.
As to number of participants in the sexual act
a. Troilism- three persons participate in sex orgy such as two women versus one
man or vice versa. Troilism refers to the erotic interest in watchin one’s romantic
partner engage in sexual behavior with a third party, sometimes while hidden.
b. Pluralism- group of persons in sexual orgies such as couple to couple sexual
relations. It is also called “sexual festival”.

Other sexual abnormalities

a. Exhibitionism- it is called “indecent” international exposure of genitals to
members of the opposite sex under inappropriate conditions. Exhibitionism
refers to a desire or compulsion to expose parts one’s body specifically the
 genitals or buttocks of a man or woman, or the breasts of a or acquaintances,
or to strangers.
b. Coprolalia- is the use of obscene language to achieve sexual satisfaction.
Coprolalia is involuntary swearing or the involuntary utterance of obscene
words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks.
c. Don juanism- is the act of seducing women as a career without permanency
of sexual partner or companion. Don juanism is a non-clinical term for the
desire, in a man, to have sex with many different female partners; that is: a
“seducer of women”.

1. Acquisitive crime is one which when committed the offender acquires

something as a consequence of his criminal act. It is a crime that involves
the taking of money and goods from a person, a person’s home, or from a
company/shop.
Ex. It includes theft, burglary, robbery, street mugging and shoplifting.
2. Seasonal crimes are those that are committed only at certain period of
the year and can be expected at various time of the year.
Ex. An increase in burglaries or vandalism in the summer when kids are
out of school; increase I thefts from autos in shopping center parking lots
around Christmas.
3. Episodic crimes are serial crimes; they ae committed by series of act
within the lengthy space of time; are crimes that have long process.
Ex. Kidnapping
4. Instant crimes are those that are committed the shortest possible time.
Ex. Robbery hold up
5. Static crimes that is committed only in one place.
6. Continuing crime are crimes that are committed in several places; a
crime in which additional acts are committed to further or continue the
crime.
Ex. You falsely arrange for a disability check, which you receive every
month. The act of cashing the check makes it a continuing crime.
7. Rational crimes are those committed with intent, offender is in full
possession of his mental faculties/ capabilities.
Ex. It was found Clarke and harris (1992) that auto thieves are selective in
their choice of targets, selecting different types of vehicles depending on
the purpose of the theft. This suggests that the decision with respect to a
target and opportunity is rationally motivated.
8. Irrational crimes are committed without intent; offender does not know
the nature of his act.
Ex. Allan is a mentally disturbed and stabs john to death. He didn’t intend
to, but is now a murderer.
9. White collar crimes are those committed by a person of responsibility
and of upper socio- economic class in the course of their occupational
activities.
Ex. Embezzlement, bribery, extortion, larceny, fraud.
10. Blue collar crimes are those committed by ordinary professional to
maintain their livelihood
Ex. Vandalism, burglary, home robbery, and shoplifting.
11. Upper world crimes are those committed by individuals belonging to the
upper class of society.
12. Under world crimes committed by members of the lower or under
privilege class society.
13. Crimes by imitation are crimes committed by merely duplication of what
was done by others.
14. Crimes of passion are crimes committed because of the fit of great
emotions.
Ex. A defendant’s excuse for committing a crime due to sudden anger or
heartbreak, in order to eliminate the element of “premeditation”. This
usually arises in murder or attempted murder cases, when a intercourse
with another and shoots or stabs one or both of the coupled pair.
15. Service crimes refer to crime committed through rendition of a service to
satisfy desire of another.
Ex. Nardo was hired by vicente to kill paul because the latter is the
paramour of vicente’s wife.