Chapter 1: What is Criminology?

Criminology

The scientific study of crime and criminal behaviour, defined by reference to criminal law.

Emergence of Criminology

Criminology began as a field in Canadian universities during the 1950s, driven by the need for knowledge to assist in the rehabilitation of offenders.

Deviance

Behaviour that deviates from accepted social norms, which may include acts that violate specific rules (crime) or non-criminal acts that challenge accepted values.

Demographics

Statistical data relating to characteristics of a population, such as the relative size of age groups or gender balance.

Correlates

Factors that do not cause crime but are strongly linked to criminal behaviour.

Criminalization

The process of defining an act as a crime and subjecting it to formal punishment.

Empirical

Understood or verified through experiment, measurement, or direct observation; opposed to theoretical.

Stigmatize

To strongly disapprove of a person or behavior and to label it as disgraceful.

Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)

Strategies to manage crime by decreasing opportunities for it to occur and increasing the risks to offenders.

Electronic monitoring

A system that allows for pre-trial release and serving of sentences while minimizing the costs of incarceration.

Qualitative

Relating to the study based not on measurement but on understanding human behaviour and subjective experience.

Quantitative

Relating to the measurement of something's quantity rather than its qualities.

Net widening

The imposition of control on individuals who may not otherwise be subject to it, extending the reach of the criminal justice system.

Forensic Entomology

The study of insects to assist in legal investigations, particularly to determine time and place of a victim's death.

Sociological analyses of crime

Focus on social order and the extent to which social forces define crime and create conditions for it to flourish.

Alcohol consumption

Increased dramatically by 50% over the past few decades, impacting crime rates and social behaviour.

Identifying Offenders

Techniques such as geographic profiling help law enforcement focus on criminals' likely residences in serial crimes.

Theories of crime

Frameworks that describe the reasons behind criminal behaviour and examine the state's power and its potential for abuse.

Mixed methods approach

A research methodology combining qualitative and quantitative techniques for a comprehensive analysis of crime.