Criminology

Criminology is the scientific and interdisciplinary study of crime, criminals, victims, and the social, legal, and political responses to lawbreaking. It draws on sociology, psychology, law, and history, and it asks why laws are made, why they are broken, and how societies react. Cesare Beccaria’s classical school emphasized rational choice and proportionate punishment, while Cesare Lombroso’s positivism, with its claim of the born criminal, sought biological explanations that were later discredited. Emile Durkheim argued that crime is normal and functional, and Robert Merton’s strain theory linked deviance to the gap between cultural goals and legitimate means. The Chicago School, including Clifford Shaw and Henry McKay, examined urban ecology, and Edwin Sutherland proposed differential association and drew attention to white-collar crime. Travis Hirschi’s control theory examined social bonds, Howard Becker’s labeling theory focused on social reaction, and conflict theorists emphasized power and class. Feminist criminology, led by scholars such as Frances Heidensohn and Carol Smart, challenged male-centered theories. Contemporary work includes cultural criminology, developmental research, and studies of globalization. Criminology remains central to research on justice, punishment, inequality, victimization, and social control.